CHRIS BACKLEY/Daily Bruin Narcizo Garcia
works on the Chilled Water Line Extension Project at the
construction site that occupies half of Bruin Walk.
By Trucmai Nguyen
Daily Bruin Contributor
Maintenance work on the plumbing and electrical wiring in the
Men’s Gymnasium and the Chilled Water Line Extension Project
have forced pedestrians on Bruin Walk to maneuver around tractors
and 16-wheel trucks only to be deterred from their course by a
fence wrapped along the south side of the Men’s Gym.
The Chilled Water Line Extension Project aims to connect the
large chilled water system that provides air conditioning and
cooling to the buildings on the south side of campus to the smaller
system on the north side.
Within a fenced-off area, facilities workers are digging a
trench halfway up the walk deep enough to fit several workers. The
excavation produces approximately eight to 10 truckloads of dirt a
day and should, according to Director of UCLA Energy Services Dave
Johnson, be completed by Tuesday.
Johnson, however, described current construction activities as
merely the first phase in an extensive undertaking.
Phase one, which is scheduled to last from July 2 through Sept.
2, will lay pipes in the ground stretching from the Men’s Gym
to the edge of Taco Bell. Eventually two pipes, each 24 inches in
diameter, will extend the length from the Men’s Gym to the
north side of Royce Hall.
“Our plan here,” Johnson said, “is to be done
(with phase one) before the census of the campus
increases.”
The Chilled Water Line Extension Project is a state-funded
utilities venture handled by the UCLA Facilities Management Office,
according to Johnson.
“The (University of California Office of the President)
has been purchasing bonds to bring the infrastructure up to par for
all campuses,” said Gail Cowling, executive officer in the
Office of the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Facilities.
UCLA is heading into its fourth year of a five-year plan to
maintain and renovate buildings and the rest of campus.
An average of $14 to $15 million per year is offered by the
state for maintenance projects, targeting plumbing, roofing
projects, ventilation systems and roadways, Cowling said.
She said that because the majority of UCLA’s campus was
built in the 1960s, the state funds projects for Facilities
Management.
“We’ve already seen significant improvement,”
Cowling said, pointing out that there has been a decrease in
complaints with improved systems and less emergencies such as water
main breaks.
As a precursor to the seismic renovation of the Men’s Gym
scheduled to be handled by the university’s Capital Programs
office later this year, Facilities Management is performing
maintenance on the plumbing and electricity in the gym as well as
renovating the gym’s pool.
The Men’s Gym pool, which was formerly interconnected to
the equipment and controls of the pool in the Kaufman Building,
will be made independent of the Kaufman pool. The pool project in
the gym is on its final leg and involves connecting drains to the
sewer system under the walkway.
Further renovation of the Men’s Gymnasium follows the
approval of the Student Programs, Activities and Resource Complex
student referendum in May of 2000. The $37.25 million SPARC
referendum will improve student facilities by renovating
Men’s Gym and construction Wooden West ““ a 6,800 square
foot addition to the Wooden Center.
Because the construction work has extended to one the most
popular walking routes on campus, safety is a high priority.
According to Johnson, construction zones are fenced off with
expandable fence lines and pedestrians are kept away from
equipment.
“We are required to flag people when we move past the
fence lines,” he said.
However, safety precautions do little to appease the congestion
problem.
“I think it is a big obstruction on Bruin Walk,”
said fifth-year psychology student Steven So. “There’s
always people crossing through so it’s a big hassle.”
His reactions to campus projects are not uncommon.
Construction is nothing new to students and faculty at UCLA
where facilities development and upkeep in an ongoing process.
Mia Sugi, a recent graduate of UCLA who is on campus for summer
classes, said she has never experienced a time here without
construction.
“There has always been something going on whether
it’s a parking structure or a new building renovation,”
Sugi said. “It’s cool that they’re making changes
and “¦ they’re always looking for advancement or
something new but at the same time it’s just nice to be able
to relax and not have any construction workers around or worry
about noise control and things like that.”
Students should also expect other Facilities Management
undertakings during the coming academic year, which includes the
replanting of trees on Bruin Walk and in Westwood Plaza.
Other upcoming construction projects include the seismic
replacement buildings near the medical school and new parking
structure beneath the Intramural Field. Both projects are scheduled
to begin as early as this summer.