Steps around Sturges Quad (pictured above) will have to be redone in order to comply with regulations and standards. The project is not expected to take a significant amount of time relative to the semester, and will not affect preparation for the upcoming Sturges-Fraser Hall renovations (Josie Kwan/Assoc. photo Editor).
A small staircase located on the south side of Blake Hall that was completed during the Sturges Quad construction failed to pass regulation due to incorrect measurements and an improper concrete pour.
The reconstruction of the staircase will slightly delay the construction process but will not affect student foot traffic, according to Director of Facilities, Planning and Construction Michael Neiderbach.
“There was a small staircase, roughly 12 to 14 steps, that had some errors. Thus, it is required that it be taken out and replaced,” Neiderbach said. “There was some variation in the stair height, the riser height and the trend depth, so we had to make those all more uniform. This is a small project, along with another small reworking that will be done on one of the ramp ways to the patio, but nothing major.”
A construction update posted on the Geneseo website on April 26 reported that access points in Sturges Quad would come back over the summer months.
“By the fall semester, the area will be fully operational,” the report reads. “Quad improvements include replacing asphalt with concrete on the sidewalks and adding new landscaping.”
The Sturges Quad construction will be completed by late fall of 2018, according to a Livingston County News article published on Aug. 27.
“The anticipated date of the completion for Sturges Quad does not change because of this,” Neiderbach said. “The changing of the stair case is a small project. This will not affect the re-opening of Sturges Quad or the foot traffic that takes place there.”
Assistant Vice President for Facilities and Planning George Stooks explained that it is typical for construction projects to have small errors that contribute to what is called a “punch list.”
“I have never seen a perfect construction project,” Stooks said. “There is always something that needs to be what we call, ‘punched out.’ In other words, as we go through and reinspect any project, despite the number of inspections along the way. When there are more eyes looking at the project, a ‘punch list’ is created that has items that will need to be corrected at the end of the project.”
According to the New York State Division of Code Enforcement and Administration, failed inspections of concrete and masonry construction will pass regulation once “corrected, re-inspected, and found to be satisfactory.”
“We have a lot of people who inspect,” Neiderbach said. “We have a site representative from the construction fund who inspected the staircase, as well as our in-house project manager, and they both agreed that it was not up to standards.”
The goal of the Sturges Quad construction was to replace all of the underground infrastructure, including sanitary lines, storm sewer lines, communication conduits and electrical conduits. The main driver of the whole project was the replacement of electrical circuits, according to Stooks.
“Once [underground construction] was finished and backfilled, new top soil, sidewalk and sod were all finished off in that area,” Stooks said. “The staircase that must be redone was part of the topical construction.”
Previous delays in the completion of the project were due to funding issues and delays, according to an article published by The Lamron on Sept. 13.
“Considering the scope of this project, as the budget is around $12 million, the concrete work that doesn’t meet standards is considered a relatively minor correction,” Stooks said. “The reconstruction will cause no major delay”.