News Staff Reporter
Construction of two new dorms, projected to house eighty students by fall 2009, is scheduled to begin early this November. Project Manager Joe Crouse is on the mark with both the budget ($22 million) and the timeline as his team nears the end of the construction document phase.
Only two major changes have been made to the design plans for the new dorms since the design development phase. The first of these is that the system used for the Geo-Thermal heating, once a closed loop system, is now a standing column well system.
“We studied a number of different installations and we found that the standing column well was a better solution for this building. A standing column well is a system where you’re drilling much fewer, but deeper wells and you’re abstracting water down low at about 1500 feet and then you’re abstracting the heat and cool from that and discharging back to the same well at a higher elevation,” said Mr. Crouse of the new design.
“Your change in temperature is pretty slight from the top to the bottom,” he continued, “about four degrees, and what happens is you get a better heat exchange because you’re actually using the water itself instead of water enclosed in a tube [as in a closed loop system].”
Many engineers apparently now use this system instead of the closed loop because of its high efficiency and affordability. By switching systems, the designers have managed to cut down the number of wells being installed from 38 to 3 and therefore made the financial payback shorter while increasing the effectiveness of the system.
The other major change concerns the layout of the dorms. Instead of building the driveway from North Elm Street into the property, the access drive will be through the facilities drive, along the softball field, and into the site.
The change of plans was made after a complaint from a Choate alum, Jerry Farrell, who expressed his opinion during two meetings with the Wallingford Zoning Commission. “He felt the road would dramatically impact on his property and bring too much traffic to this intersection without a stop sign. The Choate faculty who live along that section of North Elm Street expressed similar concerns,” explained Ms. Paula Welch, Director of Facilities.
This change did not overly upset the planners. “We really restudied it and our project team, after looking at it and walking in the field extensively, said we really think that this is a better access point for this project. We found that this worked better for the school for the long term plan for this area,” added Mr. Crouse.
Although Jerry Farrell had some concerns, many people voiced their support for the project at both public hearings.
“There are certain things that you have to complete in order to make the requirements. You have to look at your drainage and your sanitary systems and your water systems. You have to comply with the town regulations. You have to prepare documents that demonstrate that you’re in compliance with their requests” explained Mr. Crouse. To answer questions about such topics at the meetings, Choate brought in panels of engineers and architects.
Although PMD, Mr. Crouse’s company, unanimously approved the project on September 11th, other approvals, including the town’s, have still not been declared.
Crouse’s team must also go through the bid process, which will take about four weeks; another couple of weeks will be spent to mobilize for the contractor.
“We’ve got our fingers crossed that approval happens and we’re really excited. We think it’s going to work and hope that we have donors lined up and we can start the project,” said Ms. Welch.
