From: Ronnie Smith, Vice Chancellor, Administration and Finance
Subject: Hurricane Katrina Recovery – Update #20
Posted: July 10, 2006

The efforts to complete temporary repairs that will allow us to reoccupy the last of our major buildings on both the downtown campus and the Dental School campus continue.  The environmental remediation work at 1542 Tulane Ave. is largely completed.  The remaining cleaning of duct work on upper floors and the removal of flood damaged walls in the basement is all that remain to be finished.  The contractor who has been selected to make temporary repairs to the building’s electrical system and other key mechanical systems is beginning work at this time.  Mid-August remains the target for completing this work, but some key items have long lead times and the availability of some items may impact the schedule.

The two contractors responsible for making the temporary repairs to the School of Dentistry’s Clinic and Administration Buildings continue to press towards completion of their respective contracts.  Both contracts were estimated by the architects to be more than 90% completed on 6/30/06.  Parts continue to arrive and are installed promptly. 

LSUHSC Facilities and Property has been working on plans to provide temporary protective measures for critical building components for the 2006 hurricane season.  FEMA is generally willing to reimburse the costs of reasonable, effective measures taken to protect the temporary repairs that have been made, so they will be an integral part of this process and plans are finalized and bids are solicited.

Both of the design teams (architects & engineers) are continuing to work closely with our FEMA team to reconcile their assessments of the damage to the various buildings with the FEMA team’s assessments.  This task is critical, as it will insure that as specifications are developed for the permanent repairs, the scope of work in the bids will be fully eligible for FEMA reimbursement.  The eventual permanent repairs will also involve the elevation of critical building components and functions to prevent repetitive damage should a similar event ever occur.  The planning for this work by both the downtown campus and Dental School design teams is underway.  Concepts continue to be refined and shared with FEMA as they are developed.

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

• Work on the 3^rd environmental remediation contract addressing the balance of the buildings and facilities on the downtown campus is underway.  While the remediation work is underway, access to the entire building remains restricted.  When air sampling results are received indicating that the remediation has been successful, we will again allow access to the building.  Specific updates on progress are as follows:
  • 8^th Floor:  Cleaning is complete.
  • 7^th Floor: Cleaning is complete.
  • 6^th Floor: Cleaning is complete.
  • 5^th Floor: Cleaning is complete.
  • 4^th Floor: Cleaning is complete.
  • 3^rd Floor: Cleaning is complete.
  • 2^nd Floor: Cleaning should be completed during the week of 7/10/06.
  • 1^st Floor: Cleaning should be completed during the week of 7/10/06.
  • Mechanical Rooms:  Cleaning is in progress on the 7^th, 6^th and 5^th floors.
  • Duct Work:  The duct work on the 8^th, 5th and 4^th floor has been cleaned.  The cleaning of the ducts on the 1^st floor is in progress.
  • Basement:  The required asbestos abatement is complete and the clearances have been received.  The demolition of flood damaged walls (non-structural) has begun and approximately 40% of the walls have already been removed.  The balance of this work will be completed shortly.
  • Post-cleaning testing and monitoring results are starting to come in and generally look good.
• The temporary repairs to the School of Dentistry Clinic and Administration buildings continue.      
  • The city pumps, soft water pumps, air dryers for the air compressors, and the expansion tank for hot water have been installed at the Dental School.
  • The emergency generator is in place.
  • The new, temporary fire walls that have been built on the 1^st floor have been painted. 
  • The fan coil air units have been installed and are being piped.
  • The elevator pits have been pumped out and are being accessed by the elevator repair contractor. 
• The permanent repairs to building elevators continue. Elevators that have been repaired, inspected and certified for passenger use include:
  • All of the Stanislaus Hall elevators.
  • All five of the elevators in the Lion’s/LSU Clinic Building.  
    • Repairs to the damaged elevator floors have been completed.
  • The MEB elevators. 
    • Repairs to the damaged elevator floors are now complete.
  • The elevators in the Residence Hall.
    • Repairs to the damaged elevator floors in the “B” and “C” towers are now complete.
  • The passenger elevators in the Nursing/Allied Health Building.  
    • Repairs to the damaged elevator floors are now complete.
  • Two passenger elevators in the Resource Center. 
  • Repairs to the freight elevators in both the Nursing/Allied Health Building and the Resource Center are complete.  
    • The State Elevator Inspector was scheduled to conduct the inspections on Monday, June 26^th, but scheduling conflicts prevented the inspections from occurring.  The Inspector will reschedule these inspections as time permits.
  • Roman St. Parking Garage – The contractor has begun making repairs to the two passenger elevators. 
  • Dental School Clinic and Administration Buildings:  The elevator pits have been pumped out and the contractor is now able to access the pits and make the final determinations regarding damage and needed repairs.
• The contractor for the permanent repairs to the MEB Lecture Rooms, the Gross Anatomy Lab, the Morgue, and the Multidisciplinary Labs has crews on site and is progressing on the work.  
  • The sheetrock in the two large Lecture Halls has been installed, taped and floated.  All the new sheetrock has been primed and the painting has just been completed. 
  • The contractor has completed the replacement of the damaged ceiling tiles in the Gross Anatomy Lab.
  • The installation of new floor tiles in the MDL’s has been completed.
  • The application of the new epoxy floors in the Gross Anatomy Lab and the Morgue will begin early this week.  The floors are being prepared for the application of the new surface at this time.
  • All of the rough in work for the enhanced electrical and network wiring in the two large Lecture Halls has been completed.
  • MEB Lecture Halls – The new doors and related hardware have been installed.
  • The floor of the 1^st floor air handler unit room in the MEB has been painted.   
  • The return air grills for the MEB Seminar Rooms have been received and approximately 60% of them have been installed. 
• The contract for the repairs to the emergency generators at the CSRB, MEB, Lion’s Eye Center, Nursing/Allied Health Bldg., Resource Center and the Residence Hall has been awarded.  The following is the most recent status of the repairs:
  • The repairs have been completed on the roof mounted generator at the MEB.
  • CSRB – the generator has been repaired, fueled, and tested.  Power is available to outlets and emergency lights, but two other transfer switches require some additional adjustments.   
  • Lion’s/LSU Clinic Building – the generator has been repaired, fueled, and successfully tested.  
  • Residence Hall – Both of the emergency generators for the Residence Hall have been installed and successfully tested.   
  • MEB – the generator has been reassembled.  The initial testing revealed a bad voltage regulator and the replacement part has been ordered. 
  • Nursing/Allied Health – The repairs are complete and the generator has been successfully tested.  However, problems with the transfer switch for the elevators have surfaced and are being addressed.
• After experiencing intermittent, short term power outages in the CSRB, the switch gear manufacturer’s representative was requested to perform further tests of the switchgear to determine the need for additional temporary repairs.   Repairs have been determined to require the replacement of the building feeders which require shut downs of power to portions of the building. 
  • The replacement of the CSRB riser feeders that serve the Perdido side of the building was completed during the last outage – June 23rd and 24th. 
  • The B riser which serves the opposite side of the building - the half closest to the Lion’s Eye Building, was completed this weekend, July 7th and 8th.
  • We are optimistic that the replacement of this last riser will permanently resolve the intermittent power problems in the building.
• A contract has been issued for repairs to the medical air compressors, vacuum pumps and water purifiers at the CSRB, Lion’s Eye Center and the MEB.  All of the repairs have now been completed and the systems in each building are operational. 
• The contractor responsible for providing temporary electrical power to the P3 lab at 1542 Tulane has completed the work and stable power is now available.  When the temporary power is restored to 1542 Tulane, the P3 lab will be switched back over to the building power source.
• Bids have been received, evaluated and a contract has been awarded for additional repairs to the chilled water pump and related mechanical/electrical components in the Central Utility Plant.  These additional repairs will insure that we have sufficient chilled water capacity for the hottest summer months and also have a redundant pumping system should one fail or require repairs.
• The installation of wireless network connections in the 3^rd Floor Seminar Rooms in the MEB has been completed and successfully tested.

Please continue to follow our progress through our Daily Updates that are also available on the web site.