TORRANCE, CA-McCarthy Building Companies Inc. expects to start erecting structural steel soon on the new $300 million, 398,350-square-foot, seven-story Torrance Memorial Medical Center Replacement Tower. The new tower is taking shape on the existing medical center site at 3330 Lomita Blvd., where excavation and shoring for the new construction is nearly complete, according to an announcement from McCarthy. The company says the tower’s structural steel is scheduled to begin in October.

McCarthy is the general contractor for the 256-bed replacement project, which began construction in February 2010. The project entails construction of the patient tower as well as a basement to house a central utility plant and a tunnel connecting the existing hospital to the new facility. Twelve new elevator systems and two exit stairs will be installed, and a 2,770-square-foot emergency generator building along with underground fuel oil storage tanks will be constructed on site.

Before construction could begin, McCarthy re-routed existing underground utilities servicing the tower around the new tower’s footprint. A new entrance to the existing facility was also built to allow for patient access from a new direction while the tower is under construction.