From: Ronnie Smith, Vice Chancellor, Administration and Finance
Subject: Hurricane Katrina Recovery – Update #50
Posted: August 31, 2007

On August 23^rd, the State Fire Marshal granted a temporary (30 day) occupancy permit for the Dental School Clinic and Administration Buildings. There were a number of small items identified during the inspection that are being addressed so that the occupancy permit can be made permanent. On Thursday, August 30, 2007, Mr. George Thiaville of the State of Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshall conducted a re-inspection of the 1100 Florida Avenue property as a follow-up to his inspection the week before. The Fire Marshall (FM) found that LSUHSC-NO had corrected all items noted for correction on the August 23, 2007 inspection report. Therefore, LSUHSC has been granted full occupancy of the Clinic and Administration buildings with the exception of the 1^st floor.　

The Dental School is moving furniture, equipment, files, etc. back from their temporary home on the LSU A&M South Campus in Baton Rouge and they anticipate starting classes and seeing patients in the near future. As was true for the downtown campus buildings, the 1^st floors have not had their permanent repairs planned or completed. The main entrance into the buildings will be through the 1^st floor of the Clinic Building, where temporary repairs have been made and a reception area is being prepared.

Work at the Dental School also continues in a few areas. The Central Sterilization unit is expected to be back in operation in its new 3^rd floor location within the next week or so. Areas of the 2^nd floor of the Administration Building are being carpeted. Auxiliary Enterprises will be establishing a temporary food service area on the 4^th floor walkway between the buildings, and a temporary Bookstore in a portion of the space currently occupied by the Library. Temporary work spaces for Facility Services, Supply Chain Management, and Dental Central Supply are being constructed on the 1^st floor of the Clinic Building. The installation of new ceilings on the 1^st floor of the Clinic is just getting underway. The restoration of the exterior lighting in the parking lots and grounds is substantially complete.

The potable water lines at the Dental School Administration and Clinic Buildings will be treated with chlorine starting Friday, August 31st, from 8:30 am to Monday, September 3rd at 1:00 pm. Contractors will be shocking the water system and the water lines will be filled with chlorine. As a result, the water will be non-potable and students, faculty and staff are urged not to drink the water or use it for washing hands until Monday afternoon. The chlorine must sit in the pipes and will be flushed on Monday morning, September 3^rd.

Temporary repairs continue to be made at 1542 Tulane Ave. The final stages of work to restore power to the remaining portions of the building are substantially complete. There remain a few spot outages that are being researched and repaired. The replacement of the flood damaged and obsolete fire alarm system is progressing well. The old devices have been removed and new wiring is being pulled throughout the building as necessary. The temporary emergency generator is on site and the work on the construction of a foundation is getting underway. A change proposal to repair the water softener system has been approved and work will begin on repairs shortly.

In our efforts to continuously maintain and improve our facilities, we are scheduling the painting of the Main Campus elevated walkway. From 6:00 PM until 6:00 AM each day for the period of Tuesday, September 4, 2007 through Wednesday, October 3, 2007, portions of the walkway will be partially blocked off by our contractor, Zimmer-Eschette. It is our plan to maintain at least half of all passageways clear at all times to ensure continuous access. The areas affected will include the sections leading to the Resource Center, South Roman Parking Garage, Allied Health/School of Nursing, Lions/LSU Clinics, Clinical Sciences, and Medical Education buildings. The Walk to Wellness section will not be affected.

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:

• The final environmental remediation and duct cleaning contract is substantially complete.
  • One air handler has required re-cleaning and testing.
• The project to upgrade the network infrastructure is substantially complete.
  • Doors for the new network/telecom closets have not yet been delivered and installed.
  • The network upgrades have been completed and the network is in operation.
• The telephone switch has been installed and telephone instruments are being tested and installed.
• The contract to restore the Central Sterilization function in the 3rd floor location in the Clinic Building space is nearing completion.
  • Both of the sterilizers were moved into their final positions.
  • The floor leveling is complete and the new flooring has been installed.
  • The installation of the last of the peripheral equipment is substantially complete.
  • The system is expected to be operational within the next week.
• The repairs to the exterior site lighting and the electrical work necessary to power the parking lot controls are substantially complete.
  • The light poles and fixtures have been delivered and most have been installed.
  • The power has been restored to the parking lot control devices.
• Carpet and floor tile is being installed on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Administration Building.
  • The carpeting of Auditorium C has been completed.
  • The installation of carpet in the Dean's office is complete.
  • The installation of new carpet on the 2nd floor of the Administration Building is complete except for some threshold and transition pieces.
• A change order proposal to replace a number of HVAC inline dampers in the buildings has been received and approved.
  • LSUHSC had a limited number of dampers on site and several of the dampers have been installed.
  • Some of the old dampers have been found to be sealed with tape that contains asbestos. A small contract has been issued for the removal of the asbestos tape so that the remainder of the old dampers can be removed.
  • The rest of the dampers are on order and are expected any day.
• The repairs to the compressed air line running through the utility tunnel from the Power Plant to the Clinic Building and the related equipment has been completed.
• Representatives of the roof testing company completed their analysis and provided the results to the architects.
  • The test results and the architects’ recommendation to replace the roofs on the Clinic and Administration Building have been forwarded to FEMA for their consideration.
  • The architects are nearing completion of the construction and bid documents for this work. They are scheduled to be delivered early next week.
  • If FEMA concurs with the recommendation to replace the roofs, bids for the project can be advertised.
• The freight elevator is now operating in manual mode with an operator.
  • Work on the elevator disconnects has been completed.
  • We are hopeful that the freight elevator will be certified by the State Elevator Inspector for normal use within the next three weeks.

• Work on the Change Order to create temporary work spaces for Supply Chain Management, Facility Services and Central Supply on the 1st floor of the Clinic Building has begun.
  • Landis has leveled the floor in areas 1 and 2.
  • The final connections to the temporary AHUs have been made.
  • The walls in the elevator lobby are being taped and floated and are ready for paint.
  • Electrical connections to outlets and switches have been made in areas 1 and 2.
  • The lights have been installed in area 2.
  • The fire panel annunciator was installed near the temporary security desk on the 1st floor.
  • The walls in area 3 are being sheet rocked.
  • Minor amounts of Asbestos identified in the 1st floor mechanical room will be abated this weekend allowing Landis to complete connections for the air handling unit (AHU) in area 3.
  • The construction and installation of temporary doors leading from the public space on the 1^st floor to areas 1 and 2 is complete.
    • When the regular doors are delivered, they will be installed and the temporary doors removed.
  • The construction of the fur down in the elevator lobby is substantially complete.
  • Electrical wiring continues to be run throughout area 3.
  • The construction of the mechanical room in area 3 is nearly complete.
    • Electrical equipment is being installed.

• The damaged acid waste pipe located in the ceiling area of the 1st floor of the Clinic Building has been removed.
  • The majority of piping has been installed on the first floor with only a few more connections needed.
• The new furniture for the Clinic waiting areas arrived and is being assembled.

Project to Make Temporary Repairs to 1542 Tulane Ave.:

• Ordes successfully completed the scheduled shut-down and installation of the current transformers and amp meter of sub-station PL-1.
  • Three of the remaining 4th floor riser fuses have been delivered to the site and installed.
• Ordes is making preparations for the installation of the emergency generator.
  • Ordes removed their storage container from the site to make room for the construction and installation of the concrete foundation for the temporary generator.
  • The layout for the foundation is complete.
• Siemens is still removing the obsolete fire alarm devices and the related wiring on the upper floors of the building.
  • They have installed a new riser for the fire alarm wiring and is pulling wire through the new riser.
  • They have been adding junction boxes on each floor in the new fire alarm riser.
  • Siemens is routing conduit from the new riser through the basement to the fire alarm cabinets on the 1st floor.
• Stratos continues their repair work on Elevator #2.
  • They installed the tape selector and the TLS box which controls the elevator leveling for Elevator #2.
  • They are terminating the wiring of the travel cables for Elevator #2.
  • Stratos is replacing damaged equipment on top of the elevator car.
• Stratos re-programmed the phone line for Elevator #3.
• Stratos is also working on the installation of the controllers for Elevators #7 and #8, installing new conduit and wiring connections.
  • The new cabs for Elevators #7 & #8 have been delivered.

• Ordes delivered and installed the interim emergency generator secured by LSUHSC to serve until the temporary emergency generator foundation is build and the generator is mounted and connected.
  • This interim generator will automatically power the basement sump pumps in the event of a power outage.
  • It is connected to the ATS and will energize when the city power is lost.
• The contractor also connected power to gate controllers at the L & M Lot and the Lakeside Lot.

Downtown Campus Landscaping Project:

• The crews cleaned and graded the new planting beds on the S. Prieur St. side of the Lions/LSU Clinic Building.　
• Four new Savannah holly trees were planted on the S. Prieur St. side of the Lions/LSU Clinic Building.
• The crews continued planting on the S. Prieur St. side of the Lions/LSU Clinic Building and completed the planting of the remaining bushes. This completes the planting around the building.
• Crews sprayed turf areas on the Gravier St. side of the Allied Health/Nursing Building with herbicide to kill the existing vegetation as they prepare to create new planting beds.
• Crews also worked on preparing trenches on Bolivar St. side of the MEB and the Allied Health/Nursing Building to run the wire for controlling the irrigation system.

MEB Cafeteria Project:

• Most of the hanging light fixtures have been installed.
  • Lights around the perimeter where booths, etc. will be installed beneath the fixtures locations will not be installed until the furniture has been delivered and set in place.
• The frames for the curved glass wall along the hallway have been installed.
  • All of the glass panels have been installed in the frames.
• A new Starbucks Coffee kiosk is being assembled in the atrium between the Allied Health/Nursing Building and the MEB.

MEB Duct Cleaning:

• The cleaning of the 5th floor ducts is complete.
• The cleaning of the 6^th floor ducts is complete.
• The cleaning of the 7^th floor ducts is complete.
• The project is complete.

MEB Morgue Upgrade:

• The original morgue cooler in the MEB had not been upgraded since the building was constructed. Significant changes and enhancements within the industry have come about since that time, so a new cooler and related storage has been purchased.
  • The old cooler has been demolished to make way for the new cooler installation.
  • The new concrete floor has been poured.
  • The new insulated panels that will make up the walls and ceiling of the cooler are scheduled to be delivered next week,
  • The current target date for completion of the work is in early October.

Campus Security:

• A project is underway to replace all of the old lights in the Roman St. Garage with new lights that are both brighter and more energy efficient. The result will be brighter light throughout the parking garage, without any increase in energy consumption.
  • Lights have been replaced throughout the entire garage structure.

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