Hard Hat News

Week of APRIL 9-13

NOISE ABATING

Ear plugs will still be in fashion for the next several weeks, but the high volume work will be diminishing. The coring through the concrete desk IS FINISHED. There will still be drilling into the concrete deck and walls for plumbing, electric and HVAC (Heating, Venting and Air Conditioning) work.

EXTERIOR WORK

Still waiting to see the light….literally. Coming soon, but not this week, is the removal of the concrete blocks, the placement of window frames and installing the windows.

BASEMENT BUSINESS

The Owner’s Representatives (that’s Rick, Carol, Paul and Richard) emphasized that the collections, equipment and objects in the basement may only look “old”, and of little value, but that much of the basement material is archival and rare items. The contractor has assured Rick that materials will be tarped before work begins that generates grit from drilled concrete and that library staff will be noticed if any items are moved in the basement. The “burning” smell and smoke in the basement was the result of use of wet concrete cement saws cutting holes to locate plumbing pipes. That same process resulted in puddles in the basement. This work is done so there should not be anymore smoke and water.

THE NITTY, GRITTY

What is discussed, besides noise and cleanup, at the meetings? The details of the construction. This week the size and type of electric boxes for floor outlets, door locks, and interior glass was decided. Each of the 8 doors had to be identified with the type of lock and level of key. Facility maintenance was part of this discussion and also for a discussion of adding conduit for security alarms and projectors – these were not in the original plans. A major challenge for the contractor is the appearance and disappearance of plumbing pipes and connections. The building plans are not accurate and some work is taking much longer because, after drilling/coring through concrete, the workers are finding steel where there was none marked and not finding plumbing connections where they were expected.