The construction of steam tunnels on the east side of campus should have been completed in August, but the new target date is the end of October.

Conrad Miller, assistant director of the Physical Plant said, “Making ready to provide steam to those buildings is our first priority.”

The total cost of the project will exceed $1.1 million dollars, Miller said. Even though there was a delay in construction the physical plant did not exceed the money allocated for the job.

“The main cause of the delay was because we had a lot of rain during the month of August,” he said. When it rains and the ground gets muddy it is impossible to lay cement, he said.

Miller said he put some of the men on overtime, to make final adjustments so that the students could move into Gilbert Hall this semester.

The steam tunnel connected to Anderson Hall has already been hooked up, he said.

The remaining tunnels that need to be connected are those near Wirtz Hall, Gilbert Hall, the music building and the visual arts building.

He said the steam lines will be ready for hook-up for visual arts and music building on Oct. 21, Wirtz and Gilbert on Oct. 28. “There will be an eight hour shutdown period for both dates,” he said.

Both dates fall on a Saturday; “We chose Saturday as not to inconvenience too many people,” he said. The physical plant will try to cut off the steam at a designated time for Gilbert Hall especially, because cutting off the steam affects the heating of water, cooking of food and room warmth, he said.

The construction of steam tunnels make it easier to make repairs because a person can walk underground and make repairs on the steam lines.