12/19/2006		Winter Break 2006-07 Work List
10/20/2006		New Pictures of the Master Center for Science, Mathematics and Engineering
10/19/2006		Transition from Air Conditioning to Heating Season
10/18/2006		James B. Hoover Center for Business - Dedication Photos
9/25/2006		Weed Control Work
9/20/2006		Landscaping work on the Dell
9/20/2006		Technical Problems with HVAC Control Software
8/4/2006		Hoover Construction Update
8/3/2006		BSC Ceiling Repairs
8/2/2006		Electrical Outages, Musser and Esbenshade
7/20/2006		Esbenshade Electrical Outage
6/23/2006		Hoover Business Building: Construction Update
6/15/2006		Hackman Lot blocked 7am-noon on Friday, June 16
6/14/2006		Business Building - Site Development Stage
6/5/2006		North Parking Lot Changes
6/2/2006		Construction Update
6/2/2006		Power Disruption on May 31st
5/4/2006		***New Hoover Center Pictures***

The December/January break has traditionally been a period to perform work that is so disruptive that it cannot be done during the academic year. This year we have a significant amount of work planned and you can view the list by clicking on this link. The only project that will disrupt pedestrian circulation is the installation of a new walk at the Esbenshade south entrance. High Construction will be removing the existing walks and installing new walks and an ADA complying ramp into the future Lyet Wing entrance. The work will be completed in time for the start of spring semester. The north east entrance to Esbenshade will remain open during the work at the south Esbenshade entrance.

Thank you for your patience while we complete this work.

Facilities Management will have a contractor on campus Tuesday, September 26 to apply a fall broadleaf and weed control. The contractors will arrive early Tuesday morning and will apply over the entire campus. There is a two-hour drying time, so please stay on the paths and roads until noon.

Over the years, the wear and tear caused by thousands of graduates walking on The Dell to receive their diploma has resulted in depressions and unevenness in the grassy area where Commencement seating is placed.

To address this situation, we are taking advantage of the cool and wet fall weather that supports the growth of grass.

As you pass The Dell you will see loads of topsoil that will be used to fill depressions and to level severely sloped areas. Once the re-grading has been completed, the disturbed areas will be hydro-seeded and fenced. This work will not only improve the appearance of the Commencement seating area, but it also will enhance our guests’ and graduates’ comfort and safety. To accomplish this work, The Dell been reserved for maintenance on R25 – the campus-wide scheduling system – from September 11, 2006, to Commencement 2007.

This work will be confined to the area where Commencement seating is set up. During these activities, students will still be able to use the remainder of the Dell for informal activities and sunbathing

Our HVAC technicians and Siemens staffs have been working diligently on solving a problem with the building automation system (BAS) for several days.

Last Sunday, the campus-wide Apogee BAS – which controls the operation of our HVAC systems – crashed. After reloading the software, we were able to restart the system and restore full operation after six hours of effort. Siemens responded with several technicians and evaluated the potential causes of the failure and by the end of last Thursday felt confident that the problem had been corrected.

Unfortunately, the system crashed again Sunday and, despite the best efforts of our technicians and Siemens emergency call staff, we have been unable to restart the system. Very early Monday morning our technicians went to every HVAC system on campus and put them in ‘manual’ mode to provide HVAC to our buildings. As of this morning, we have not yet been able to determine the cause of the crash and our buildings are still operating in ‘manual’ mode.

As a result, you may experience higher or lower than normal temperatures. We ask for your continued patience as we attempt to understand the cause of the crash and take corrective action.

The walks around the building have been completed and our grounds crew is completing final placement of topsoil and landscape planting. The stamped asphalt walks to the west of the building are the final walks. Later this month the walk installation contractor will return to stain the stamped asphalt so the walks will match our other stamped asphalt walks. The walks to the south of the building are temporary walks that will be reconfigured as part of the Academic Quad project that is being planned for construction after the completion of the Lyet Wing for Biological Sciences.

The contractor, the Business Building Committee and the Facilities Management staff are very proud of the Hoover Business Building and invite you to stop by and take a look at the finished product. Please pay particular attention to the wood trim and casework that our carpenter’s built and installed and to the granite curbing that our grounds crew installed.

Since I have disrupted your work days for the past year due to the impact of the construction of the Hoover Business Building, let me take this opportunity to thank you for your patience.

The next electrical outages for Musser and Esbenshade have been scheduled for Thursday, August 3 from 4:30 AM to 7:30 AM and Friday August 4 from 4:30 AM to 7:30 AM. During the last electrical outage, the electrical contractor encountered problems pulling the old high voltage cable from the underground conduits, so they modified their planned work and made temporary connections to restore power to Esbenshade and Musser. Due to these unanticipated difficulties the electrical contractor will need the additional outage on Friday to complete their work. Please shut down sensitive electrical equipment College wide before you leave work on Wednesday, August 2^nd and Thursday August 3^rd to avoid the potential for damage due to electrical spikes when we energize the 13,200 volt lines.

Thanks for your continued patience will we modify our 13,200 volt electrical distribution system to accommodate the construction of the Masters Center.

The final two electrical outages for Esbenshade and Musser have been scheduled for July 27^th and August 3^rd between 5:30 and 7:30 AM. The first outage will allow the electrical contractor to safely pull in the new high voltage conductors and the second outage will be to terminate the new lines. These outages will complete the high voltage revisions and future outages will be confined to areas within the buildings.

Thanks for your patience.

Since access to the Hackman parking lots will be blocked during this time, please park in front of Founders if you will need your vehicle on Friday morning.

Construction vehicle access to the Lyet Wing for Biological Sciences site will be from College Avenue, south on the Chapel access road, across the north end of the Thompson Gym plaza and west into the construction site. Pedestrian access will be maintained into Esbenshade via a fenced crossing from the serpentine walk and along the south side of Esbenshade from the Chapel lot. The north pedestrian accesses to Musser and Esbenshade from College Avenue will be maintained throughout the construction of the Lyet Wing. However, the connecting corridor between Musser and Esbenshade will be closed for demolition early in the project so access from this entrance will be unavailable until the opening of the Lyet Wing in late summer 2007.

Given the limited site access there may be times when you will need to wait for construction vehicles to cross sidewalks. The vehicle drivers will exercise caution when driving in these areas, and I ask that you exercise caution when walking or driving around construction vehicles.

We have begun the post-construction space reallocation work in Nicarry so that we can open classes in the fall with the departments remaining in Nicarry in their new spaces.

Since the activity level in our buildings is significantly reduced for the rest of this month, Environmental Services staff has been redeployed from their normal cleaning program to support the cleaning of the residence halls to prepare them for the first conferences of the season. Cleaning of restrooms will continue on a daily basis but you will see reduced levels of vacuuming and emptying of office wastebaskets during this time. If you are cleaning out your office or storage areas and need an extra trash pick up please call the facilities office at ext. 1408 or send an e-mail to WORKORDER.

Thanks for your patience as we perform this essential work in preparation for the start of fall semester.”

We also encountered a building automation malfunction in the Library on Tuesday morning that had shut down the HVAC system. The HVAC staff restarted the chilling equipment that dropped out, but due to the very hot weather the chillers were unable to catch up until the outside temperature dropped later in the day. We encountered similar ‘catch up’ difficulties in the other buildings that were impacted by the PPL power spikes.

PPL was doing some high voltage work at the Quads that could have been the source of the spikes. Since the Quads are on a separate electrical feed than the campus, PPL now feels that the spikes were system-wide rather than confined to the our high-voltage distribution system.

Today our HVAC systems – except for the Zug compressor failure that is awaiting the arrival of a replacement compressor – now are operating normally.

Thanks for your patience while we dealt with the equipment malfunctions and the power spikes.