The replacement of steam and telecommunication lines in front of the Shapiro Campus Center should be completed in about two weeks, according to Vice President for Operations Jim Gray in an interview with the Justice. The area has been fenced off and under construction since Aug. 27, when the University began investigating and repairing an underground steam line malfunction that melted telecommunication wires and led to phone and internet service disruptions.

At the beginning of the project, the University was unsure why the steam line overheated, melting phone and internet service wires in a nearby duct, according to a Sept. 4 Justice article. The University also did not know what would be needed to fix the lines and prevent future incidents. 

After beginning the excavation, Gray explained, workers learned that there was a leak in the steam pipe “over time that eroded the insulation around the pipe and ended up heating up the ground quite dramatically” — enough to melt the nearby telecommunications wires.

Additionally, the University now must replace the steam lines themselves, not just their insulation. “The extent of the faulty pipes was a little greater than we originally thought,” Gray added, which is why the fenced area in front of the SCC has expanded over the course of the project. The pipes being replaced run the length of the fencing that lies closest to the SCC and Sherman Dining Hall. The rest of the fenced-off area is being used to hold equipment and the dirt removed from the ground to allow for the line repairs, Gray explained.

The University began laying the new steam lines a little over a week ago, and Gray expects the new steam lines to be installed this week. He also expects all the telecommunication lines to be fully repaired by that same time. 

The telecommunication and steam lines will be laid “a little further apart” than previously, according to Gray. The lines were unusually close together in this area, contributing  to the original malfunction.

The primary contractor working on this project for the University is BOND Brothers construction company, the same company that built the new Skyline Residence Hall, Gray said.

Once the lines are repaired and replaced, workers will fill the hole with the dirt that is currently piled next to the Louis Brandeis statue hill, helping to clear that area. “We’ll start filling up the hole next week, and in two weeks, we should be done,” Gray said. He expects the work to be completed in the week of Nov. 5.

Once the hole is filled, the fences will be removed and the pathways will be open to the Brandeis community. However, the final landscaping will have to wait until spring, according to Gray. Gray said that the excavation is “taking just about exactly [how much time] we thought it would.” He said that although he expected the project to be done around Nov. 1, “I was telling people we’d be done by Thanksgiving.”

The Aug. 24 email to the Brandeis community that initially announced the service interruption said that “excavation and repair work will begin on Sunday, August 26, and continue for 2-6 days.” In an email to the Justice, Gray clarified that that time period referred to “the potential duration of interruptions, before we had full service restored,” and that they expected from the start that repairing the steam and telecommunication lines “would take much longer.” In the Aug. 4 Justice article, Gray said he expected the excavation to take several weeks, and longer if the steam lines needed to be replaced. 

Gray acknowledged the inconvenience that this project has caused the Brandeis community. “We will be thrilled to get rid of that fence and put the pedestrian pathways back in their normal routes, and restore the appearance of the center of campus,” he said.