MEC&F Expert Engineers : MULTIPLE WATER LINE BREAKS AFFECT BUILDINGS ON THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING COE LIBRARY CAMPUS

Saturday, January 3, 2015

MULTIPLE WATER LINE BREAKS AFFECT BUILDINGS ON THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING COE LIBRARY CAMPUS



Multiple water line breaks affect buildings on the University of Wyoming Coe Library campus

  Saturday, January 03, 2015  



Multiple dehydration fan units sit on the floor of the University of Wyoming Coe Library on Friday after multiple water pipes burst earlier in the week. JEREMY MARTIN/Boomerang photographer
The University of Wyoming Student Health Center is closed after flooding damage caused by a water line break.

Pipe bursts also affected Coe Library, Washakie Dining Center, the History Building, the State Veterinary Laboratory, the Indoor Practice Facility and the Visual Arts Building.

Most of the breaks happened late Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning, caused by the bitter cold temperatures. Normally, indoor water pipes should stay warm enough to stave off freezing, but a series of unique circumstances caused more than ten water line breaks within two days, affecting seven buildings on campus, said Chad Baldwin, director of communications.

“In the case of the Student Health Center, someone left a window open,” he said. “In the History Building, there was a system malfunction which caused cold air to be pulled into the building by the ventilation system.”

Heating system problems also caused some of the buildings to cool to the bursting point, Baldwin said.

The Student Health Center had some of the worst damage, requiring building closure for an undetermined amount of time. A UW press release urged people to call 766-2130 if they need help.

“Crews are in the midst of clean up,” Baldwin said. “They’re fixing the pipes to allow water service back into the building. There was also some issues with ceiling tiles, maybe some computer equipment. People aren’t able to work there now.”

Damaged ceiling tiles and carpet was the most common preblem in the buildings.

Three separate pipe bursts in Coe Library caused extensive damage, said Maggie Farrell, dean of libraries.

“There was a water pipe break on the ceiling on the sixth level,” she said. “The water has damaged some offices on the sixth level. The water flowed down a stairway and damaged a number of books on the fifth level. Ironically, the books were about water pumping.”

There were two other breaks on the second level, or the main floor. One leak damaged a collection of history books beyond repair after flowing into the first floor, Farrell said. Water from a third break also broke into the third floor, damaging additional books. A total of about 70 boxes of books were damaged. The university is attempting to save the books through a freezing restoration process.

“When you have wet books, there are different ways you can dry them,” Baldwin said. “Some were sent to the American Heritage Building, which has a freezer. A freeze drying process used to preserve books is better than putting a fan on them.”

Because only 35 boxes can fit in the freezer, the remainder is being sent to an outside facility for a similar process, Baldwin said. The restoration company Belfor Inc. is handling the process, along with a most of the other building repairs.

An alarm tied into the sprinkler system detected several of the water breaks, including the library, causing a response from the Laramie Fire Department.

“The Laramie Fire Department was on site quickly and helped us do a lot of damage control,” Farrell said. “The firefighters worked to shut off the water and reset the alarms. They also helped take books off of the shelves and put them out of harm’s way, which is above and beyond their job. I can’t thank them enough.”

Farrell also credited the UW Physical Plant employees — electricians, plumbers and other tradesmen — for the speedy response and help stopping and clearing out the water.

The cost of the damage is not currently available, Baldwin said, but the water breaks are “certainly up there” in terms of total damage during his three-year employment. A timeframe for total repairs is also unknown