by: Emily Andrews on February 8, 2012

A construction site south of the Marriott Library. New pipes will carry hot water down the HPER highway and will branch out at the Law School

Students might find it more difficult to walk between the Marriott Library and the Social and Behavioral Science Building until August while a multi-phase replacement of hot water pipes is being completed.

The pipes are crucial for carrying hot water to heat buildings and provide steam for laboratories.

The pipes have “far exceeded their useful life” and thus need to be replaced with higher quality pipe, said Megan McFarlane, spokeswoman for U facilities management. The new piping is pre-insulated, prefabricated and triple-walled. The new pipes will carry high-temperature water down the HPER highway to the Law School, with branches going to other buildings along the way.

Aging hot water pipes are also being replaced between Kingsbury Hall and the Browning Mineral Science Building. Expected to be completed at the same time as the pipes near the library, this project will carry a price tag of $1.7 million. The project near the library will cost $3 million, McFarlane said.

The U is lobbying the state Legislature for a $99 million overhaul of the campus infrastructure system, which includes hot water pipes and the electrical grid, she said.

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