Daniels 16-Day Shutdown Nearly Complete
Wow! The first half of the chemistry complex’s heart-lung transplant is nearly finished, and the patient is responding well to treatment. As this is written the Daniels wing remains closed because it is a construction zone, but it should re-open on Wednesday, March 31 with much better quality and much more reliable air supply coming from air-handling units on the ninth floor of the new tower.
Construction teams deserve our thanks for working extended hours, typically 5:00 am – 10:00 pm, seven days per week, to accomplish the switchover as quickly as possible. Not only have the old air-handling units, located on the ninth floor of Daniels to the north of room 9341, been dismantled, but parts of the concrete pads upon which they rested have already been demolished. This will reduce the time during which we can expect noise and vibration at the north end of upper floors in the Daniels wing.
The work that closed basement-level entrances to Daniels has been completed; therefore, students can enter the building for classes anytime after the 16-day shutdown is over.
Upcoming Outages Will Affect All Wings of the Chemistry Complex
Thursday, Apr 8: Shain, Mathews, and Daniels wings – outage of process cooling water loop, which provides cooling water for lasers, vacuum pumps, air conditioners, etc. There will be maintenance repair of bearings in one pump. Workers will also install bypass valves to mitigate the need for future shutdowns. This outage will not affect your research group if you do not have equipment connected to the process cooling water system. Shain and Daniels wings will remain open on this day, but Mathews will not (see next item).
Thursday, Apr 8: Mathews wing only – outage of all 110-V / 208-V power circuits, which requires that Mathews wing will be closed to all occupants on this day. Plans are being developed for groups with critical samples or materials stored in refrigerators or freezers. The NMR facility will be closed. This closure supersedes any approvals regarding building access that you may request or receive via entry.chem.wisc.edu. We will provide further details as planning develops. The schedule is not yet finalized.
Mathews 16-Day Shutdown, April 14-30
Mathews will be closed to all occupants for installation of new exhaust ductwork and switchover to a new exhaust system that uses the large plenum surrounding the rooftop of the Daniels wing. Newly installed fire doors in the Mathews-Daniels elevator lobby will be closed. Building occupants should not enter the Mathews wing, which will be a construction zone. This supersedes any approvals regarding building access that you may request or receive via entry.chem.wisc.edu.
Occupants of the Mathews wing will need to prepare labs and offices for the shutdown. Full instructions for preparing labs will be sent soon. Heating, ventilation, and fume-hood exhaust will be affected. There will be fluctuations in room temperatures. We do not expect impairments of electric power, process cooling loop, water, sewer, house nitrogen, or natural gas supplies. However, the construction activities are complex and extensive, and it is not possible to anticipate all eventualities. Instruments and equipment need to be left in a condition that does not require monitoring during the 16-day shutdown period.
The schedule is not yet final; if it changes, we will provide email notice.
Daniels Three-day Exhaust Interruptions
Beginning May 17 and extending into July there will be three-day shutdowns of exhaust in small portions of the Daniels wing. These shutdowns are necessary to allow workers to connect the fume-hood exhaust to the new plenum that surrounds the Daniels rooftop. The facilities committee will notify those affected well in advance of each exhaust shutdown.
Construction at the North End of Daniels Continues
The new tower will be connected to the existing Daniels wing on the fourth and fifth floors, as well as from the second floor down to the sub-basement. In January construction began to reconfigure the corridors at the north end of the Daniels building and accommodate doorways to the new building.
Floors B, 1, and 2 of Daniels are being opened to the new tower. This work involves the construction of doorways to accommodate continuous corridors between Daniels and the new tower. Fire doors are being installed and will remain closed during the construction of the tower and for the duration of renovation of floors B, 1, and 2 Daniels.
Floors 3, 4, and 5 work involves the reconfiguration of rooms 3345 and 3351, 4343 and 4351, and 5341 and 5351. This construction work will create connections between floor 4 Daniels and the research floor 4 of the tower and a level connection between floor 5 Daniels and floor 5 in the tower. There will not be a connection to the new building on floor 3, but changes on floors 5 and 4 necessitate changes on floor 3.
Construction activities do not affect access to labs, offices, or the stairwell. Dust and debris will be contained behind construction barriers. There is occasional noise and vibration. The work is expected to be complete soon.
North Mills Street Closure
Because a crane is raising and lowering materials to and from the rooftop of the Daniels wing, North Mills Street has been closed between West Johnson Street and University Avenue through Thursday, April 1. All access to Conklin Place (the alley in the middle of the block on the east side of Mills Street) is from north Brooks Street on the east. The north half of Mills Street, between Conklin Place and University Avenue, will remain closed after April 1.
Wi-Fi Upgrade
The next phase of the building-wide WiFi upgrade began on Feb 10. Contractors are installing devices throughout the building complex. Work in Shain tower is nearly complete and work in Mathews and Daniels is underway. Installation of each device requires only a few minutes. There may be a momentary disruption of local WiFi service in the work area. Work will proceed during the next several weeks.
Graphic Schedule of Upcoming Events
Many different construction activities are simultaneously affecting our building complex. We summarize them graphically below.
This information is up to date as of Monday morning. Email bulletins will be provided as needed.
John Moore and Bob McMahon