Major Infrastructure Work Underway At UConn

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Major Infrastructure Work Underway at UConn - UConn Today

All across Storrs this summer, layers of soil that haven’t seen light for decades are being dug up and tossed aside to let crews reach critical lines that provide water and steam heat to campus buildings.

Those lines, along with many sewer and electrical lines, are being replaced in a massive multi-year endeavor to upgrade UConn’saging underground infrastructure. The project will help UConn save money, improve its energy efficiency and water conservation, and avoid the kinds of service interruptions that have plagued the campus in recent years.

Much of the work is being funded through the Next Generation Connecticut initiative, which Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the General Assembly approved in 2013 to help UConn transform its campuses and curriculum over 10 years with $1.5 billion in capital improvements.

Because we provide all of our own utilities, we’re in many ways no different than many towns and cities that also have infrastructure challenges. — Scott Jordan

The dirt piles, screened fences, and heavy equipment around Storrs are far from glamorous, but UConn officials say the project is one of the University’s most important in recent decades because of the dire need to stabilize the underground utility network and the costs associated with it.

“We’re very fortunate that we live in a state where our governor and legislature recognize the fact that having reliable infrastructure is a critical need,” says Scott Jordan, UConn’s executive vice president for administration and chief financial officer.

 

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Laying the Pipelines in 1939 - UConn Today

A multi-year project has begun this summer to replace many of UConn’s underground utilities. The work is part of the Next Generation Connecticut initiative, which was approved by the Connecticut General Assembly in 2013 and involves $1.5 billion in capital improvements over 10 years.

Many of the utilities that are being replaced are as old as the buildings they serve, having been installed at the time of construction. More than half of the pipes currently in use are more than 40 years old, according to a report prepared by consultants Fuss & O’Neill in 2009.

The steam pipes for Wilbur Cross Building, the former University Library, were installed during construction in 1938 to 1939, as part of a then-unprecedented bond issue of nearly $3 million approved by the Connecticut General Assembly for new buildings on the campus of what was then called Connecticut State College.

“These lines are still active and have outlived their expected useful life times two,” says Mike Jednak, associate vice president for facilities operations and building services.