Working Under Traffic

Planning, coordination critical during renovation of LSU’s Student Union

By Candy McCampbell

The best way to manage an addition to and major renovation of a building with up to 25,000 daily users is to plan well and communicate the construction schedule with everyone involved with the job.

“Everything has to be timed,” says Randy Roussel, project manager for Buquet & LeBlanc Inc. of Baton Rouge, general contractor for the addition and renovation of the Student Union at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

The $46.9 million project includes the renovation of most of the 153,000-sq-ft building and constructing a 50,000-sq-ft addition, all while keeping the 43-year-old building open.

“The building is in operation,” Roussel says. “We cannot interfere with operations of the union.”

Started in October 2006, the job should be complete in March 2010.

While some parts of the building have to be closed during the work, the campus post office and student bookstore inside the union must remain open. That means the building stayed in operation even during major electrical switchouts over the last two semester breaks when generators kept power flowing.

The four-story addition required construction of tree columns to match existing ones. These reinforced-concrete columns were formed and cast in place.

The addition is actually half from the ground up and half from the second floor up, Roussel says.

The concrete trees come up from the ground, and other columns are set on the existing roof, thanks to embeds in place to allow later support columns.

Only “minimal” excavation was needed, he says.

The foundation is drilled shafts and the building is grade beams with poured slab and structural steel framing. 

A former breezeway between the Student Union and the Theater building is being enclosed as a connector area and will house heating and cooling pipes from the main pump room, says Scott Borne, project manager for Airtrol Inc. of Baton Rouge, which is replacing the HVAC system. Those pipes were installed during this last semester break. 

Airtrol has demolished about 90% of the system and is replacing it with new equipment and up-to-date controls. A hot-water-coil system is replacing the old steam heating system, and cooling will be with chilled water air conditioning, all managed via computer.

The new chillers are in place and cooling towers are going up on top of the addition.

The job involves replacing 22 units, leaving three that are only 10-15 years old.

B&C Ductwork of Denham Springs, La., replaced virtually all of the duct work, Borne says.

Other work over the semester break included a couple of  power shutdowns to change over old electrical switch gear to the new in the two penthouses atop the addition, says Beau Leitner, project manager for Doyle Electric Inc. of Baton Rouge, the electrical contractor.

Doyle has replaced all the old wiring in the building, or abandoned some that it couldn’t remove, he says.

A year ago, it brought in a generator to feed the bookstore and post office and had 15-person crews working 10-12 hours a day to get the electrical switch system replaced.

They finished ahead of time and under budget, and Leitner credits the foreman’s planning to have equipment and supplies in place when they would be needed.

“We got the old out and the new in as fast as we could,” he says. “We switched things out and began replacing old circuits one by one.”

The building now has three 2,500-amp panels to serve the food service, recreation, meeting room, ballroom, administrative and student offices.

Built in 1964, the building also had asbestos in some areas, which had to be abated or removed.

“This thing has gone through so many renovations,” Roussel says.

Abatement was needed for areas like the old chilled water lines and exterior aggregate stucco panels, which were replaced.

Exterior balcony areas also had to be revised to meet present codes, which meant removing precast concrete handrails and replacing precast balustrades, which were too low and too far apart. The handrail is now about 4 in. higher and balusters are 4 in. apart.

A special challenge is the preservation of the Memorial Oak Grove nearby. It is fenced off and planks are put down for root protection when construction vehicles must go through.

Dedicated in 1926, the 30 live oak trees honor former students killed during World War I.

There is a small laydown area near the building and another a few blocks away, so deliveries can be handled without tight scheduling.

However, scheduling will be necessary when the 6- by 10-ft precast concrete panels come in, Roussel says.