Construction Update 11/09/2020

New Tower

Our new tower now dominates the architecture along University Avenue near the 1100 block. The tower looks great, especially with fall color accenting its beauty, even though terra cotta facing has not yet been installed on the western part (right side of the photo). On the ground just outside the tower, a lot of concrete has been poured and the exterior is being prepared for plantings, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, and bike paths and bike parking.

The new tower, seen here from the Botany Garden, makes a significant architectural statement along University Ave.

Inside the tower, construction continues to move rapidly. The freight elevator is nearly ready for service, new walls are being installed every day, and more ductwork, piping, and electrical connections are going in at a rapid pace. Once the freight elevator is working, the skip hoist on the east side of the tower can come down, which will make the east façade look even nicer as well as allowing final work to be done on that part of the tower exterior.

This freshly poured concrete sidewalk is along University Avenue, outside the learning studio (top left image). Sidewalks have also been poured outside the main atrium, whose windows reflect Birge, Van Vleck, and Chamberlin Halls (top right image). Work progresses inside the atrium, which is seen here from the second floor to the right of the staircase (bottom left image). Work is rapid-paced at the base of the monumental staircase, with two lifts and scaffolding in use by work crews (bottom right image)..

Wi-Fi Upgrade

DoIT and FP&M are upgrading the WiFi system in the chemistry complex and a crew of two to four electricians is currently testing cabling in floors 3-9 of Daniels and Mathews. This UW-Madison construction crew will follow all COVID-19 precautions dictated by the University and the State of Wisconsin.

Fire Protection

The fire alarm system in the chemistry complex will be offline on Tue Nov 10 and Wed Nov 11 from 6 am through 4 pm. Please do not schedule hazardous experiments in any part of the building on these days. There will be a fire watch, with the contractor monitoring the building, during the time that the fire alarm system is disabled. You may see a member of the crew from Staff Electric circulating through the building as they conduct the fire watch.

Stainless steel sprinkler heads for the NMR facility have been delivered and they are currently being installed on the second floor of Mathews. Pressure testing and inspection are scheduled for Wednesday, November 11. The next step is insulating the sprinkler pipes, after which sprinkler work in the NMR facility will be complete.

There are fire-protection crews working in several other locations. Here is a schedule of activities

Blueprint of the Shain tower.

Emergency Power Outages in Shain tower affect only those circuits having red receptacles or switches, which includes some laboratory lighting. If any equipment currently powered by emergency circuits cannot handle a several-hour interruption of power, that equipment should be plugged into a normal power circuit for the duration of the emergency power work on a given floor. The general locations of emergency power circuits are shown in the floor plan at the right. There will be no interruption of normal power circuits.

9-Nov   7th floor, 6th floor Shain toweroutage of emergency power circuits

10-Nov 5th floor, 2nd floor, 1st floor, basement Shain toweroutage of emergency power circuits (Do not plan to use the cold lab on 10-Nov. The refrigeration system is on emergency power and will be shut down. The lab will remain relatively cold if the door is closed and the room is not used.)

There are no generally accessible emergency power receptacles on floors B,1,2 Shain.

11-Nov – 16-Nov Floor SB Daniels building – emergency power connection to new fire alarm.

A construction crew will install emergency power conduit from the mechanical space (Rm. S345) to the telecom closet (Rm. S353).  This work will involve activity in the Daniels SB corridor.

23-Nov – 17-Dec Floor SB Mathews building – installation of fire sprinklers and fire alarm.

As a result of updates to the design of the fire alarm system, the contractor needs to return to the eighth and ninth floors of Daniels to perform additional work. (The additional work is not the fault of the contractor; the design of the system was updated midway through the installation process.)

17-19 Nov      9th floor Daniels – closed to all occupants

20-23 Nov    8th floor Daniels – closed to all occupants

This work involves only fire alarm, not fire-sprinkler pipes.  We ask that you please remove hazards from the area:

  1. Remove chemicals, glassware, and general clutter from lab benches
  2. Remove all items from drying racks
  3. Remove clutter from aisles

Construction workers will be working overhead, standing on ladders, installing conduit, pulling wires.

Apart from the closures of 2nd-floor Mathews and 9th and 8th floors of Daniels, the Facilities Committee does not feel that it is necessary to close any portion of the building complex for either the WiFi installation or these fire-protection activities. Each individual, of course, is free to make their own decision about whether or not they wish to work in the building when construction is occurring in their area. Construction activities typically begin at approx. 6:00-7:00 am and are completed by ca. 3:00-3:30 pm.

Two-week shut down in late January 2021      Floor SB Daniels building – lab and shop areasinstallation of fire sprinklers and fire alarm; replacement of internet cable; other construction activities affecting occupied spaces

Various construction activities will be consolidated to the period of the two-week shutdown of the Daniels building. Dates of construction are not yet certain but will be confirmed with one-month advance notice. Please be aware that a one-month advance notice could occur during holiday break periods, so it is a good idea to check emails even if you are not in town.

This information is up to date as of Monday morning. Email bulletins will be provided as needed.

We thank Gerald David of Miron Construction and Jim Maynard for the images used in this newsletter issue.

John Moore and Bob McMahon