New science wing suffers water damage
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By BARBARA LYON
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 1:04 PM CST
editor@dunnconnect.com
Malfunctioning valves recently caused significant water damage to UW-Stout’s new Jarvis Hall Science Wing.
Two separate accidents during the week of Oct. 18 had the university’s physical plant crew and workers from North American Mechanical, the project's HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) contractors scrambling to deal with leaks that were traced to an unoccupied mechanical room on the fourth floor.
According to a memo summarizing the incidents by Executive Director of Health and Safety Jim Uhlir, “Our best information is that on Sunday, Oct. 18, an isolation valve in the chilled water system malfunctioned; although it indicated it was closed, the valve actually was allowing water to pass through. Water then was allowed to fill the air handling unit coils and exit drain valves onto the floor of the Jarvis Hall ‘penthouse’ ... The water then ran down the drains on the floor, but some water leaked through cracks in the penthouse floor into the third floor ceiling. A control valve closed when the outside temperature cooled, stopping the water flow.”
Reported at around 11 a.m. the following day, temperatures had warmed enough to cause the valve to open again. Since the drain valves had been closed, however, the water couldn’t flow onto the penthouse floor as before. Instead, it found its way into the main vertical ductwork for the building. The result was considerable damage to the three floors and basement of the new Jarvis Hall wing.
By noon, Stout personnel managed to close the recalcitrant valve. Uhlir estimated that the addition’s chiller system had taken on about 13,500 gallons of water.
Not done yet
The troubles at the new science wing weren’t over. On the evening of Oct. 24, the penthouse system sprang another leak, this time from a condensation valve being shut.
Uhlir explained, “Overnight, the system called for more humidification (steam) and since the valve was closed, water accumulated and caused additional damage on the second and third floors. The amount of water involved was less than earlier in the week, however, and no large damages resulted due to the Thursday leak, since it occurred in the same general area.”
All told, the damage included the elevator, fire alarm and computer network components as well as electrical circuits, light fixtures, ceiling tiles and numerous switches and controls. Computers, refrigerators and other equipment were also dampened by the leaks.
Although the fire alarm system was affected by the leaks, Uhlir pointed out, it was fully operational — and the building is also protected by an extensive network of sprinklers that was unaffected by the incidents.
During an interview Monday, he added, “As far as surface areas, the core of the building — where a lot of the labs are — got wet. But the classroom perimeter was dry. I would estimate that a fourth to a third of the building got wet.”
Of the labs that were damaged, Uhlir said only a couple were teaching labs and the incident didn’t really affect classes very much.
“The classroom spaces were fine, so we never lost lecture halls,” he said. “We had some power out that first day. The second day turned out to be our advisement day, so we didn’t have regular classes scheduled — a stroke of good luck.”
Making ‘adjustments’
Called in by GAB Robins, the insurance adjuster contracted by the state, Steamatic performed moisture testing of the walls and initiated the process of drying things out.
Where possible, an application of microban, an antimicrobial chemical was applied to some areas of dampened drywall to disinfect the surface and prevent the growth of mold. Some of the drywall will need to be removed and replaced.
Steamatic was also responsible to drying the insulation in the affected ductwork. Like the drywall, some of the insulation was replaced.
“They were here quickly and did a good job,” Uhlir said. “They’re pretty much finished with the drying.”
The process of reconstruction is still underway.
“In some places, it’s as simple as replacing ceiling tiles that got wet,” Uhlir said. “In other areas, a lot of drywall has to be put back, and some lights need to be replaced and other electrical devices that might have gotten wet and shorted. It will still take some time. We don’t have an estimate of how many weeks. It’s going to be while yet before it’s finished.”
He noted that although the original contractors are next door working on the second phase of the Jarvis Hall reconstruction project, they are not in charge of the repairs.
“It’s an insurance claim,” Uhlir explained. “Part of the insurance process is determining, first of all, what the causative fault was. Then they assign insurance as appropriate. If it’s the contractor’s, its theirs [insurance]; if it’s something state employees did, it would be a state insurance claim.”
Although the final tally won’t be in for some time, GAB Robins estimates that the water damage loss to the Jarvis Hall addition will “be in excess of $100,000.”
Although the leaks were unfortunate, Uhlir said that, as the insurance adjuster pointed out, it could have been worse.
“This is a clean water event,” he said. “It wasn’t a rainstorm or natural disaster like a flood that brings in dirty water. Chilled water is already in the building, it’s a clean water system. That’s a lot easier, they say. But to us, it’s still big.”
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