Cracks cost $150,000 to repair at Syracuse Center of Excellence
The Syracuse Center of Excellence, which cost $41 million to construct, is currently undergoing $150,000 worth of repairs to cracks that started forming late last winter, two months after the building opened.
Construction started two weeks ago to cracks that occurred in the corners of approximately 250 of the individual fiber-cement panels, which are the 2-by-8 feet panels that cover the building, said James Alfiere, senior project manager at the Syracuse University Office of Campus Planning, Design and Construction, in an e-mail.
The cracks do not pose a safety problem, Kevin Quinn, SU senior vice president of public affairs, told The Post-Standard.
The cracks exist because of structural movement. First, the aluminum sub-frame, which supports the fiber-cement panels, moved because of temperature changes and exposure to moisture. With the sub-frame moving, the fiber-cement panels moved, too. Cracks appeared where the movement occurred most, Alfiere said.
‘Sometimes it happens that in projects like these, there are complexities in materials and design that interact in ways that were not expected. Now we understand how all of those factors interact,’ said Edward Bogucz, executive director of the Center of Excellence.
The repair work is approximately 50 percent complete, Alfiere said. To fix the structure, the construction team is changing the size of the openings for the fasteners that hold each individual panel on to the aluminum sub-frame, allowing the aluminum sub-frame to move to accommodate changes in temperature and moisture, he said.
The construction manager settled on the cost of $150,000 based on estimated costs for equipment rental, material and labor, though it could vary depending on weather and any other factors, Alfiere said.
‘It is not uncommon for large and technically challenging projects to experience some problems,’ Alfiere said. ‘We were fortunate enough that we had a cooperative design and construction team that were willing to make things right in the end.’
The majority of the repair bill will be paid for by the six companies that composed the design and the construction teams responsible for the design and installation, Alfiere said. SU will cover the small amount left over, and no public funds will be used for the construction.
The companies fixed the building at their own expense, Bogucz said. The $150,000 is not being charged to any of the original sources of funding.
Despite the fact that the cracks started to form only shortly after the $41 million construction of the Center of Excellence, Alfiere said ‘everyone involved in the project is completely satisfied with the way the problems were resolved’ and ‘stepped up and took responsibility for their part.’
Published on November 17, 2010 at 12:00 pm
