10/13/05
By David Denninger,
Contributor
This holiday weekend, the Seton Hill University maintenance crew plans to drill holes in Parking Lot A, continuing a project to replace all of the campus gas lines. Manager of maintenance & grounds Bill Vokes said, “The old [gas] lines are over 40 years old…they are deteriorating.”
Having begun on October 3rd the work involving the Lot A section of pipeline is expected to be completed by the time students return on Tuesday. While the line passes under the parking lot, the crew will have to drill holes in the surface in order to find the old gas line, and align the new one properly.
The main campus gas line runs from the gas house near Caritas Cristi to Saint Mary’s Hall, and from it branch forth smaller lines that connect all of the dorms and academic buildings.
Vokes refused to comment on the exact cost of the project, but did say, “It’s very expensive.”
The new gas line is the last phase of a larger project to replace several of the university’s main utility lines, and repave Lot A by next spring.
The maintenance department has already replaced the water and sewer pipes, and is installing the new electric lines for the field house on Sunday. Power will be out from 8am to 4pm in Lynch, Maura, Canevin, and Lowe Halls.
Upon completion of the gas line replacement, maintenance will turn off all the natural gas lines for an estimated 8 hours, at which time they will switch the whole campus over to the new system. The date and time for the switch are yet to be determined.
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