Construction on Skirkanich Hall, the new School of Engineering and Applied Science building, began last May. It has continued on schedule and is set to be completed at the end of next year.
The new building, which is located at 210 S. 33rd St., will form the Engineering quadrangle with the Towne Building, Moore School Building and Levine Hall upon its completion, and is set to cost $42.2 million.
One issue that is somewhat troubling to the construction managers is inclement weather during the upcoming winter.
"Although all the work on the building is dependent on the weather, the delivery schedule is still set for the end of next year, and the budget figures have not changed," said Mark Wilson, managing director of design and construction for Penn Facilities and Real Estate Services.
He added, "Hopefully we will be able to continue at a decent pace. It looks like we will be able to, because we have some protection measures in place against bad weather."
Another issue is the fact that part of 33rd Street has been blocked off for construction.
"People get accustomed to this pretty quickly," Wilson said. "We haven't had any major complaints."
Project Manager Kim Dengler also added, "We have been in close contact with the School of Engineering and Applied Science [and] the School of Arts and Sciences, as well as the Athletics Department and the Police Department, and we have not heard anything about the project interfering with anything, other than the occasional traffic jam."
According to Dengler, barriers were set up along the street to mark a safe pathway for pedestrians.
"Given the physical constraints of the site, it is going very smoothly," Dengler said.
Finally, some are worried that this construction will affect students during the upcoming final exam period.
"We are cognizant of the quiet hours and exam periods," Wilson said, "and we will be making sure that quiet work will be done at those times."
Before that time, construction will focus on structural work on the building.
"Right now, we are continuing with foundation work, and the walls are set to be started," Dengler said.
According to Philip Ryan, the project architect with Todd Williams Architects in New York, work is currently being done to develop the foundation of the building, since excavation was completed after work started last May.
"This is a very complicated building, but it is going smoothly, and we have some really talented people working on it," Ryan said.
Ryan stated that most of the work done up to now has been site utility work, as well as work in local buildings to shut off utilities to the site.
One unique aspect of this building's construction, according to Dengler, is that concrete is being used for the structure of the building, which generally takes longer to set up than a steel foundation.
"Since we are working with concrete, we must be very careful and consider all our moves in advance, which usually takes longer," Ryan said.
