From: Ronnie Smith, Vice Chancellor, Administration and Finance
Subject: Hurricane Katrina Recovery – Update #38
Posted: March 19, 2007

The LSUHSC Industrial Hygienist completed his development and review of the environmental remediation and duct cleaning bid specifications for the School of Dentistry’s Clinic and Administration buildings. The bid for the work has been issued. Bid responses are due back on April 2^nd, and we are hopeful that the contract will be issued and the work will begin on or about April 30^th.

LSUHSC Facility Services is finalizing their work with the Dental School architects on the plans for replacing the old ceiling tile in both the Clinic and Administration buildings. The design work for all of the upper floors has been completed and the final design concepts for the 1^st floor are being refined. A bid package will developed to address the ceiling tile replacement, a reception area on the 1^st floor of the Clinic Building, and the provision of two temporary spaces on the 1^st floor of the Clinic Building to support the School’s Central Supply operation, and the LSUHSC Facility Services and Supply Chain functions.

At 1542 Tulane Ave. the contractor continues to install additional electrical components and the last of the new submersible sump pumps that protect the basement spaces from the intrusion of ground water during heavy rains. Repair work on the various building elevators continues. Several of the critical change orders that address much of the remaining work needed to allow reoccupation of the building have been approved and the contractor is ordering parts and materials to support that work. LSUHSC is working closely with the design team to insure that all of the critical repairs have now been identified and are either included in a change order, or have been completed.

Elevator #1 in the Roman Street parking garage has been repaired. It has been inspected by the State elevator inspector and has been certified for normal use. The downtown campus architects have secured a testing company to assist in completing scope alignment work with FEMA. Repairs are continuing to be made at various downtown campus parking lots. LSUHSC has submitted a new Section 406 Hazard Mitigation proposal that will help to protect the many elevators around campus from any future flood waters.

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

Project to Make Temporary Repairs to the Dental School:

• LSUHSC Facility Services completed their bid specifications for the mold remediation and duct cleaning that is needed in the Clinic and Administration buildings.
  • Bids are due to be returned on April 2^nd. With no other delays, the contract should be let and the workers mobilized so that the actual work could begin on or about April 30^th.
  • The removal of the old ceiling tile grid is set to begin shortly.
  • The removal of damaged carpet (under a separate contract) is also scheduled to begin in the near future.
• The elevator contractor has continued to make progress on the repairs to the various building elevators.
  • The repairs made to Elevators #1, #2 and #4 in the Dental School Clinic Bldg. have been inspected by the State elevator inspector. The repairs have been properly completed and the elevators have been certified. Once the required emergency telephones are connected, the elevators will be available for use.
  • Repair work continued on the freight elevator, Elevator #3 in the Clinic Building, and the passenger elevators in the Administration Building.
• Louisiana Lift delivered a hydraulic man lift for the grounds crew to use when pruning and removing some of the damaged trees around the campus grounds.
• The contractor installed a replacement electrical panel on the 4^th floor, Auditorium C in the Administration Building.
  • There is one more electrical panel to be installed in the Clinic Building. The cellular telephone site on the roof will be affected when the existing panel is disconnected.
• The architect was on site to survey the ceiling area of the 1^st floor of the Clinic Building to finalize the new design for the ceiling.
  • The design for all of the upper floors has been completed.
  • Final design decisions are being made on the ceiling for the 1^st floor of the Clinic Building.
  • The final bid package will include the ceiling work, the provision of a reception area, and the construction of two temporary spaces on the 1^st floor to support the operations of Central Supply, Facility Services, and Supply Chain Management.
• BellSouth examined Room 2315-A as they plan for the provision of a phone line for the building fire alarm system and of 4 separate telephone lines for the elevators in the Clinic Building.
  • The work to prepare the room for the new telephone switch is substantially completed, with the exception of removing the old carpeting and installing tile.
  • BellSouth has scheduled their crews to begin the restoration work within the next few weeks.
• The manufacturer of the incinerator located on the Dental School campus has provided an estimate for repairs that are required to the flood damaged fire brick. The information has been forwarded to FEMA for their review.
• During the installation of the temporary dehumidification equipment at the Dental School last fall, a few of the walkway pavers were damaged. Carr Stone and Tile Co. repaired three of the damaged pavers.
• The contractor met at the site with two of the key subcontractors to discuss their respective punch list items that are left to complete.
  • Items on the punch lists include the glass drain line over the old mail room, the leaky water main in the horse shoe area, the 480v and 120v disconnects for the elevators, and drip pans in the new switch gear area.
• With the replacement of a substantial portion of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing equipment at the Dental School, the LSUHSC Facility Services personnel require significant training on the operations and proper maintenance of the newly installed equipment.
  • Gaudin Equipment & Supply and the mechanical sub-contractor conducted the 1^st round of training on the various pumping systems that now serve the buildings.
  • The 2^nd day of the training for LSUHSC Facility Services personnel was held in the pump room. The training focused on the operation and maintenance of the vacuum pump, medical gases, and the alarm panel for the medical gases.
  • The 3^rd day of the training addressed a variety of the remaining pieces of new mechanical equipment.
• The architects forwarded the final set of drawings for the repair and relocation of the Central Sterilization function to a 3^rd floor location to LSUHSC for their review.
  • This plan will be prepared and submitted to FEMA as a Section 406 Hazard Mitigation project as soon as the cost estimates are completed by the design team.
• Premier Equipment Corp came out to service the air compressor in the Power Plant and replaced a bad coil in the unit.
• The change order to provide for the repair and/or replacement of various exit doors required by the State Fire Marshal has been issued to the contractor.

Project to Make Temporary Repairs to 1542 Tulane Ave.:

• The contractor continues to install electrical panels in the basement to service the new sump pumps and the associated starters.
• The last sump pump and piping in the rear of 1542 Tulane Ave. basement has been installed. Pipe has been run to the city drain.
• The contractor has installed the variable frequency drives for the chilled water pumps.
• The project to insulate the new chilled water and steam pipes in the 1542 Tulane Ave. basement is also proceeding.
  • The insulation subcontractor has moved to the rear of the basement.
• The contractor continues to work on the installation of electrical panels and related wiring in the basement.
• Three of the major change orders that are necessary to allow the upper floors of the building to be reoccupied have been approved. This will allow the contractor to order parts and materials and begin working on these two critical elements.
  • LSUHSC is working closely with the architects & engineers to insure that all of remaining repairs needed to allow the reoccupation of the building have been identified and included on a change order, or have been completed.
• Repairs to the sprinkler system piping are being made.

Miscellaneous:

• Elevator #1 in the Roman Street parking garage has been repaired. It has been inspected by the State elevator inspector and has been certified for normal use.
• The downtown campus architects have secured a testing company to assist in assessing and quantifying additional storm-related damage that may have been concealed within building components or not otherwise obvious to a visual inspection. That team spent a week on campus; gathering samples, taking corings, removing portions of building systems to allow for inspection, etc.
  • In most instances, samples that were gathered will be subjected to laboratory testing to identify potential contamination, breakdowns of the material, corrosion, etc.
  • All the results will be sent back to the architects and engineers to be used as additional tools in completing the scope alignment process with FEMA.
• Repairs to the electrical systems supplying the downtown campus parking lot controls are continuing.
  • The contractor finished the repairs to the unistrut in Student Lot 1 and resolved the problems with the power at the exit gate for the 440 Perdido Lot.
    • JL Roberts has been contacted about the communication issues with the exit gate in the same (440 Perdido) lot. 
  • The Talk-a-Phones are to be programmed with phone numbers by LSUHSC Facility Services personnel so they can be tested. 
  • JL Roberts is continuing their work on the repairs to the communication components of the parking lot controls covered by their contract. 
• LSUHSC has prepared and submitted a new Section 406 Hazard Mitigation proposal to FEMA through the State. The proposal provides additional automation and special control of elevators around the campus that will help to minimize the potential for damage should the campuses experience a similar event in the future.
  • The control system will allow LSUHSC Facilities personnel at a central location to override normal the fire/safety pre-sets that send elevators to the 1^st floors when power is lost in the buildings.
  • The boards and controls would be programmed to move the elevators to selected upper floor locations where the elevator cabs and the cables beneath them would be kept out of any flood waters; protecting them from damage from rising water.
  • LSUHSC will proceed with securing a contract for this work as soon as we receive FEMA’s approval of the proposal.

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