Underground repair work in the North Campus Promenade is taking longer than expected due to an "unusual" delay, according to Keith Tramp of University Facilities.
Tramp explained that the university's air conditioning system is comprised of a series of chilled water lines, or pipes carrying chemically treated water around campus.
"That's how all the buildings are cooled on North Campus," he said.
According to Tramp, the muddy chasm dug in the Promenade between Lockwood Library and the Student Union was for a repair job of leaking pipes carrying chilled water to each academic building's individual air conditioning system.
"The chilled water line system is currently turned off for the winter, and they're going to repave the whole Founder's Plaza soon," he said. "So we wanted to take advantage of the time we have now to replace steel pipes leaking in that section."
Tramp also said that although it was "highly unusual," some of the new pipes' fittings were too loose, delaying the project for a few days.
"After a section of piping is put down, it's filled with water," he said. "One of the new one's bolts were loose, and they began leaking."
The pipes being replaced were made out of steel, Tramp said, whereas the new system is made out of ductile iron, a modern alloy that won't corrode and leak like steel, and is also lined with cement for durability.
"Most of the buildings already have the ductile iron. These were buildings that were done more than thirty years ago, and they just didn't go far enough," he said.
Tramp explained that the new pipes will be better able to sustain vibrations from the paving project soon taking place in the Plaza.
"We're taking advantage of the time we have before that project starts, to take care of all these repairs," Tramp said. "So hopefully this will be the last time we have to do any digging in that area."
