From: Ronnie Smith, Vice Chancellor, Administration and Finance
Subject: Hurricane Katrina Recovery – Update #16
Posted: May 6, 2006

We recently received approval to occupy two additional buildings on the downtown campus! On May 1^st, the State Fire Marshal granted a conditional permit for temporary (30 day) occupancy of the Nursing/Allied Health Building and Stanislaus Hall. A number of deficiencies were identified which will be resolved over the balance of the month. Access to the Nursing/Allied Health Building was provided the following day, while access to Stanislaus Hall was delayed for 7-10 days to allow time for particular conditions to be addressed.

Safety in our buildings will continue to be a major concern of the State Fire Marshal. We expect special emphasis on evacuation plans and fire drills to make certain that all are knowledgeable of evacuation/exit routes.

Repairs to the elevators in the Nursing/Allied Health Building have not been completed at this time, and they are not yet certified for passenger use. We hope that these repairs will be completed within the next two weeks. The elevators in Stanislaus Hall have been certified for passenger use for some time.

We also wish to remind you that we have a very limited number of building maintenance and custodian staff. The understanding, patience and support of all faculty, staff and students of this reality is appreciated.

We continue to plan for the reopening of the Residence Hall within the next few weeks. The environmental remediation contractor has completed all their work, with the exception of the installation of floor tile. The contractor now has two crews working around the clock to complete that task quickly. The State Elevator Inspector is scheduled to inspect the building elevators early next week. We expect that they will be certified for passenger use shortly thereafter. The repairs to the fire alarm system are substantially complete.

The Office of Facility Planning & Control has instructed the architects to solicit pricing for a project to complete key permanent repairs within the Medical Education Building. Repairs to the two large lecture halls, the morgue, the Gross Anatomy Labs, and the Multidisciplinary Labs are needed to support the return of the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health before the incoming classes begin. Bids for the project are due on 5/10/06. The solicitation calls for a start date of 5/20 with the completion of the work specified for not more than 45 days. Completion of work under this contract is currently projected for about July 10^th.

The work in the Resource Center has continued to progress well and plans are to be able to reoccupy the upper floors in early June. The environmental remediation is substantially complete throughout the building. Work on the fire alarm system is well underway. The carpet replacement in the Library has also progressed well. The installation of the new carpet has been completed on the 4^th floor. The installation on the 3^rd floor is expected to be completed very soon, and the 5^th floor work is more than 50% complete.

The planned improvements to selected parking lots are proceeding. The resurfacing of the Residence Hall lot and the improvements to Student Lot #2 are largely completed. Work has now begun on Student Lot #3.

The substantial temporary repairs to the Clinic and Administration Buildings at the Dental School are underway. Two contractors have received contracts and begun work. One is addressing the buildings’ electrical systems and the 2^nd is responsible for the other critical mechanical systems. Both contractors have been instructed to complete their work by June 30^th, although selected equipment items needed may not be available from manufacturers within that timeframe. Regardless, the contractors are doing all that they can to meet this aggressive schedule.

The majority of the equipment for the new fitness center in Stanislaus Hall has now been delivered and is being installed. A summer opening of this new facility to faculty, staff and students is still scheduled.

Here are highlights of work that has been accomplished since our last update was posted on Friday, April 21^st.

• The work on the 2nd contract for environmental remediation contract addressing the Nursing/Allied Health Building, the Residence Hall, Stanislaus Hall and the Resource Center has been underway since mid-March and work is substantially completed in all of the buildings. Completing the installation of replacement floor tile in the Residence Hall Progress is the only portion of the contract not yet finished.
• The 3^rd environmental remediation contract addressing the balance of the buildings and facilities on the downtown campus has been awarded. The contractor has mobilized and work will begin immediately.
• The accelerated pace of repairs to building elevators continue. Inspections by the State Elevator Inspector have been requested or will be requested shortly for the passenger elevators at the MEB, the Lion’s/LSU Clinic Building and Stanislaus Hall.
  • All of the Stanislaus Hall elevators have been certified for general use.
  • All five of the elevators in the Lion’s/LSU Clinic Building have passed inspection and are now certified for general use.
  • The installation of new emergency telephones in the MEB elevators has been completed and they are now certified for passenger use.
  • The contractor has completed repairs to all of the elevators in the Residence Hall, and the State Elevator Inspector will complete his inspection early in the coming week.
  • Walk To Wellness & Gravier St. Garage: Work has begun on repairs to the elevators serving both structures.
  • The contractor will be replacing the 1^st floor elevator doors on all of the elevators in the Resource Center. The hoist cable on elevator #3 is undersized and was cited by the State Elevator Inspector prior to the current contactor receiving the annual maintenance contract. The former contractor is paying for the replacement cable and the current contractor will install it. The replacement cable is in the contractor’s shop.
• School of Dentistry restoration: Regular weekly meetings with representatives from the architectural/engineering firms, the Office of Facility Planning & Control, FEMA and LSUHSC continue.
  • The 1^st of the bid packages for temporary repairs to building electrical systems and for temporary air conditioning at the Dental School has been awarded and work has recently begun.
    • The temporary chiller and generators are on line at the Dental School Clinic and Administration buildings and the buildings are being cooled.
    • The electrical contractor is continuing to progress with the work on a temporary electrical power feeds and the installation of temporary conduit, etc.
  • The 2^nd of the bid packages for temporary repairs to the buildings’ critical mechanical systems has been awarded and the contractor has begun work.
    • Demolition of flood damaged building materials related to the environmental remediation is well underway in the basements (estimated to be 90% complete) and on the 1^st floors of both the Clinic and Administration buildings (estimated to be 50% complete).
    • Installation of critical pipe insulation in the basement is complete.
• Downtown campus restoration: Regular weekly meetings with representatives from the architectural/engineering firms, the Office of Facility Planning & Control, FEMA and LSUHSC have continued and will remain as a scheduled item for some time.
  • The 2^nd environmental remediation contact has been awarded and the contract is substantially complete.
  • The 3^rd environmental remediation contact has been awarded and will address the remaining buildings and structures on the downtown campus. The contractor has mobilized and work will begin immediately.
  • The architects are working on a series of smaller projects that have been "carved out" of the larger permanent repair work to facilitate the return of the Medical School classes to campus.
    • Permanent repairs to building windows have been bid and the contract has been awarded.
    • A bid package is being finalized for the permanent repairs to the MEB Lecture Rooms, the Gross Anatomy Lab, the Morgue, and the Multidisciplinary Labs. The Office of Facility Planning and Control has approved an expedited process for securing competitive pricing so that the award can be completed quickly and prices are being solicited at this time.
• Contracts have been awarded for the repairs to various types of pumps to supply water and heat to the Residence Hall, Stanislaus Hall, the MEB, CSRB, Lion’s Eye Center, Nursing/Allied Health Building, and Resource Center. The following is the status of progress in each building:
  • Stanislaus Hall:
    • The sump pumps have been installed and are operating.
    • The chilled water system has been refilled and air conditioning is available in the building again.
    • City water pumps have been delivered and have been installed. One of the pumps failed and has been removed and taken to the contractor’s shop for further repair.
  • CSRB:
    • Domestic hot and cold water pumps have been installed and are operating.
    • The heating hot water pumps have been installed and have been tested.
  • MEB:
    • The 3 boiler feed water pumps have been installed and are now operating.
    • The two chemical feed water pumps have been installed and are operating.
    • The brine pumps in the MEB have been installed and are operating.
    • The heating hot water pumps have been installed and successfully tested.
    • We are still waiting on receipt of the rebuilt condensate return pumps.
    • The domestic hot water return pump has been removed for testing/evaluation.
  • Nursing/Allied Health:
    • The hot water recirculating pumps have been installed.
    • The city water pumps for this building shipped this past week and are expected to be received and installed shortly.
    • The domestic hot water pumps have been installed and are operating in the Nursing/Allied Health Building.
  • Lion’s/LSU Clinic:
    • The hot water recirculating pumps have been installed.
  • Resource Center:
    • Two hot water recirculating pumps have been installed and are operating.
• Contracts to repair the fire alarm systems and their components in downtown campus buildings have been awarded to the vendors who currently provide annual maintenance to the systems. This approach will insure that the systems can be re-certified and remain under the existing maintenance contract. Several of the systems have been repaired and inspected and work continues in the remaining buildings.
  • CSRB, Lion’s/LSU Clinic Building and the MEB: Completed and inspected.
  • Stanislaus Hall: A temporary occupancy permit has been issued and the list of deficiencies will be addressed within the next few weeks.
  • Nursing/Allied Health: A temporary occupancy permit has been issued and the identified deficiencies will be addressed within the next few weeks.
  • Residence Hall: The repairs have been substantially completed. Final repairs are being made to door closers and when they are complete the State Fire Marshal will be asked to inspect the building.
  • Resource Center: The contractor is replacing damaged components and testing system operations. When repairs are completed, the State Fire Marshal inspection will be requested.
• The contract for the repairs to the emergency generators at the CSRB, MEB, Lion’s Eye Center, Nursing/Allied Health Bldg., Resource Center and the Residence Hall has been awarded. Work has begun on several of the generators, and parts are on order.
  • The repairs have been completed on the roof mounted generator at the MEB. This provides emergency power to the majority of the researcher’s freezers and walk in coolers in that building.
  • All of the damaged stators have been removed and sent to be rebuilt.
  • The contractor has inspected all of the automatic transfer switches (ATS) in each of the buildings to determine what repairs are needed.
    • The Nursing/Allied Health Building will require a shutdown of electrical power to the building to work on ATS. This will be scheduled.
  • CSRB: The repair work is complete on the generator. Diesel fuel is needed and LSUHSC has placed the order.
  • Lion’s/LSU Clinic: Most of the repairs have been completed, however a panel needed for the repairs has not yet arrived. Diesel fuel is also needed here and will be ordered.
  • The MEB, the Residence Hall, the Nursing/Allied Health Building and the Resource Center are waiting on repairs to be completed to the stators of their respective generators. As the repaired stators are delivered, they will be installed.
• After experiencing 2 short term power outages in the CSRB, the switch gear manufacturer’s representative was requested to perform further tests of the switchgear to determine the need for additional temporary repairs.
  • The testing of the CSRB switchgear was completed over the weekend of April 22^nd. We are waiting on the written report from the manufacturer at this time. However, the following summarizes the findings thus far:
  • Some problems were discovered, including some on the main breaker which has been tripping occasionally, though nothing was identified that clearly caused our problems.
  • There was some indication that there may be wiring issues on the roof mounted exhaust units. This will be the next focus for LSUHSC Facilities staff.
  • There were also some indications that the trip settings are too "tight." This will require that we secure some electrical engineering assistance to analyze further.
  • The search for the possible cause(s) of the power outages recently discovered three damaged electrical feeders that serve the building. Plans are underway to replace the most critical feeder during the evening of Tuesday, May 9^th and the other two feeders on Saturday, May 13^th.
• The replacement of 20 year old carpeting in the Resource Center is proceeding smoothly. The installation of carpeting is complete on the 4^th floor, the installation on the 3^rd floor is substantially complete, and work on the 5^th floor is over 50% finished.
• A contract has been issued for repairs to the medical air compressors, vacuum pumps and water purifiers at the CSRB, Lion’s Eye Center and the MEB. Parts are on order and repairs will begin as soon as the parts begin to arrive.
  • The contractor has begun removing the damaged medical air and vacuum pumps and the water purifiers from the CSRB.

Please continue to follow our progress through our Daily Updates that are also available on the web site.