Delays have affected the construction on campus as they have pushed back the expected completion of the Central Utility Plant Replacement (CUPR) project.
The project was set to be completed by Spring 2024 but is facing setbacks. Fresno State aims to finish the construction by summer 2024.
“Everybody’s expediting staffing up and making sure we’re trying to push for July, but maybe [work on] some of the lighting and some of the buildings may occur closer to fall,” said Tinnah Medina, associate vice president of Facilities Management.
Even as construction gets delayed, officials say the CUPR project is close to completion and most of it has been finished.
The installation of the new centralized boiler and chiller plants, which will run the heating and air conditioning systems on campus, is almost done in one portion of the construction.
Jeff Prickett, director of Facilities Operations and Services says the boiler plant is up and running.
“All they’re doing in the boiler room is trying to punch in a list of items trying to go through, but it is operating and we are putting hot water throughout the campus now,” Prickett said.
There are currently 32 miles of new piping that has been installed throughout campus and is connecting the central plants to the university’s state infrastructure, including the Peters, Science, and Joyal buildings.
Officials say that they are not far behind in completing the chiller plants, as they have installed nearly all new piping, even though it is still not running.
“The piping is almost done,” Medina said. “I think there’s one or two buildings that still need to be connected to the chilled waterside, but the heating piping is completely done.”
All solar panels in parking lots P5 and P6 are almost fully functioning and only await some final connections.
Regarding the delays, Medina says they are more common and form a part of several construction projects in general.
“Like most construction projects, there are anticipated delays or unforeseen conditions,” Medina said. “Sometimes the contractor will hit something underground, like piping they didn’t expect or piping they thought would be there but is somewhere else, and that is the nature of construction. We try to anticipate as best we can, but we plan for the worst.”
Prabal Angrish, a junior at Fresno State, wants construction to be over so he can easily navigate through campus.
“Even right now, you can’t straight away go to the dorms. You have to go to the parking lot and then go over there,” Angrish said. “I would be happy if it were done tomorrow.”
Facilities Management says pedestrians will have fewer issues walking around on campus as CUPR project nears completion.
“You’re going to see more of the restoration right now, so you will see some of the fencing that will be taken down,” Prickett said.
