Tonn & Blank's Burnside concurred: "There is definitely a learning curve the first time you use (Slide Rail), but once you get the hang of it, it goes in very easily and quickly," he said.  "Having Greg (Ross) here for a few days really helped in getting the system started going in the ground correctly, and helped get my crew into the swing on how to install it."

After the ClearSpan waler beams were secured in the integrated brackets that slide down the outside face of the linear posts; the three parallel beam-spreader assemblies were removed for the tank set.  The result was an unobstructed pit that was 56 feet long and was able to accommodate the 47 foot long tank.  The tank was set with a crane and backfilled with stone, while the slide rail components were pulled incrementally from the ground as the backfill progressed.

"(The Slide Rail System) really met my expectation," concluded Burnside.  "As we were taking the system out of the ground, I thought to myself that I can use this (system) on another excavation project coming up in a few months.  In fact, I wish I knew about this earlier, because it would have worked great on some other utility projects here at the hospital that we'd already completed."

St. Francis Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana, is in the midst of a $265 million expansion.  When completed by mid-year 2010, the Indianapolis hospital campus will have a new emergency room, six-story inpatient tower, surgical suites, and additional space for support services.

As part of this huge expansion, Tonn and Blank (T & B) Construction Company headquartered in Michigan City, Indiana, (The construction subsidiary of the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services, Inc.) is installing a 30,000 gallon fiberglass fuel tank measuring 47 feet long, and 12 feet in diameter.  The tank will be used to fuel the hospital's backup generators.