Mock-up. The mock-up in parking lot 45, across Mills Street from the power plant, was tested for water tightness last Tuesday and passed a slightly more stringent test than was required (12 psi versus 10 psi). More curtain wall needs to be built and water tested before mock-up testing is complete, but we are off to a good start on assuring that our new building won’t leak.
The testing involved bringing in a truck with large water tanks and pump, connecting the pump to spray nozzles arrayed in front of the windows, building a framework and plastic enclosure on the inside of the windows, completely drying everything inside the enclosure, pulling a slight vacuum inside the enclosure, and then spraying water onto the outside of the windows for 15 minutes and checking for water inside the plastic enclosure.
New Tower. Last Friday workers poured and smoothed concrete for the east side of the sixth floor. Because of the cold weather the fifth-floor area below the pour was enclosed in plastic and heated nearly to 100 °F before the pour. Tarps covered the bubble deck until just before the pump truck delivered concrete. Above the west side of the sixth floor, the new tower now has shoring and decking at the seventh-floor level. The view is spectacular from way above “The Crossing” (the church at the corner of University and Charter). Columns will start to rise as soon as the concrete cures on the east side of the sixth floor, so it won’t be long before the entire seventh floor is poured.
The large lecture rooms are beginning to take shape in the sub-basement. Crushed stone has been delivered, moved into place, and graded to the slope of each room. Waterproofing is partially installed and next week concrete will be poured next to a ramp that provides access to the 360-seat lecture room. Soon thereafter the concrete terraces for each row of seats will be poured. Concrete will be delivered to the sub-basement level through an opening that eventually will become a skylight for the interaction space between the two lecture rooms.
Fire Sprinkler Project. Work on the east side of the fourth floor begins with a walk-through to check readiness of labs at 8:30 am on Monday, February 24.
Loading Dock. The loading dock is scheduled to be closed Thursday, February 27, from 2 am to 3:30 pm for a concrete pour on the west side of the seventh floor. There also may be brief closures at unpredictable times.
This information is up to date as of Friday afternoon. Email bulletins will be provided as needed.
John Moore