Sub zero temperatures wreaked havoc in UW facilities over winter break, as flooding caused considerable damage in multiple locations. Although the uni- versity Physical Plant assured facilities would be open and functional for classes yesterday, Board Member Dave Bostrom said he had seen similar problems in the recent past.
“We’ve had these same kinds of things happen in the past,” Bostrom said during the board’s Jan. 15 meeting at the Rochelle Gateway Center. “Mov- ing forward, what are we going to do to make damn sure it’s not going to happen again? This is something that just can’t reoccur.”
Pipes burst and caused flooding beginning late on Dec. 31, and problems would contin- ue through that weekend. Coe Library and White Hall, both affected by water damage, also went through similar problems last win- ter. Stacks in Coe and bathrooms in White Hall remained closed for multiple days during last year’s incidents.
Physical Plant Director Jim Scott said the History Building, Education Annex and Literacy Center, Washakie Dining Center, Veterinary building, Visual Arts building, Practice Facility, Cheney Cen- ter, College of Business, Golf Course and Greenhouse all experienced “mi- nor” to “moderate” damages. The most expensive damage, Scott said, occurred in the Education Annex where a sink pipe burst on the third floor and caused water to run down several levels.
Interim Dean of Education Michael Day said a staff person was in the building on Jan. 2 and reported no flooding. By Saturday morning, he said, the water was seeping onto the ground floor. The bulk of the damage occurred in the Literacy Center, where damage had occurred to the facilities, as well as some IT equipment.
“The water hit the ceiling panels in the Literacy Center and absorbed and it glopped onto everything below it,” Day said.
Though some items of work in the Literacy Center would be delayed, classrooms opened on schedule, Day said. Opening the Literacy Center, he said, was the next priority.
“We’re still trying to get our bearings there, but we’re getting close,” Day said. “By the end of this week, I’ll speak to the director of our Literacy Center and see what’s happening with those offices.”
Scott said the system failures had multiple causes and there was not a single solution to several different issues. System and component failure, building design and human error all made contributions to the problem, Scott said.
“We are currently enhancing our existing protocols by developing procedures to follow for extreme cold weather and extended campus closures,” Scott said. “Enhancements will include additional building monitoring, periodic building walk-throughs during temperatures below -10 degrees and certain building system changes to minimize the risk of freezing incidents.”
Responding units, including police and fire departments, Physical Plant staff and custodial staff all responded adequately, Scott said. Notifications of flooding were delayed, he said, because buildings are not occupied during winter break.
“Winter break is our main concern because of the length of time, time of the year and very few people on campus,” Scott said. “As with the cold weather protocols, we are also enhancing current processes to reduce the risk of problems during periods of campus closure.”
Laura Peterson, Director of Risk Management and Insurance, said the university had a deductible for property of $250,000 per occurrence with a $1 million aggregate. Peterson said it was unclear if each occurrence would be considered separate incidents.
“From what I’ve seen so far, I’d be surprised if we get close to $1 million aggregate,” Peterson said. “I’m certain from what I know that not every single one of these will be considered one event, but it could considered less than 12 events.”
Maggie Farrell, UW’s Dean of Libraries, said she is always discouraged and frustrated to see the libraries collection damaged, but that all the entities came together quickly to work the problem. Although she said all books are valuable to students, the damaged materials did not come from rare or irreplaceable collections.
“Ironically part of the technical books damaged had to do with water pumping,” Farrell said. “If you can’t laugh at it, what good is it?”
