Infrastructure Projects
June 3, 2010
What do you think of the TEDF? How about the UIM project? What would have happened if we had not got the ARRA funding for the NP GPP projects last year?
Gobbledegook!? Acronymia? Certainly different from the usual PREx, or QWeak, or DVCS that we hear from the physics side of the house!
TEDF, UIM and the others are acronyms used by the facilities people, those trying to build, modernize and maintain our infrastructure.
TEDF (Technology and Engineering Development Facility) is a project to renovate considerable portions of the Test Lab and to construct additions. This will expand the space available for preparation of experiments and for the superconducting radiofrequency work, cavity treatment and cryomodule assembly. The project was the first funded under the Science Laboratory Infrastructure rubric, a program created to support scientific and technological innovation at Office of Science laboratories by supporting program-ready infrastructure and other initiatives.
TEDF will cost $72 million. We anticipate a transformation of the working conditions for many, as well as a change to the layout of the laboratory due to ancillary projects. The project has received approval to make early purchases in the construction phase, and we are looking for a full construction start in the fall. Our construction/general management contractor is now on site and getting in full swing. To celebrate this project, we will soon have a groundbreaking ceremony.
The ancillary work, that associated with the roads, parking and several new support buildings, is being accomplished by an array of General Plant Projects. In a “normal” year, we receive this type of funding at the $1-2 million level. Last year as part of the government’s stimulus efforts, we received $10 million. And of course we can all see the results of this work around the site.
Looking ahead, we have plans that DOE has indicated it hopes to fund called the Utilities and Infrastructure Modernization (UIM) project. This is a $29 million Science Lab Infrastructure project that will improve our cooling water systems, add cryogenics capability, improve our electrical distribution system and upgrade our aging telecommunications system.
As I’ve said before, this is an exciting time at the laboratory. We can see change taking place all around us. The infrastructure changes are much more than alphabet soup, they have the potential to change the way we live and work.
