Work site blasts Quad residents out of bed

Alarm clocks have become obsolete. The residents of Spruce Street and Community House dormitories in the Quadrangle now receive a loud wake-up call like clockwork every morning at exactly 8. But the wake-up call is no telephone call rousing these residents from their slumber. Instead it is the loud blast of dynamite directly outside their windows. The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is currently erecting a new building next to the east side of the Quad. In order to prepare for the foundation, workers are currently blasting in the area. According to L.F. Driscoll Company, the company doing the drilling, explosive demolition begins each day at 8 a.m. and will continue 10 times a day for the next three or four weeks. But as if the noise alone is not enough, many students claim they have been awakened by the noise as early as 7 a.m. "The construction wakes me all the time -- most mornings at 7 a.m.," College freshman Peter Weidman said. "Sometimes I can go back to bed and sometimes I can't." Other students said yesterday that not only does the noise bother them but they actually feel the floors and walls shudder. "I saw one of the blasts yesterday," Engineering freshman Steve Ebert said. "I felt the entire room shake. It felt like an earthquake." "It's a ridiculously annoying and frighteningly loud blast," added Wharton freshman Brandon Levin. "The whole building shakes pretty incredibly." Ebert, whose room directly faces the construction site, also said that if he leaves his window open during the blasts, "you have dust and dirt flying into your room." The blast is primarily a "quick shot," Arthur Gravina, vice president for facilities management, said yesterday. "It is a low charge of explosive, probably dynamite," he said. "[The construction company] puts the explosive in the ground, covers it with steel plating and then they discharge it. Drilling [the foundation] by hand would be more disruptive to the students." But students said yesterday that blasting is only part of the problem. Machinery and other equipment have caused as much disruption as the dynamite. "One Friday night, at 1:30 in the morning, they were doing construction," said College freshman Cari Emery. "I called the police and the police said, 'They shouldn't be doing that, we'll take a look.' Then it stopped." "I've been woken before at 2 a.m.," Weidman said. "It's not just the blasting, it's all the machinery. The blasting started recently. That's a new problem." Many students said they also have problems studying in their rooms because of the construction work. "The floor shakes all the time," said Wharton freshman Chris Brauser. "You have to put on your headphones and crank up the music pretty loud so you can keep your concentration. It's difficult to work in my room." Some students said yesterday that they have attempted to contact University officials with their complaints but have yet to be answered. "People on the floors, resident advisors, and a house manager have written letters or relayed complaints to other members of the Community House office," Ebert said. "My RA got a response that said we have to put up with [the construction] because [the University] has to build the building and the students have to do the best they can." Students said that Residential Living has posted signs concerning the blasting and put a letter explaining the construction in the students' mailboxes. But many students said they have not received the letter or still do not have information about the construction. "They should definitely let us know what's going on," Emery said. "This is ridiculous."