From: Ronnie Smith, Vice Chancellor, Administration and Finance
Subject: Hurricane Katrina Recovery – Update #60
Posted: January 18, 2008

With the winter holidays behind us, work has resumed at full speed on the various projects around the campus. There has been an intense focus on completing temporary repairs to 1542 Tulane Ave. over the past months. This continues as the final remediation and cleaning contract is well underway and spaces are being readied to be reoccupied. The fire alarm replacement is nearing completion and the elevator repairs continue. The contractor who held the main contract for all the temporary repairs is completing their work on the punch list.

The re-roofing of the MEB has been underway for approximately a month now. The contractor has made good progress. The recent discovery of some concealed damage on the roof resulted in the execution and approval of 4 modest change proposals.

We are also just beginning the work to replace the roofs of the Dental School’s Clinic Building, Administration Building, and the Power Plant. The contractor has been receiving materials for the job on site, and they have begun the initial demolition of the old roof of the Clinic Building. The current plan is to complete the Clinic Building, followed by the Administration Building and then the Power Plant.

Over the holiday period, the contractor who was awarded the Lion’s/LSU Clinic Building project received the contract documents, gathered up their information, and were able to return the documents to the Office of Facility Planning & Control recently. We expect that the Notice to Proceed will be issued shortly.

The emphasis on safety around the campus continues. All of the bollard lights that line the sidewalks of the downtown campus have been replaced and are operating. A number of exterior lights on the buildings have been replaced with brighter lights that improve the lighting in the area. New and enhanced lighting is planned for three more of the parking lots on campus and this project has just begun.

We believe that FEMA is close to making formal recommendations to accept our Design/Development proposals for Section 406 Hazard Mitigation and permanent repairs at the Resource Center and the Residence Hall. They are also reviewing the D/D submission for the Allied Health/Nursing Building and we remain optimistic that this will also be recommended. Finally, our Design Concept for the Section 406 Hazard Mitigation and permanent repairs to the CSRB and MEB is drawing significant attention. We’ve been asked to provide a variety of additional information that we hope will allow FEMA to support this concept as well.

Contracts for the demolition of nine buildings on the back campus of the Dental School were recently sent out by the Office of Facility Planning and Control to the three contractors who won the jobs. As soon as the contract documents are executed, the Notices To Proceed will be issued and the demolitions will begin. We will communicate the starting date(s) of these contracts as soon as we receive notice.

Here are highlights of work that has been accomplished since our last update was posted two weeks ago.

Repair Work at 1542 Tulane Ave.:

• Fire Alarm System:
  • Siemens completed the installation of new fire alarm wires on the 8th Floor for the new fire alarm speakers and strobe boxes.
    • The contractor has established a stable connection between the new fire alarm panel and the 8th Floor devices.
    • They have also established a stable connection between the fire panel and the devices in the basement, and the mechanical and animal care spaces on the roof.
  • The contractor replaced damaged wiring on the 7th Floor and is pulling new fire alarm wiring on the 6th Floor.
  • Siemens connected the flow switches to the sprinkler piping in Stairwell D.
  • The contractor is pulling the main fire alarm communication trunk/riser through the pipe chase from the 1st Floor to the 8th Floor.
  • Siemens is trouble-shooting the fire alarm wiring on the 1st Floor.
• Elevator Repairs:
  • Elevator #1:
    • The cab has been delivered to the site.
    • The new doors for the elevator have been installed.
    • New door hangers and track have been installed.
    • New governor cables are being installed.
  • Elevator #7:
    • The cab station is being wired.
  • Elevator #8:
    • The contractor is working on the wiring for the elevator.
    • They are also wiring the cab station.
    • Stratos has installed the buffers.
• Final Remediation and Duct Cleaning:
  • Duct Cleaning Status:
    • The contractor moved their night crew to the 6th Floor to begin coating the HVAC ducts.
      • Crews have finished encapsulating the ducts on the 6th Floor.
    • Crews have also finished encapsulating the ducts on the 5th Floor.
    • They are working on encapsulating the 8th Floor ducts.
  • Carpet Removal:
    • All of the carpet has been removed from the 3rd Floor.
    • The contractor finished removing carpet on the 2nd Floor.
  • Debris Removal:
    • Zimmer finished removing building debris, ACM countertops, lab benches, and building debris from the 3rd Floor.
    • They have also finished removing the countertops, lab benches, and building debris from the 2nd Floor.
    • The contractor began removing building debris in the rear of the building (the old section) on Floors 5 - 8.
  • Final Remediation/Cleaning/Painting:
    • Zimmer finished removing the peeling paint on the 3rd Floor and has begun cleaning in the corridors and rooms along the Tulane Ave. side of the building.
    • Zimmer-Eschette completed the initial cleaning down the center corridor of the 4th Floor.
      • The 4^th Floor failed the visual inspection and is being re-cleaned.
      • The contractor continues to remove the peeling paint in the corridor and rooms along the Tulane Ave. side of the building.
    • The 5th Floor was re-cleaned and visually inspected.
      • The floor passed the visual inspection and was re-sampled for mold.
    • The 7th Floor failed the visual inspection due to the overspray of encapsulant.
      • The contractor is removing the overspray.　
      • The contractor has begun floating the walls.
    • The painting contractor finished floating the walls on the 1st and 8th Floors.
      • They are painting the 8th Floor walls and priming the 1st Floor.
  • Ceiling Tile Removal:
    • The remaining ceiling tile has been removed from the 2nd Floor.
    • The contractor finished removing ceiling tile on the 3rd Floor.
  • Floor Tile Removal:
    • The contractor has removed all the damage floor tile from the 8th Floor.
      • The floor passed the visual inspection.
    • All the damaged tile has been removed from the 7th Floor.
      • The floor passed the visual inspection.
    • The night crews have removed all of the damage tile from the 6th Floor.
    • The tile has been removed from the 4th Floor corridor.
      • The contractor began removing the floor tile from the 4th Floor in the "A section".
  • Sample Results:
    • Ducts on the 3rd Floor were cleared with the exception of a fan coil.
      • Fan coil 331C is scheduled for re-cleaning.
    • All ducts on the 4th Floor have been cleared.
    • Ducts on the 6th Floor were cleared with the exception of a fan coil.
      • Fan coil 609M is scheduled for re-cleaning.
    • Air samples taken on the 4th Floor passed.
    • Air samples for the 5th Floor failed to be cleared and re-cleaning will be required.
      • The 5th Floor has now passed clearance for mold testing, except for Rooms 550, 531, 556 and 557.
    • Air samples for the 6th Floor were cleared except for a couple of rooms that are scheduled to be re-cleaned.
    • The 5th Floor passed clearance for lead testing.
    • Suite 122C passed TEM clearance following the removal of the floor tile.
    • The 7th Floor passed TEM clearance related to the removal of the asbestos floor tile.
    • TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope) samples were taken in Rooms 867 and 865 on the 8th floor.
    • Room 866 passed TEM clearance related to the removal of the asbestos floor tile.
    • The 6th floor passed TEM clearance for asbestos floor tile removal.
• Network Closets:
  • Trison Construction is framing the walls of the new network closets in Rooms 126 and 455.
    • This is a part of the project to enhance the network infrastructure in the building that began prior to the hurricane.
  • The contractor installed sheet rock for the new network closet walls in Rooms 126 and 455.
  • The contractor removed demolition debris in Room 356.
  • The framing for the network closet in Room 356 is finished and sheetrock has been installed.
  • Trison finished installing sheetrock for the new network closet in Room 357 and 357A.
  • Trison Constructors relocated the sprinkler heads in the new network closets (Rms. 126/126A, 357, and 455).
  • The contractor has installed the plywood backboard in Room 455.
  • Boe-tel is removing the old network wiring and is pulling new network wires on the 7th Floor.
  • Trison Constructors installed the required electrical utilities for the 4th Floor network closet (Rm. 455).
  • The contractor also installed the plywood backboard for the 3rd Floor network closet (Rm. 357A).
• AT&T is working on relocating the demark to the 2nd Floor.
• Misc. Electrical and Mechanical Repairs:
  • Ordes continues to work on the outstanding punch-list items.
  • Ordes is making a panel schedule for the electrical panels in the basement.
  • Insulators from Arc Mechanical are insulating some domestic water and chilled water lines.

Repair Work at the Dental School:

• Roof Replacement:
  • The contract to replace the roofs on the main Dental School buildings has been executed.
  • The Notice To Proceed was issued for January 7, 2008.
  • A pre-construction meeting was held on January 8, 2008.
  • Needham Roofing delivered materials and equipment to the site as they prepared to begin the roof replacement project. They began work on the Clinic Building roof.
    • They lifted the roofing materials by crane onto the roof of the building.
  • Needham Roofing completed the demolition of the penthouse roof on the Clinic Building and removed the debris from the roof.
    • They have removed 10 squares of the old material down to the concrete deck.
    • They sealed all penetrations in the area; installed blocking where needed and covered roof drains to prepare for the installation of the new material.
    • Once completed, they installed the first ply of the roofing membrane.

• Temporary Bookstore:
  • The contractor disconnected the electrical wiring in the demolished walls.　
  • They removed the metal stud wall from the interior of the new bookstore space.
  • The layout of the vestibule walls for the temporary bookstore is finished.
  • The metal stud framing for the temporary bookstore walls is complete.
  • The rough in electrical work has been finished.
  • Dry wall is being installed on the walls.
  • They have installed the duct board and flex duct for the supply air and return air to the temporary bookstore area as well as the existing adjacent rooms.
• Elevator Repairs:
  • Schindler adjusted the cab, door operator and call buttons for Elevator # 3.
    • They remounted the door operator for Elevator # 3 and adjusted the doors.
  • Schindler dismounted and readjusted the cab and door operator for Elevator # 4 to allow for a smoother operation.　
  • They developed a punch list on the freight elevator in preparation for the certification inspection.　
  • Schindler Elevator adjusted the doors on the freight elevator and adjusted the fire service circuitry.

• Misc.
  • Trison Constructors completed the demolition of the existing duct work in the basement and 1^st Floor that had served as the oven exhaust.
    • They began the installation of the new ducts in the basement and on the 1st Floor.　
  • Securitas ran coax cables for the intercom system to the front desk located in the Clinic Building, 1st Floor lobby.

Exterior Lighting Project:

• All of the new bollard lights lining the sidewalks on the downtown campus have been installed and are working.
• New can lights have been installed at the Resource Center.　
• The twelve new lights on the exterior of the MEB have been installed.
  • Mesh has been installed at locations of the MEB that require re-plastering where holes had to be cut for the new can lights.
• New exterior lights are being installed around the perimeter of the Allied Health/Nursing Building.
  • The installation of new entry lights is complete.
  • The contractor cut the last of the access panels on the Allied Health/Nursing Building.
  • They are now installing the new lights at those locations.
• Frischhertz started mobilizing crews and materials for the installation of new lights in the 440 parking lot, Student Lot #1, and the Residence Hall lot.

MEB Roof Replacement:

• The contractor completed installing the temporary roof on the Bolivar St. and the Perdido St. corner of the building.
• The contractor has completed a signification portion of the temporary roof on the Perdido Street side of the roof and is moving to the Allied Health/Nursing side of the building.
• They have completed demolition of the lightweight ballast on the Allied Health/Nursing side (on top of the boilers) and have started priming that section of roof.
• The temporary roof is complete in the area of the boiler exhaust and the emergency generator.

Landscaping Project:

• Trenching for additional irrigation pipe is underway.
  • Crews starting on the Bolivar St. side of the MEB and they are working around the corner to the Perdido St. side of the building.
• Crews installed irrigation piping and sprinklers along the Bolivar St. side of the MEB and around the corner on Perdido St.
• Crews continued installing irrigation piping and sprinklers and covering the trenches on the Perdido St. side of the MEB.
  • They completed one station and are close to completing the other.　
• Crews also trenched for two additional irrigation stations mid-block on the Perdido St. side of the MEB.
• The crews completed the installation of another irrigation station on the Perdido St. side of the MEB.
• New sod has been laid on the S. Roman St. side of the Allied Health/Nursing Building. This completes the landscaping of this building.
• Sod was also laid at the corner of the MEB at the intersection of S. Roman St. and the entrance/exit to the MEB loading dock area.

We encourage you to follow the details of our progress through the daily updates which are posted on the web site.