On July 3, 2008, former President George W. Bush, Defense Department officials, and Wounded Warriors, broke ground on what would become the future Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Bethesda.

The first building to open is the Patient Parking Garage. On Jan. 4, 200 spaces opened on the second and third deck for general staff and car pool parking. The remaining spaces opened Feb. 1. The garage has a total of eight floors and 944 parking spaces. It was constructed with 808 pieces of structural precast concrete, with each piece hauled 100 miles by tractor trailer, from Winchester, Va. The majority of the pieces were so large, that each piece required its own stretch tractor trailer, special road permit and escort trucks. This totaled 80,800 miles of one way travel and equates to going around the world 3.24 times. The typical double tee beam weighed over 30 tons each.

There are approximately 36 million pounds of precast concrete in the building, and another 13 million pounds of cast-in-place concrete hauled to the site and poured for foundation piers and beams. The construction of the garage structure was phased to allow for early installation of the elevators and electrical work before the structure was complete. An additional part of the construction included the supply and logistics tunnel from Building 54 to Building A.

Throughout this project a 380 ton Liebherr 1350 mobile crane was used. It is important to note that there were zero recordable or lost time injuries for the entire garage and tunnel project.

I would like to thank Mr. Denver Terence, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Project Manager for providing information for this article.

As you drive around our base, construction projects abound, history is being made related to the Base Realignment and Closure mandate, and the integration of two world renowned medical centers is in progress. The end result of this construction will be a historical, first of its kind, tri-service military medical center that will deliver world class patient-and family-centered care.

In future articles, I plan to provide ‘‘Fun Facts” related to Building A, Building B, the renovation, Building 17, Building 62 (previously referred to as Tranquility Hall), the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE) and Fisher House Buildings, and future construction as it is in progress. Please contact our team with your topics of interest suggestions and integration and transition good ideas. As we bring to life the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Bethesda, thank you for your hard work and dedication. Please stay engaged, get involved in assisting your respective workspaces, prepare for and execute their move, share the excitement with your fellow staff and visitors. Welcome and assist our Army and Air Force partners who will be working here alongside you, and remember, above all else, safe patient-and family-centered care comes first.

Please address any correspondence to:

NNMC-DCITLeadership@med.navy.mil.

Deputy Commander for Integration and Transition sends