http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/ en-us Copyright 2008 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:32:16 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/2008/06/onward_and_upwardup_to_the_fou.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/2008/06/onward_and_upwardup_to_the_fou.html Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:32:16 +0000 Yes, we continue to pour concrete and will for some time. Now that the lens is not covered with ice, check out the webcam to see the walls of the second level being formed. The space between the Campus Center and Sage is being back filled and the floors of the second level are being poured. Snow did impact the project, slowing work down by forcing us to truck snow away from the site. No longer is it permissible to dump snow into the Fox River and the added task of removing it fell upon the crews at the site. Three weeks time was lost to the harsh winter weather. The land bridge is in place with only railings and landscaping left to finish. As predicted in the last blog, we are going to have the land bridge open when students return this fall, the academic year 2008-2009. The land bridge promises to be a success, both physical and aesthetic, bridging the central and eastern parts of the campus. Landscaping plans have been submitted and approved by the LU grounds crew! The river walk will extend from our property on the east, under Lawe Street to the sustainable garden, a.k.a SLUG (Sustainable Lawrence University Garden). An initial workshop has been held with our landscape architect, two members of Uihlein-Wilson architectural firm and four members of our faculty who teach or have taught environmental studies. Using the 2006 student river walk project as the basis for discussion and design, all workshop members were in accord philosophically. Like the land bridge, the river walk adds a new dimension to our engagement with and view of the river. As the project continues, so does my education. There are many crews at work on the building which represent the varied "trades". They are confined to their specialties but are often supported by Boldt Construction Laborers when timing requires or the task is massive. The Iron Workers, to date, have spent a tremendous amount of their time tying rebar. The rebar (re-enforcing bars) are the iron rods in the walls and slabs which must be tied together before concrete can be poured. Having just finished a pour of 684 cubic yards of concrete for level two, the iron workers prepared two walls on the east and north for the "pour." After a floor pour the Cement Finishers come in to level and finish the concrete. As mentioned, the Construction Laborers assist many trades, but so far have been responsible for placing much of the 10,000 cubic yards of concrete poured to date. The 10,000 cubic yards of concrete poured is enough to build to a sidewalk from Appleton to Green Bay. Another very visible trade on the site is the Carpenters. There are two groups within this trade. The carpenters who build the forms for the concrete and layout the project components are very much in evidence these days. Once the building is enclosed they will install the drywall and place the metal studs. The "Finishing Carpenters" construct ceilings, hang doors and install hardware and finished wood products throughout the building. Equipment Operators include the man operating the enormous crane, the men responsible for the concrete pump and "elephant trunk", the operators of forklifts and all of the excavation equipment. Throughout the project these men are guaranteed 2 hours of work, 5 days a week, rain or snow. Obviously, the power needed to operate the Campus Center requires Electricians. Their trade installs all of the power in the building, placing all conduit, including that for phone and data lines. The Plumbers are responsible for laying all of the PVC for drains, sewers and water piping and then install all of the toilets, sinks showers, water heaters and grease traps. The kitchen behind the servery, a very detailed job for plumbers, must be carefully coordinated with the work of electricians. Separate from the plumbers are the Steamfitters who install the HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air-conditioning) piping systems, equipment and chillers. They usually work with cast iron, steel, copper and stainless steel piping. The Sheet Metal workers follow the steamfitters and build/install the ductwork necessary for the air supply system and the air handling units. The Glazers and Masons begin their work once the Campus Center structure is in place. The glazers install the entire glass system including the curtain walls and the masons lay the exterior Fond du Lac stone and any concrete block required. Once the building is enclosed, the finish trades will work on the inside of the building, but I will save that for another blog. The building is really taking shape as it rises out of the ground. Progress continues as we pour more and more and more concrete! Stay tuned!! http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/2008/03/trading_up.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/2008/03/trading_up.html Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:42:39 +0000 The blasts of winter are upon us and as you probably expected it has slowed the work on the Campus Center however, not unexpected, Boldt is prepared. The cold weather has necessitated the rental of heaters to be put into the areas where concrete has been poured. Heating the area does not expedite the process but aids in the process of "curing'.To insure our concrete has dried without loss of strength, poured cylinders are removed and taken for evaluation by the engineers at River Valley Testing. No forms are removed from the site pourings until the engineers have approved the sample cylinders. The largest pouring occurred when 114 yards of concrete were delivered and "raked" into place for the floor of the dining area and the area backing up to Sage. That was a marathon day with the workers laboring from 6:30 am to 9:30 pm! The night lighting at the site was tremendous, I thought a circus had moved onto campus. One of the most difficult jobs during the cold weather is that of the iron workers. They must anchor and tie all of the rebars in place, a job that is a challenge without gloves! Boldt was prepared for all the cold weather demands and has adjusted their schedule. They are using the heaters on a daily basis and they had been reserved before the cold weather hit. Our land bridge is in place! What a massive effort it was with the 18 sections being carefully put into place. The administration and Campus Center teams are concerned about students, faculty and staff crossing Lawe Street as they await a safer route with the completion of the land bridge. The College Avenue bridge construction will force traffic to Lawe Street and our only crossing from the east to the west side of the campus is Lawe Street. With our largest food facility located to the east, the amount of foot traffic is significant. In tandem with Boldt we are escalating the schedule on the bridge and hope to have it safe and useable by the beginning of the next academic year. When touring our site I am continually struck by the size of our building and the land bridge. Sure, I knew all along that the building was 107,000 square feet and I knew the land bridge was going to be as wide as Riverview Lounge is long but seeing the reality, everything is much larger than I had imagined. Check it out! I was disappointed to read the staff editorial in the "Lawrentian" on January 24, 2008. The Campus Center Planning Committee, which includes student members feels that our new "hub" presents new opportunities for interaction as well as improved services. The writers of the editorial were misinformed about the offices currently residing in Raymond House and Brokaw. There is NO plan to move to these offices to the new building. In my mind, the advantages of our Campus Center outweigh even a period of "rough transition" At present Uihlein Wilson, the architects and Peter Schaupt, the landscape architect are at work on the details of the plaza in front of the Campus Center and the river walk. The initial design for the river walk was conceived by students in Andy Knudsen's environmental class. Theirs was a very thorough examination of the existing site and a creative use of the present plantings including proposed historic and informative signage. Again, we have an opportunity to enhance the campus with a user friendly and environmentally sound project. Details will be forth coming in another blog. http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/2008/01/snow_rain_and_falling_temperat.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/2008/01/snow_rain_and_falling_temperat.html Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:44:38 +0000 Much has taken place since last writing a blog. I will attempt to update readers with all of our incredible progress, credit going to Boldt, Uihlein Wilson and the two campus committees, Campus Center Construction Oversight Committee and the Campus Center Planning Committee. 3000 truck loads of earth have been removed and 600 truckloads (23 million pounds!) of concrete have been poured! We are on schedule and within budget!!!!! I will begin with an update of the land bridge over Lawe Street. The schedule for land bridge construction has been driven by the City of Appleton and the reconstruction of the College Avenue bridge which will begin in June 2008. Due to the College Avenue bridge being closed, all traffic will be diverted to Lawe Street. Lawe Street must be free of all construction when College Avenue is closed, therefore our land bridge has to be in place with all cranes, trucks and workmen out of the way. In the previous blog you learned the foot bridge had been "deconstructed". Our land bridge (no longer a foot bridge) progresses and includes the pouring of the abutments and the ordering of the concrete precast sections. After further measurements are taken, as the abutment concrete cures, 18 bridge sections weighing a total of 1,023,800 pounds, will be put into place in early January. The bridge will be partially complete once the sections are lowered into place, however, much work remains before the students will be allowed to use it. Welding, railings and the building of walkways and contours must be finished before the landscaping can be installed. We are projecting a date of October 2008 for pedestrian use of the bridge. The precast part of the bridge is going to be enhanced by large letters spelling out "Lawrence University" for all Lawe Street traffic, pedestrian or vehicular, to see. Our "Concrete Pour" was a success with the weather clearing for about 4 hours which was just enough time to stage our event. Peter Bennett and Nathan Litt, students on the CCPC, opened the chute for the concrete to slide into a form or mold called a "dead head." A "dead head" is used to keep the gang forms in place as the weighty concrete rushes into the "mold." ...and speaking of concrete, we will be pouring massive amounts of concrete from now until the end of April. We are pouring the structural slab on grade at elevation 743 this week. This slab will become part of the kitchen located to the north of the servery. A lot of thought and planning has gone into the security system, security cameras and audio/visual needs for this building. Why did we tackle this detailed project at this point? The conduit for all of these technical pieces has to be put into the concrete slabs which are currently being poured and will continue to be poured for the remaining floors. The nature of this building requires a great deal of audio visual equipment; speakers, mixers, lighting, and screens not to mention computers and all their paraphernalia. (You can tell I am not a techie nor do I speak the language.) Steve Hirby and Steve Armstrong have really kept their fingers on this process and "we couldn't have done it without them." We have solicited professional advice for some of the audio visual equipment to be recessed into soffits and ceilings ensuring the sought after aesthetic appearance of each room. "Vanilla" lighting, to quote our architect Del Wilson, has been selected. The "vanilla" lighting refers to all lighting which is not specialized for a space, for example special spaces like the Main Street, the cinema, etc. The vanilla lighting will be in the offices and work areas of the building and our choices were made with the help of Dan Meyer, LU energy guru, who continues to monitor the amount of energy we will be consuming in the new facility. Several lighting fixture samples for "Main Street" have been hung in the Science Hall Atrium to help the committee members make an informed choice. Proper lighting is so important and choosing the right lighting for spaces dedicated to special functions is crucial. The selection of kitchen equipment has been a process which has taken over a year. There are over 500 pieces of new equipment for the kitchen and some of our present equipment, in excellent condition, will be moved into the new facility. Patrick Niles, Director of Dining Services has poured over countless spec sheets and asked at least a million questions to ensure our kitchen equipment is energy efficient, the proper capacity and comes with a warranty or servicing program. The servery promises to provide variety and fresh food choices for the students and we expect our new kitchen equipment will help us reach this goal. The process of pouring concrete in cold weather employs unique techniques and is labor intensive. When next I "blog" I will cover that subject. http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/2007/12/a_bridge_many_meters_of_condui.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/2007/12/a_bridge_many_meters_of_condui.html Thu, 13 Dec 2007 18:03:38 +0000 The new campus Center continues to rise out of the ground. Legions of rebars have been tied and serve as additional support in the concrete, and that is just the beginning. In the past month there has been no shortage of noise, gigantic equipment, or progress. The project is only 3 days behind schedule, and we are making up the time. Delays were caused by the amount soil nailing required and the unexpected "treasures" we kept finding around Sage Hall, all in need of either repair or replacement! The footbridge over Lawe Street has been deconstructed ("demolished" has been banished from our construction vocabulary). The removal of the 75,000-lb. main section of the old bridge was an impressive feat. An additional crane placed on Lawe Street lifted this section out of the bridge and lowered it onto a waiting flatbed. I was sure the weight of the concrete and the flatbed might send the truck rolling down into the Fox instead of proceeding up to College Avenue, but 4 x 4s placed under the tires prevented the truck from rolling backwards. It wasn't until the truck driver revved his engine and was ready to inch forward that the blocks were removed. The concrete piers for the footbridge have been removed and crushed for chat to lay under paths and the pedestrian mall. Pilings have been driven for the new bridge piers. We appreciate the indulgence of the professors lecturing at Wriston and the Delta- and Beta-House residents. It was noisy! Although the barricading of Lawe Street is an inconvenience to students heading to Alexander and to employees working down in the flats, our bridge construction and the Lawe Street bridge must be completed before expansion work begins on the College Avenue bridge in the summer of 2008. I have written about safety in the past and continue to be amazed with Boldt's safety standards. The Boldt Company is definitely "proactive." All contractors and Boldt employees must read and sign off on the safety manual. Once a crew member signs the manual, a number is affixed to his hard hat confirming agreement to abide by the standards. Every day, the foreman reviews with his crew the risks and safety measures as well as the goals for that day. Boldt's Safety Department at the company headquarters makes weekly inspections on the site and directs the crews into a proactive mode for any potential risk situations. I was interested to learn that Boldt's standards often exceed OSHA standards. For example: OSHA requires men to "tie off" when they are 10' off the ground while Boldt requires a tie off at 6'. There is zero tolerance for any deviation from the "Employee Work Rules and Safety Manual." The precision with which construction takes place is very impressive. Jeff Lamers, the Boldt safety guru and site supervisor, operates a "Total Station" which collects data, computes calculations, and completes the trigonometry necessary to affix exact locations for excavations and foundations. Outagamie County has a coordinate system which is tied to the United States system. The hubs established by this system are used as control points for calculations to be transfered to any building site by an infrared light, providing accurate details for the construction crews. Once measurements are set and concrete poured, dimensions are reshot to insure that the precise location has been met. To readers of this blog: Our event marking the building of the Campus Center, a "Concrete Pour," will be held on October 18th at 10:30 am at the foot of Lawe Street. I hope each of you will attend and watch the massive crane deliver a bucket of concrete to our stage. We have a trolley to take you down to the site and return you to the top of the hill. There will be a fanfare to announce the "pour," favors to help relieve any stress you might be feeling and some treats! Join us for our celebratory "Concrete Pour." http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/2007/10/7220_tons_of_concrete_later_the_official_initial_concrete_pour.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/2007/10/7220_tons_of_concrete_later_the_official_initial_concrete_pour.html Coordinator's Notes Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:57:30 +0000 webcam you can see the form of the building actually rising out of the ground. The foundations are being poured and have been completed around the perimeter of the new building except for the south west corner of Sage, where excavating must continue before further pouring is undertaken. Despite the deluge rains forming a rather muddy pool at the lowest point of the excavation work preventing further digging, the construction has continued, and we are only two weeks behind our initial schedule. I continue to be amazed with the detail accomplished by large pieces of equipment. We are now into “neat digging” which allows the details of the structure to be provided “in the ground.” Due to the high clay content of the soil at this depth we are able to use the soil as the form into which the concrete is poured. Large back-hoes carve the exact measurements (“neat digging”) to prepare for the concrete pours. If you look at the webcam you can see the steps for the west side of the building, which have been poured. Neat digging! As you can also see on the webcam, the tower crane has been erected. I am told this is the highest crane and boom used in the Fox Valley to date. At 180 feet tall, this crane and boom can be seen up and down the Fox River as well as from the interior of the campus. A “house” has been built at the bottom of the crane to provide security for our “attractive nuisance.” Sporting three flashing red lights and one bright spot light, our crane is visible at night! Recently the Appleton Fire Department did safety training on the crane, training in the event there was a need for rescue on our site. It was quite a sight to see all sizes and shapes of garbed fire fighters up on the boom of the crane. The creation of the nine caissons was another interesting feat of engineering. The caissons, which are drilled down to bedrock, are dug with an immense auger, which periodically surfaces to get the excavated earth out of the hole. When the hole reaches a depth specified by the engineers a metal sleeve or casing is inserted into the hole to prevent the walls from collapsing. The sleeve/casing is lowered as the hole deepens and more sleeve added as necessary. Once the ultimate depth is reached the concrete is poured as the casing is “jacked up” and removed. One of the processes taking place in which we can take great pride is the reuse of materials. We are in line for a silver LEED certificate (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) which endorses the reuse of materials. The LEED certification is explained in detail on the link found on this website. Three good examples of the reuse of materials and efforts are (1) the tower crane needed to be erected on a five foot thick concrete pad. This pad is located exactly where we are going to install the west side elevator. When the tower crane is dismantled, the pad will remain for the elevator. (2) Previously, I told you about the 60,000 cubic yards of earth to be hauled away. Instead of all the earth going to a landfill, the topsoil has been stock-piled, to be returned to the site when landscaping takes place. (3) When the present footbridge is demolished the piers will be deconstructed and pulverized into chat. The chat will be used for underlayment on the John Street Plaza and other paved areas. The entire LEED certification is well worth the effort put into it. It certainly entails more paper work for the architects and contractors but insures future savings for Lawrence and for our earth. Working with Boldt Construction has been an enlightening and positive process. When next I log on, you'll hear more about this. Check out the webcam and the LEED link. ]]> http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/2007/08/caissons_cranes_concrete_and_c.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/2007/08/caissons_cranes_concrete_and_c.html Mon, 27 Aug 2007 21:04:06 +0000 I am thoroughly enjoying my new responsibility as Project Coordinator for the Lawrence University Campus Center. My fledgling journey has included new vocabulary words, learning about construction techniques and dealing with challenges. It has been an amazing ride. Prior to taking on the project I thought I knew what excavating was all about! As a child I had read the story of Mike Mulligan and his wonderful steam shovel, Mary Ann. I grew up near a community hospital which kept spreading out, adding more wings. Our neighborhood troup played in these chasms until a chain link fence was constructed, protecting the site and us, but not before we had carved out hiding places and "forts." I realized, once we began work on the Campus Center, I knew nothing about excavating! This process is incredible! The site is going to afford us fantastic views from all levels of the building. What a site to control and manage as Boldt's giant earth moving machines must carve exact measurements to enable us to create the structure which has been designed. We are removing 60,000 cubic yards of earth from the site. When we say the Campus Center is "nestled into the hill" we mean nestled! The earth being removed is being taken to two landfill areas north of Appleton. Most amazing is the precision with which these monster machines burrow through the soil producing the right dimensions for the next step in construction. The equipment operators are surgeons with hard hats! By the way, there are no more Mary Anns...the steam shovel has been replaced by the backhoe. Our new building is very close to Sage Hall and indeed connects with Sage on both the surface and below. On the surface, the new structure will connect with the Sage Terrace and foot paths, while the Campus Center delivery link will be underground with a garden on top, at street level. Because our new building is so close to Sage "soil nailing" became a necessity to hold our 1917 building right where it has been for the past 90 years. What is soil nailing? I didn't have a clue. Soil nailing is a process which shores the earth around and under a building. This is accomplished by digging and probing under the building with an auger 65 feet long which bores into the soil at a downward angle. After the bore is complete, long reinforcing bars are inserted into the hole and then they are surrounded by concrete which is pumped into this opening. Once the rebars are cemented in place, a very large cap (much like a bolt) is placed on the exposed rebars before they are anchored to the soil with a layer of wire mesh covered with concrete. It is amazing and one of the expenses the Campus Center Planning Committee, Boldt Construction and the architects, Uihlein-Wilson and KSS, felt essential to maintain the foundations of Sage and the general topography of the slope down to the river. Drilling caissons was another education venture for me and when next I log on, I'll describe this most creative technique. Lawrence is building a most incredible Campus Center!!! http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/2007/07/from_the_project_coordinators.html http://blogs.lawrence.edu/campuscenter/2007/07/from_the_project_coordinators.html Coordinator's Notes Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:29:56 +0000