Leaks In The LRC Building from the winter downpour
Students study on the 3rd floor of the LRC building as plans are being made to fix the leaks right next to student work stations and in other places throughout the LRC building brought about by rain on Feb. 14.
On Thursday, Feb. 14 classes in the LRC were canceled due to some power outages caused by leaks. According to Jim Rogers, the manager of the facilities and maintenance at Saddleback College, no buildings actually flooded.
Facilities and Maintenance recognized some “water that got into an electrical room that came into an abandoned conduit that was not sealed during reconstruction for the building in 2010, so the conduit was something that was missed by the general contractor,” Rogers said.
“The water level rose outside due to the downpour and the water came into the conduit that was above the fire alarm panel which shorted out the fluid that was inside the panel,” he said.
Facilities easily turned off the conduit, which had been out of use for many years.
Rogers said Facilities staff “are still in the process of trying to get two roofing contractors who are going to come on campus and repair all of the leaks we had on the roofs, the challenge for the Gauchos is we can’t repair the leaks during the rainy season because it is hard to open the roof up, and opening the roof will create a bigger issue.”
By the middle of April, contractors are scheduled to fix portions of roofs throughout the campus.
“This will be a 45-day project because there weren’t that many buildings that got affected during the process, but they did have multiple leaks that they have to deal with which was caused by a variety of issues,” Rogers said.
Most classrooms remained unaffected during the downpour on Valentine’s Day. While all classes in the LRC were canceled, those in the Math and Science building were relocated during leak repairs.
The 70-year-old Science and Math building roof “is very sound,” Rogers said, most leaks originating from groundwater near the building. According to Rogers, all leaks should be fixed before the end of April.
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