NORTHAMPTON GENERAL HOSPITAL – LINEAR ACCELERATOR UNIT
JCT Design & Build Contract for a new build cancer treatment facility at Northampton General with a new Linear Accelerator unit that pinpoint and treats cancer cells.

Project Details
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01
OVERVIEW
In their previous employments Alcema colleagues worked together to construct this new £4 million facility for the Northampton General NHS Trust.
The project involved piled foundations on a very tight site flanked by live buildings on all sides. They built a substantial concrete bunker at ground floor level, designed / built to extremely tight tolerances, to deal with waste gamma rays generated during the cancer treatment.
This was a very challenging part of the build due to both the tight tolerance on the finished project and the sheer volume of materials brought to site (in a small build window). 1,600m3 of specialist mix concrete was poured and temperature controlled to ensure the concrete cured at exactly the correct temperature; this achieved the correct chemical reaction – there was 200 tonne of reinforcement steel installed into the concrete.
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02
PROJECT CHALLENGES
The site was very compact which presented its own challenges, and with the bunker programme taking up two thirds of the overall contract programme, the time constraints on this very fast programme meant we had to rise to the challenge of delivering handover on time.
Once the bunker was constructed, we completed the steel frame and shell, and drove the project to become watertight in order to complete the internal fit out.
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03
WORKS METHODOLOGY
Works included demolition and site clearance works, sensitive groundworks including piled foundations and deep drainage.
We had to work around live services underground and on walls of nearby buildings and works included construction of a specialist concrete bunker to house Linear Accelerator equipment.
Construction of a steel frame built partly off piles and partly off the concrete bunker was included, a slate roof laid onto a tactray steel liner system, masonry cavity walls, aluminium doors and windows with projecting oriel style large bay window and complete internal fit out of the facility including all FF&E (Linear Accelerator was a direct NHS Purchase).
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04
OUTCOME
The project was a complete success and handover was achieved on time.
The building now sits in constant use serving cancer patients 24 hours a day (7 days a week) 365 days a year.




