The western outskirts of Amsterdam host the Netherlands’ leading oncology center: the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital. Named after the ‘father of microbiology’, who in the seventeenth century made ground-breaking improvements to the microscope, this hospital is both a cancer research center and a clinic. So innovation is key to ensure the best treatments for patients. As such, for the renovation of the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner room, the hospital looked for an efficient and durable way to construct the floor so that the reinforcement bars (rebar) won’t disrupt the magnetic-sensitive scanner.
A non-magnetic floor
Everything within a zone of 85 centimeters around the machine has to be non-magnetic, including the floor and its rebar. As for the rest of the floor, standard carbon steel bar would do the trick.
In order for this core part of the space to be free of any magnetism, engineer Jan van Vliet, the Director of J. van Vliet Vlechtwerken, was asked to provide a solution. “I didn’t have to think long,” he says. “I asked Outokumpu to provide non-magnetic steel rebar in quality Core 304LN/4311.” These rebar are stainless, which ensures low maintenance and low risk of carbonation. Outokumpu brought the hospital a very sustainable floor – which is much more appealing than the traditional method of using lead plates to cover the floor.
Perfect combination
Outokumpu supplied non-magnetic stainless rebar in 10 and 12mm diameter. Weighing a total of nine tonnes, the floor of the room in the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital contains 1.5 tonnes of Outokumpu rebar. Outokumpu already pre-cut and bent the rebar prior to delivering them to the hospital.
After the concrete was cast, the end result was one solid floor – ready to support the hospital’s vital machine that detects cancer: the MRI scanner.