Undocumented plumbing does not mean delays as work moves forward at St. Bede – LaSalle News Tribune

Beneath the grass of St. Bede Academy grounds lies a series of tubes no one ever mapped.

Work to reroute water and sewer lines during this summers phase of St. Bedes ongoing renovation and expansion project unearthed old pipes that were unaccounted for in any records.

Back in the day, when the monks wanted to do something, they grabbed a shovel and did it, said superintendent Ted Struck. Were coming across all kinds of buried stuff thats not on anyones paper. A one-week effort is probably going to take three.

Workers remove debris from a window on the third floor of St. Bede Academy. Construction is progressing on a new science wing on the north side of the building. The 16,000-square-foot addition is expected to be finished in 2018.

Mark Ward, an operator for Vissering Construction Co., said most of the pipes are old field tile.

It pretty much runs every which direction, Ward said. Most of them are running south down the hill. Where theyre starting from I have no idea. They could be coming all the way from Route 6. When you have low ground like this, you get tile coming in from everywhere.

Struck said some of the old pipes uncovered by Legacy Project work led to buildings that no longer exist, some still contained water and others were made from an unidentified, non-metallic substance.

The multi-million-dollar Legacy Project is a multi-phase renovation and construction effort. Preparation work is under way on a new science center and student commons that is expected to be finished in spring 2018.

Meanwhile, Greg Wiesbrock, project manager for Vissering, said its tough to tell the age of whats been buried.

God only knows when they were put there literally, Wiesbrock said.

The old pipes with no purpose are being capped, Struck said, and new teal pipes sit in front of the school and in the parking lot waiting to be buried.

The unexpected, undocumented obstacles will affect parking and pickup for various St. Bede camps in the coming weeks, including the STEM, math and football camps.

Alternative parking sites have not yet been chosen, Struck said, but signs will be present to direct parents and students.

The unexpected, old pipes wont have a big impact on other areas of the Legacy Project even this years other non-pipe-related work.

Delay caused by the pipes wont cause the rest of the project to drag because they are located outside of the main construction zone.

Doing the storm drainage and water pipes doesnt affect the people working inside the fence, Struck said.

Completion for this stage of the project, which includes construction of a STEM center and commons area, is still on target for completion in April 2018, Struck said.

The pipes also wont affect the completion of the other phases of the project, which will occur over the next few years and include the construction of a field house and further renovations to floors of the main school building.

By next week, all of the work to be done inside of the school building during this phase of the Legacy Project will be completed, and visible work on the stair tower will begin.

That work, Struck said, includes a safety egress and new restroom spaces on every floor.

Then, it will be time for foundation pouring and site work for the 16,000-square-foot science addition.

Those who attend Mass at St. Bede may have noticed its circle drive is smaller than usual.

The fence that designates the construction zone passes through the center of the drive, which visitors use during Mass, and in order to keep the drive usable, a change was made to the size of the circle.

We bisected the circle and made the circle smaller, Struck said.

There is a sign directing cars toward parking for Mass, and the new, smaller circumference will remain until spring, when work is expected to be finished.

The circle drive will be the way it is until completion, Struck said.

Ben Hohenstatt can be reached at (815) 220-6932 or perureporter@newstrib.com. Follow him on Twitter @NT_Peru.

Go here to read the rest:
Undocumented plumbing does not mean delays as work moves forward at St. Bede - LaSalle News Tribune