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Many students have noticed construction workers tearing down the Memorial Union steps for a fourth time last week. Demolition began Oct. 1 on what was to be reconstruction of the Union’s exterior stairway facing the back entrance of Fogler Library.
The steps, which Memorial Union Project Manager William Charland estimated to cost $20,000 – $30,000, were deemed unacceptable by both the university and the architect, Harriman Associates, since the previous completion.
“The stairway has several minor inconsistencies, such as dimensional errors, which made the entrance unacceptable to code,” Charland said.
D.L. Poulin, the contractor responsible for the project, has hired a subcontractor to build forms and lay stairs appropriate to university specifications, and the old stairway is being demolished.
There are strict requirements for exterior stairs.
“The contractors have had incredible difficulty with these steps,” Charland said. “Under terms of contract, D.L. Poulin has to provide remedies for the correction of defective work regardless of how many times it takes to complete the job.”
“The number one thing for people to understand is that the students who are paying for a great amount of this project are only paying once for this job to get done,” Charland said.
The three previous stairways had many problems, breaking various university and life safety code standards. The university’s tight standards quickly condemned the Union stairways each time.
“The concrete work was rougher than you might expect,” Charland said.
The steps were of poor quality, many of the steps were uneven, causing distinct problems with consistency across each stair.
“[Each step] has to be consistent with each other to a fraction of an inch,” Charland said.
The platform on the top of the stairway sloped in the wrong direction, according to Charland. Although inconspicuous, this incorrect slope would have created significant problems with rain and ice.
“Since the stairs are construed of hand-placed concrete, there will be errors,” Charland said, “but this stairway was simply unacceptable.” Dimensional problems and the overall quality of concrete work contributed to the university’s disapproval.
“D.L. Poulin has disputed up to [the point of] construction on whether they should be required to do it,” Charland said. “They may be doing it under protest, but they are required to do it . we won in the contract. There will be no additional cost for concrete, demolition or reinforcement.”
As of right now, the biggest concern is to correct the stairway before the frost comes, Charland said.
“We had a window between Oct. 1 and 25 to do all the work, which worked best for the university,” Charland said. “D.L. Poulin indicated they could complete the project in two weeks, but demolition seems to be taking longer than expected.”
Demolition of the stairway had to be halted due to construction of the main entrance.
“They couldn’t close this entrance because there was other construction going on,” Charland said. “We had to meet minimum amount of egress in the building. Once the main building entrance was completed, it was determined that it was of best interest to proceed with demolition of the stairs.”
The reconstruction should be completed near the end of this week, although the contractor has until Oct. 25 to clean up the area and get it back into condition for Homecoming Weekend.
“We don’t want to push them to get it done by next Friday, we want it done correctly even if they need a little extra time,” Charland said.
Bangor Daily News