It is a word that gives ASU students and faculty commuters the chills: construction. There has been plenty at the ASU Polytechnic campus recently. During the winter holidays, there were two specific incidents.
On Jan. 11, there was a power outage that started in the evening and lasted until the morning of Jan. 12.
Christine Lambrakis, the assistant director of public affairs at the Polytechnic campus, said the outage was a result of the construction crew hitting electrical lines as part of construction for three new on-campus facilities. "Phones were operational, but computers were not, and of course we had no lights." There were only a few buildings affected. SRP restored service by 8:30 a.m. Friday.
Additional problems with a broken gas line arose later that day, however.
"While they repaired some phone lines, a construction worker hit a gas line," Lambrakis said.
Sutton Hall was the only facility suspected to be affected. All individuals in the building were evacuated and sent home early as a precautionary measure due to potential fumes. Southwest Gas arrived immediately to the scene.
According to Linda Taylor, administrator of communications at Southwest Gas, it was "a routine broken line."
"It was a two inch main broken by construction work," she added.
Taylor described the event as a regular problem at construction sites.
"We respond to several of these a day," she said. "We respond as quickly as possible."
"We have crews stationed across the Valley. [Our] first priority is to make sure people in the area are safe," she added.
The problem was fixed within 30 minutes.
"By 2:30 p.m. they had it pretty much under control," Lambrakis said.
According to the ASU Polytechnic Web site, construction at the campus will continue until June 30, 2008.
Reach the reporter at: lauren.misak@asu.edu.
