The tower is now going up! So far most of what we have reported has been a downer—demolition took down the lecture halls and library and then a big hole when down into the ground. Now the west end of the hole is a deep as it needs to go, and concrete is being poured to begin building the tower up. On Friday morning a large crane was set up in what used to be the parking lot outside the loading dock. Concrete trucks are coming into the loading-dock area and dumping concrete into a large bucket that the crane picks up and lowers into the excavation to pour concrete pad that will provide a solid work surface in the bottom of the excavation. Forms are in place for some of the footings at the far west side of the excavation, supporting what eventually will be a space for mechanical equipment behind the larger lecture room. On Wednesday April 3rd another concrete pour is scheduled, so the loading-dock driveway will be very busy from 3:30am until 11am with more than 25 concrete trucks scheduled.
Inside the north end of Daniels basement and first floor, work is nearly complete. Shoring was erected to support a pour of concrete to fill the opening in the exit route at the base of the north stairwell. On Friday morning concrete was poured in this area and soon the corridor will be cleared to make a wide exit zone. Some noise is expected to continue in the north end of Daniels next week because the shoring needs to be removed once the concrete has thoroughly cured.
The excavator in the sub-basement of Daniels has been working all week to create trenches for installation of electric conduit ducts. Plans call for more than 50 separate ducts to be installed. The north-east end of the sub-basement looks as if a monster mole has been let loose. Workers were installing conduits this week.
Work continues on the east side of Daniels. Backfilling around the south area well is complete and two manhole sleeves of corrugated steel have been installed between the area wells. These will provide access to the many conduits and ducts below ground on the Mills Street side of the building. The region between the north area well and University avenue is being excavated as part of the main excavation along University Avenue. On the Mills Street side, the excavation is at a plateau about half way to its full depth to allow access for heavy equipment into and out of the excavation.
Last week we received the preliminary plans for the Chemistry Learning Center’s permanent new space. The new CLC will be on the fourth floor of the Medical Sciences Center (diagonally across University Avenue and Charter Street from “The Crossing”. Situated next to the main elevators, the new CLC will be much larger than the existing facilities, with reception area and offices receiving natural light. There are five small and three large conference/teaching spaces. Movable partitions allow room sizes to be adjusted to the number of students as needed. According to the renovation schedule the CLC should move to the new facility before the fall 2020 semester.
This information is up-to-date as of Friday afternoon. Email bulletins will be provided as needed.
John Moore and Bob McMahon