Construction will finishin November
To students, Utah State University should seem a little less congested near the end of this semester.
Construction of the main tunnel for the new steam heating lines is scheduled to be completed and in use by the end of November, opening up most of the walkway currently blocked for pedestrian traffic, Dave Buttars, a project superintendent, said.
The main tunnel is complete and there is an opening in the tunnel’s roof to allow for the 40-foot pipes which will carry the steam to the buildings to be lowered into the tunnel and installed, Buttars said. The tunnel by the Chase Fine Arts Center has already been completed, he said.
Judd Hamson, assistant project manager, said one of the biggest challenges of the project has been working around students.
“You’re not digging in the middle of a field, you affect every part of campus. You have to stop at about 20 minutes after every hour,” Hamson said.
Dave Boudrero, project manager for Cache Valley Electric, said the overall cooperation between campus officials and the contractors has been great. Campus officials met with the contractors to plan utility outages and other aspects of the project on a weekly basis, he said. Utility lines had to be moved and most were replaced as a result of the tunnel, he said.
Hamson said a 24-foot-wide pedestrian mall from the Spectrum to the Geology Building will be in place sometime this fall and the landscape sometime next spring. The mall will include arbors and benches, as well as new trees.
Construction will continue on campus until June 2002 when additional tunnels will be completed to other parts of campus, Hamson said.