|
news
On-campus construction
progressing
By Dwight Flenniken
III
Special to the On-line Forty-Niner
Facilities management
at Cal State Long Beach holds hope for completion on many
of the current construction projects underway.
"We've probably
done 40 to 50 projects this summer," said Scott Charmack,
manager of Physical Planning and Facilities Management.
The new science
building on Hardfact Hill is the largest of all projects and
is scheduled for conclusion in January 2003. Workers are currently
six months into the two-year project.
Construction in
Fine Arts buildings 1 and 2 should be completed in February
2002. Contractor default helped to stall what would have been
a finished task.
The contractor
is now back on the job through a settlement. Expect to see
a new art gallery once the work is done. Upon completion crews
will move on to renovations in FA 4, requiring students to
move to FA 1 and 2 during the spring semester of 2002.
Brotman Hall plaza
renovations caused CSULB facilities management its biggest
concern since the work will not be finished on time. Waterproofing
at the plaza was scheduled for completion prior to the fall
semester. Charmack said he has stopped making predictions
on a finish date for this contractor due to unforeseen delays
in progress.
Charmack went on
to say the lack of timeliness has caused the school year to
be affected. As a result the contractor must pay liquidated
damages as a compensation for the loss of campus use. Liquidated
damages are built into all state awarded contracts.
"The state
requires us that we use low bidders, which isn't always the
best way to get a job done," Charmack said.
Sixteen million
dollars in telecommunications infrastructure replacement is
scheduled for October 2001 and will take two years to complete.
New copper and
fiber-optic wiring is expected for the entire campus. Crews
have been rewiring CSULB consistently over the past 10 years.
"The campus
wasn't built for new technology," Charmack said.
Early stages of
this project will be very disruptive. Many interruptions will
take place during the trenching portion of the job, in which
long paths must be dug to set the wire below ground. Three
buildings totaling 4,000 square feet will be added to house
computers and data processing equipment.
Another waterproofing
project currently underway in the Social Science/Public Affairs
building, which is scheduled for completion on Aug. 27. Charmack
is again "hopeful" the job will be complete before
students return to classes. Duct replacement being done in
the lower level should be finished the first week of September.
Facilities management
is hopeful they can continue with parking lot upgrades after
the spring semester in 2002. Most of the work will take place
in the lots around campus. Management will hold off on parking
lot work until cabling work is completed.
Facilities management
had requested that all landscape and finish work be done after
projects are concluded. They also asked that work be done
at night and on weekends, thus lessening the impact on student
travel throughout the campus.
Delays are expected
for students throughout the semester. All students and faculty
will be notified of any classroom changes during the semester
because of construction.
|
