Media Credit: Photo by Lauren Roy Classes were relocated to other buildings due to the damage. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Photo by Lauren Roy Circuit breaker boxes were dried out with the help of hair dryers and industrial fans. [Click to enlarge]

A tropical deluge on Sept. 26 caused the nearly completed roof at the Communication Arts building to leak and knocked out the building's power supply. The mishap forced closure of the building and sent faculty and students scrambling to find classrooms across campus.

The building's classrooms and other facilities were closed for four days.

For most students and Communication Arts and English faculty, the nearly weeklong closure meant long walks across campus, lost class time and other headaches.

English professor Judy Young said her classroom was moved to the Center for Fine and Performing Arts.

"There's no time for me to talk with students who may have questions after the 4 p.m. class because I have to hustle to make it to the other building for the 5:30 class," Young said.

Although the new arrangement was inconvenient, American literature professor Gregory Tomso said it beat having to hear all the construction noise that has disrupted classes for weeks.

 "Being displaced by the recent flooding and power loss wasn't nearly as annoying as having to put up with the banging, sawing, hammering and drilling directly above our heads for the past several weeks," Tomso said. "The class voted to stay put, but there have been days when I have had to stop lecturing for several minutes because the construction crews are banging so loudly."

Project manager Charles Summers said the majority of the roof leaks came from workers dropping screws in the trusses and then stepping on them. He also explained the reason for the loss of electric power.

"The construction workers drilled two half-inch holes into the concrete," Summers said. "One of the holes penetrated a piece of conduit, which shorted out and made a path for water on the roof to go to the circuit panel box."

Fortunately, the major leaks and the power were quickly repaired, he added.

In order to build an efficient roof, construction workers lay down metal decking and then cover that with dens board, which is a waterproof gypsum board, Summers said.

An ice and water shield goes on top of that, followed by a teal metal roof like those on Buildings 17, 18, 10, 11 and 12.

Summers said that each seam on the roof is "mashed together so it is water tight and immovable." He said the steel roofs placed on the buildings are good for as long as 50 years, whereas the original roof was only good for 20 years.

Summers said the steel roof is almost twice the price of the built-up roof but is worth the added cost.

"We are replacing the existing flat roof with trusses and then covering it with sheet metal," Summers said.

Summers said the workers then remove the second roof that was applied and drop in the original roof with tarp paper, which is not a very thick product. 

He said the construction project is not behind schedule.

 "Actually, we are within 2 percent over schedule right now," Summers said. He said the target is to finish by the end of December.

The project began in March 2004. 

"If we can get this done by Thanksgiving, I'll be one happy puppy," Summers said.

Summers said the cost of repairing roofs on Buildings 10, 11, 12, 36, 37 and 53 came to $2.1 million.

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