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Work on Cooling Tower 101 Begins Today

(Photo - Cooling Tower 101)
Cooling Tower 101 has served SLAC for more than 40 years. (Photo by Shawne Workman.)

Cooling Tower 101 is a SLAC original, serving the lab since the 1960s, and it's due for an earthquake retrofit and upgrade. Subcontractors begin the replacement of Cooling Tower 101 today. Cranes and other heavy equipment for the project will occasionally require closures at the intersection of Loop Road, and the sidewalk between Cooling Tower 101 and the Building 40 parking lot. Closure notices will be posted in SLAC Today whenever possible, and signage will be in place.

The construction site itself will be fenced off; access requires full PPE and prior permission from the project manager, Craig Ferguson, or Field Construction Manager Richard Maggi. Please take care walking and driving by the intersection of Loop Road and Pep Ring Road and comply with signage in the area during the project, which is scheduled for completion at the third week of May. Staff members with concerns and questions about the cooling tower project can also by e-mail Javier Sevilla.

During the replacement period, the subcontractor will provide a temporary cooling system to maintain cooling water for critical loads: air compressors in B23, for a chiller to provide chilled water to Computer Center in Building 50 and Fermi Large Area Telescope lab in Building 84. Another small temporary cooling tower will provide cooling to low conductivity water system 102. During this period no chilled water will be available to other buildings served by the cooling tower. Buildings Served by Cooling Tower 101 are:

50 Computer building
84 Central Laboratory Annex, Fermi Telescope ISOC Data Flow Lab
42 Cafeteria
43 Auditorium and Visitor Center
44 Test Laboratory Building
51 Kavli Building Auditorium
137 Laboratory Offices and Shops
48 Research Office Building Redwood Rooms
41 A&E Building
40 Central Laboratory Building
45 Klystron Building
31 Vacuum Assembly Building 

—from the SLAC Facilities Division
  SLAC Today, February 8, 2010