Repairs are progressing smoothly for maintenance crews at Eastern Michigan University’s Halle Library, and investigations are underway to determine why the pipe’s supports failed.
It was first reported the cause of the falling pipe was the breaking of the clamp-like hangers that hold the pipe in place. However, the exact cause of the failure of the pipe supports is still under investigation, according to Bilal Sarsour, EMU’s Director of Facilities Maintenance.
Tests are being done on the hangers, the unistruts that hold the hangers and the concrete that the unistruts are encased in, to determine what caused the failure of the pipe support system.
The pipe broke a little after 11 a.m. on Jan. 16, setting off the fire alarms. Sarsour received a call from the Department of Public Safety at about 11:15 a.m. that the fire suppression system had gone off on the ground floor. He said he arrived atthe library about five minutes after receiving the call with a plumber in tow to investigate. What he found on the ground floor was a shock.
“I’ve never seen something like this before,” he said.
A section of the condenser water pipe from the air conditioning system had fallen from its place next to the water return pipe, as much as 6 feet. There were several inches of water on the floors where the pipe fell from the broken fire suppression system that the pipe hit. Light fixtures were dangling. Ceiling tiles littered the floor.
Sarsour immediately called in the design and structural engineers, an electrician and other professionals to assess and deal with situation.
“We took quick action to secure the situation. Within two hours or less we met in the [Eagle] café and put a plan together,” he said.
By Tuesday, supports were in place to keep the condenser pipe from falling any further and crews were in the process of cleaning up the debris and drying out the floors and carpets.
The clean up is now finished. The Department of Environmental Health has tested the carpets and air for mold, though the results of those tests will take a few days. The electrical outlets in the auditorium floor have also been tested and found to be undamaged and in working order. A backup air conditioning unit from the Mark Jefferson building is supplying air conditioning and temperature control to the library.
Sarsour said there’s still a lot of work to be done before the ground floor can be reopened, but it might be opened in sections as repairs are completed. He will be meeting with President Martin to discuss the options.
