From: Ronnie Smith, Vice Chancellor, Administration and Finance
Subject: Hurricane Katrina Recovery – Update #52
Posted: September 28, 2007

Temporary repairs continue to be made at 1542 Tulane Ave. The emergency generator is in place and the connections to the building systems are being made at this time. The restoration of the building control system is progressing well. The replacement of the obsolete fire alarm system is well underway. Plans are being made to receive chilled water from Entergy Thermal by late in October as part of restoring A/C to the building. Repairs to building elevators are progressing well and Elevator #2 may soon be certified for normal use. We have developed a project plan with critical path items identified that will guide us as we move towards re-opening a portion of the building in the months ahead.

Work on the 1^st floor of the Dental School Clinic Building is moving forward rapidly. The walls have been constructed, dry walled, taped and floated. The majority of the walls have also been painted. The mechanical room has been completed and one of the 1^st floor air handlers is already in operation. Ceiling work on the 1^st floor is approximately 70% complete. The Central Sterilization unit is now in operation, although the washers cannot be used until the reverse osmosis system that works with the washers has been sterilized. That work is planned to be completed within the next week.

A variety of enhancement projects around the downtown campus continue to move forward. The old sidewalks have been removed and new sidewalks have been poured around the Residence Hall. The installation of the irrigation system around both the MEB and the Allied Health/Nursing Building is substantially complete. Planting can now begin in those areas.

A new and enhanced Starbucks kiosk has been constructed in the MEB Atrium and is in operation, while work in the MEB cafeteria continues to progress. The new MEB Morgue coolers and freezers are under construction and the work is progressing on schedule.

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:

• 1st Floor Clinic Building Projects
  • The construction of the fur down in the 1st floor elevator lobby in the Clinic Building is complete and the sheet rock has been installed, taped and floated,
  • The walls in the lobby area, including the curved wall section have been framed and the sheet rock has been installed.
    • All the walls have been taped and floated.
    • All the walls except the curved wall at the reception desk have been painted.
  • The lighting fixtures and switches are being installed throughout the main lobby area and work is progressing.
  • The equipment in the mechanical room located in area 3 is connected and the electrical panel is being tested and labeled.
    • The installation of the mechanical room controls is complete and equipment testing has begun.
    • The air handler in area 1 is operational.
  • The installation of new ceiling grid in the Clinic Building 1st floor elevator lobby has begun.
    • The walls are complete and being prepped for painting.
    • The ceiling light fixtures are installed and Landis is waiting for the final painting to be completed to install trim.
• Central Sterilization
  • The remaining equipment related to the Central Sterilization operation is now installed and connected.
    • Getinge has trained the School of Dentistry staff on the operation of the new sterilization equipment.
    • The Dental School staff are now using the sterilization equipment.
• Landis has received the punch list from the architect and is working on addressing the items.
  • A Change Order is required to relocate the cut off valves for the sterilizer and to add an additional air line.
    • The Change Order has been issued to Landis for this work and the work has been completed.
  • The Reverse Osmosis (RO) system has been inspected and tested.
    • Siemens evaluated the RO system and has recommended that the system be sanitized (similar to the way the Domestic water was sanitized.)
    • Siemens has been issued a PO to sanitize and flush the reverse osmosis water system.
    • This system supports the washers in the Central Sterilization unit, so they are not yet in operation.
  • Siemens will begin decontaminating the RO system next week.

• Miscellaneous:
  • The process of removing old HVAC inline zone dampers and installing new ones is proceeding throughout the buildings.
    • The work is being coordinated so that it does not interrupt classes or clinical operations during the day.
  • Doors for the new network/telecom closets should be arriving soon and the final build out will occur once they arrive.
  • Site lighting installation and replacement is complete and the we are awaiting connection of power by Entergy.

Project to Make Temporary Repairs to 1542 Tulane Ave.:

• Fire Alarm System:
  • All of the new fire alarm device boxes have been installed on Floors 1 through 8.
  • Siemens finished installing conduit to the fire alarm device boxes in the basement.
  • They are installing conduit on the 2nd floor.
  • The conduit is being re-routed in the basement.
• Elevator Repairs:
  • Stratos completed the installation of the buffer for Elevator #2.
    • They are replacing the door guides on the elevator.
    • They are continuing to make final adjustments to Elevator #2.
    • The phone line to Elevator #2 has been programmed.
    • Stratos will be scheduling an inspection by the State Elevator Inspector in the near future.
  • Stratos Elevator continues to wire the controllers for Elevators #7 and #8 to allow the elevators to run on inspection mode.
    • They are installing new wiring for the controller for Elevator #8.
    • Stratos is removing the buffers on Elevator #8.
    • Stratos started installing the door guides for Elevator #8 on floors 6 through 8.
• Emergency Generator:
  • Conduit has been installed from the junction box in the basement to a junction box in the parking lot.
  • Ordes set the temporary emergency generator on the new concrete foundation and they are making the connections to the building.
  • Ordes has installed the grounding rods and is installed the new conduit from the junction box in the parking lot to the new generator.
  • They are connecting the generator's internal control wiring.
  • Ordes Electric completed all of the conduit installation for the emergency generator.
  • Ordes installed 110V circuits from emergency panel EPL1 to the emergency generator for the battery charger and other miscellaneous generator power requirements.

Misc.

• Pneumatic tubing is being installed in the basement for the building control system.
• Entergy Thermal completed the pressure washing of the heat exchanger plates for the Energy Transfer Station.
• Siemens continues to re-route conduit in the basement.
• Arc Mechanical is replacing the pressure gauges on the Energy Transfer Station and is making a materials list for the installation of the pre-cooler for the main air compressor.

Downtown Campus Landscaping Project:

• Crews resumed the installation of the irrigation piping on the Gravier St. side of the Allied Health/Nursing Building.
  • The layout for the irrigation piping has been completed on the Gravier St. side of the Allied Health/Nursing Building.
  • The trenching for the irrigation sprinkler piping on the Gravier St. side of the Allied Health/Nursing building is complete.
  • All of the irrigation valves have been installed at the Allied Health/Nursing Building.
  • Irrigation station 2 located on the Gravier St. side of the Allied Health/Nursing Building has been installed.
  • All of the pipes and sprinklers have been installed and the trenches and holes have been backfilled.
  • Irrigation station # 3, #4, #5, and #6 on the Gravier St. side of the Allied Health/Nursing Building and along the Bolivar St. side of Allied Health/Nursing has been installed.
  • The final grading on the Gravier St. side of the Allied Health/Nursing Building closer to S. Roman St. is underway.
• Crews installed sleeves under the forms built for the new sidewalks on the Bolivar St. and Perdido St. sides of　the Residence Hall for future irrigation piping.　
• Crews completed the installation of the irrigation valves around the MEB.
  • Crews also resumed the installation of irrigation valve boxes around the valves previously installed around the MEB.
• The crews completed sealing the last of the 4 inch sleeves under walkways with PVC caps.
• The wiring between the junction box for irrigation valve wires and the irrigation controller was completed.

Cafeteria Project:

• The new bench seating which will be installed along all the curved walls was delivered.
  • In addition, half of the booths that will go in the center of the cafeteria and the curved booths for the platform were also received on site and placed in their approximate positions.
• The contractor is installing the feature wall and the remaining booth sections.
• The terrazzo base is also being installed.
• Merit Sprinkler is scheduled to relocate the one sprinkler head that is in conflict with the feature wall installation.
• Custom casework is being installed as it arrives on site.

MEB Atrium:

• The new and expanded Starbuck coffee kiosk is substantially complete and is back in operation.

MEB Morgue:

• The new concrete slab has been completed.
• The rough in of the electrical wiring is complete.
• The control panels for two coolers and the new walk in freezer have been installed.
• The new insulated wall panels are being delivered from the manufacturer and are being installed as they are received.
• The new condensing units are being installed.
  • The refrigeration lines and condenser water lines have been run to each condenser unit and these have been insulated.　
  • The control panels for each condenser unit have also been hung.

Downtown Campus Sidewalks:

• In our continuing effort to maintain and improve our campuses, we scheduled a sidewalk improvement project in the immediate area of the Residence Hall. The contractor began working on 9/13/07 and worked daily from 6:30 AM until 3:00 PM (as weather permitted). The work was scheduled to be completed within 3 weeks, as outlined below.
  • PHASE 1: Bolivar St. sidewalks (both sides) between Perdido & Poydras.
    • All of Phase 1 work has been completed, with the exception of a 12 foot section that could not be poured due to a water leak. Once the Sewerage & Water Board repairs the leak, the section will be poured.
  • PHASE 2: Perdido St. sidewalk (Residence Hall side only) between Bolivar & S. Roman.
    • All of the Phase 2 work has been completed.
  • PHASE 3: S. Roman St. sidewalk (Residence Hall side only) between Perdido & Poydras.
    • All of the Phase 3 work was completed at the end of this week.

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