By
Blake Smith
Arizona Daily Wildcat
New bookstore and Tyndall Ave. Garage to be completed at the end of Nov.
Students will have to walk around a larger construction area now that construction crews have begun installation of chilled water lines - closing off more of the UA Mall.
As workers extended fence lines and poured foundations for new sidewalks yesterday directly in front of the existing union, Swinerton and Walberg Builders senior project superintendent Bob Bertolini said every effort is being made to minimize inconvenience.
"We hope not to affect anybody at all," Bertolini said.
He added that new handicap ramps and sidewalks will ensure that students will not have to walk through wet grass or mud puddles to get to class.
Bertolini said crews will begin tearing up the fenced-off area today to install the pipes, which are currently sitting on the south side of the Administration building.
This is just one part of the ongoing student union project.
Crews are scrambling to finish the bookstore portion of the new facility by the end of the month.
Original estimates had the completion date set for Nov. 22, and Bertolini said that while crews might not be finished precisely on that date, completion is not far off.
He attributes the minor delay to university design changes of the building's brickwork and changes to the furniture that will go inside the new union.
Another construction project that will be completed around the end of the month is the Tyndall Avenue Garage.
Pat Lynch, Swinerton and Walberg business development manager, said crews working on that project will be finished by Nov. 30.
The completion of the $12.6 million structure will double the number of spaces available in the garage to 1,700.
Last week, the vehicle clearance for the garage was increased from six feet 10 inches to seven feet.
Lynch said a topping slab in one area of the garage that was thicker than it should have been has been shortened to allow taller vehicles to enter the garage.
