University of Memphis Investing $36 Million on Quintet of Infrastructure Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Your average university campus is one that is constantly evolving and changing. Each year, new classes and fields of study are added to the curriculum while others are dropped. As a result of the never-ending evolution of a university, the administration is constantly involved in renovating the physical facilities that make up that university. Each year, hundreds of millions of dollars are allocated to constructing new administration buildings, classrooms, dormitories, research centers and the infrastructure that supports all of the aforementioned. Currently, the University of Memphis (Memphis, Tennessee) is intending to invest $36 million on a quintet of infrastructure-related projects across its campus that will support all of its academic facilities.

The largest of these projects is the proposed $15 million Law School relocation utilities project. As part of the relocation of the university’s Law School to the old Post Office in downtown Memphis, the university will install two to three 1,000-ton chillers and three to four 100,000 lbs/hr natural gas-fired boilers to provide the necessary steam and chilled water for the Law School to operate. The company of Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects (Memphis, Tennessee) has been selected to provide architectural services on the project and the search for a design firm is in progress. A general contractor should be selected in the early spring of 2007, with actual construction beginning this summer. The project will be complete by the early spring of 2008.

The second largest project is really two projects: phase I and II of a central plant expansion. Combined, these projects weigh in at $13 million; $6 million for phase I and $7 million for phase II. The first phase of the project will involve the construction of a 3,750 square-foot building (50’x75’), the construction of a chilled water loop to service three to four buildings and the replacement of all of the three-way valves on the air handles in 50+ buildings that currently use two-way valves (there are approximately ten air handlers per building). SSR Ellers, Incorporated (Memphis, Tennessee) is the engineer on the first phase and is currently, in conjunction with the university, completing the engineering and preparing to begin the contracting next month. The building construction is scheduled to begin in May, with the chilled water loop and air handler portions of the project beginning in September of this year. Phase I will be complete by the end of the year.

Phase II will involve the installation of a pair of 1,400-ton chillers in the newly constructed building (part of phase I). A design firm will be selected in the fall of 2007, with the general contractor selection currently scheduled for early in 2008. Actual construction is expected to begin during the summer of 2008, with the project being complete in early 2009.

The fourth infrastructure project the university is currently working on is the South campus electrical system project. This $5 million project will involve the replacement of the existing antiquated 4,160V electrical distribution system across the South campus with a new 12.4kV system as well as the addition of a new substation/switching station. SSR Ellers, Incorporated is also the engineer on this project as well. Current schedules call for the selection of a general contractor in October of this year, with equipment procurement and subcontractor selection beginning shortly thereafter. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2008, with the project being complete by the end of the year.

The final project is the proposed $3 million University Center utilities replacement project. As part of the demolition and replacement of the 172,000 square-foot University Center, the university will install one new 800-ton chiller and a single 100,000 lbs/hr natural gas-fired boiler to provide for its chilled water and steam needs. Fisher & Arnold (Memphis, Tennessee) has been selected to provide engineering services and Inman Construction Corporation will be the general contractor on the project. Equipment procurement and subcontractor selection will begin in July of this year, with actual construction slated to begin in October. The project is anticipated to be complete in the early spring of 2008.

The University of Memphis was established by the General Education Bill enacted by the Tennessee legislature in 1909 and was founded in 1912 as the West Tennessee State Normal School. Situated on 1,160 acres and playing host to 202 buildings, the university has a current enrollment of over 20,500, an annual operating budget of $344 million, and employs approximately 2,500.

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