One of these devices: http://www.megger.com/us/products/ProductDetails.php?ID=186 would have prevented this. How much did we pay a company to look for the electrical line?
12:09 heard thru the grapevine (you'll never get an accurate story from the PIO) that students were on the building and were treated for minor minor smoke inhalation.
Something doesn't jive. If you watch the construction update Mr. Marciniak states most work crews stop at 3 pm. He did say and excavator was working until 5.
I believe the first fire equipment didn't roll out until 5:30.
According to last night's meeting, everything is canceled at the high school today due to a power failure. Anything scheduled at the stadium is still on. Elaine
Of course there is no doubt the district is complying with all EPA regulations regarding hazardous chemicals/spills and Community Right to Know responsibilities under the EPCRA Act.
Aren't transformers in public buildings required to be isolated or have protection from electrical faults such as the one creating by hitting a power line?
Soot from transformer fires is typically black, friable, carbonaceous material. Preliminary cleanup of the areas visibly contaminated with soot should involve dry vacuuming of both horizontal and vertical surfaces with a vacuum cleaning system equipped with a high efficiency particulate (HEPA) filter.
Final cleanup methods should include washing surfaces with alkaline27 or nonionic84 synthetic detergents in water. The addition of a caustic agent, such as trisodium phosphate, may help to remove grease deposits, floor waxes, and furniture polishes. Waxed and polished surfaces tend to absorb contaminants from the air. Cleaning with organic solvents is useful for nonporous electrical and mechanical equipment where contact with water-based cleaning fluids may damage the equipment. Organic solvents, such as kerosene, mineral spirits, and trichlorotrifluoroethane, may carry contaminants deeper into porous materials and should not be used on these surfaces. Complete decontamination of porous surfaces, such as concrete and masonry surfaces in vaults, may not be possible; therefore, application of an elastomeric, abrasion- and flame-resistant sealant may be required.
Post-Decontamination Testing The adequacy of the decontamination effort should be determined by followup sampling and analysis of the contaminated areas
From the district site: "Mt. Lebanon High School will re-open on Wednesday, August 15, to all students and visitors. An electrical line was struck during construction this week which resulted in a loss of power to some areas of the high school. This incident also caused a district-wide phone outage that is still in effect. Because of the power outage, high school offices, including the guidance office, will move to the 4th floor cafeteria. Click the link above for more information."
From WTAE's reporting of the incident: "Electrical line hit, transformer blows at Mt. Lebanon High School" A stretch of Cochran Road was closed for a short time Monday evening after reports of a possible explosion and fire near Mt. Lebanon High School. "It was crazy. I hope everyone's OK, though," Mount Lebanon student Terran Schmidt said.Lebanon Fire Battalion Chief Nick Sohyda told WTAE Channel 4 Action News an excavator hit a utility line, causing a transformer to blow. "It appears there was an electrical issue and a problem with the transformer inside the building," Sohyda said. "When the electrical line arched, one or two of the manhole covers on the school district property might have popped up a little bit."
Odd that there is no mention of a blown transformer in the PIO's release, yet both WTAE and the Chief do report it???
I ran into a high school employee who said that Servicemaster is frantically cleaning the school. He said that portions of the building still do not have power. That was of 3:15 PM today. He doesn't see how the school is going to open in time. That should be interesting. Of course the School District will downplay the explosions. That is why our PIO makes the big bucks. Elaine
3:44 wrote there was smoke throughout the building. I could swear the student quoted in the WTAE said there was smoke everywhere, but the story has been updated and no mention of smoke. Was I seeing things or is this a cover up?
Seriously, these guys hit a waste water line, they hit an electrical line, they omitted plans for supporting walls, they had to truck in $187,000 worth of dirt.
Are we sure that we hired the best people for the job? The initial bid for the project was around $127 million if memory serves. I know we deleted some stuff to get the number down, but could it be Celli/Dick/Nello cut stuff too. Like hiring inexperienced crews, using interns rather than using experienced ourneymen. After all we're spending way more than any of the recent schools projects in the area.
I have visions of them taking down building C and half of building B with it.
2:57 that is an interesting article in the PPG from October 2007.
"Duquesne Light crews currently are working to replace the faulty cable and to proactively replace two other cables that supply electricity to the high school. Power is expected to be restored by 5 p.m. this evening and school is expected to reopen on schedule tomorrow."
How many underground cables could there be? Wouldn't any of our maintenance people have known where Duquesne worked in 2007. Plus aren't you suppose to "call before you dig in PA?"
Another good reason to question the competence of the people involved in the project.
North Carolina: 1-800-632-4949 Ohio: 1-800-362-2764 Pennsylvania: 1-800-242-1776 Virginia: 1-800-552-7001 West Virginia: 1-800-245-4848 Be Safe -- Call First
Accidentally hitting utility lines is extremely dangerous and may result in serious injury or death. Such accidents also endanger others and can disrupt utility services for customers. Be safe -- protect yourself and those around you by avoiding underground utility lines that can injure or kill.
Call First – Underground power lines, communication cables, gas lines, water lines or other utilities may lie at various depths below the surface of your property or areas of planned excavation. It is important to be safe before excavating by calling the appropriate state notification center and allowing time for the utility companies in that area to mark the location of their underground facilities. Respect Marks –It also is important to respect the marks indicating the presence of underground utilities. Excavation should be carefully performed only after confirming that all utilities have marked the location of their facilities. Remember that the locating of underground utility lines is not an exact science and location marks have varying bands of required accuracy, depending on a particular state's requirements. These can range from 18 to 24 inches from the actual facility. One-Call System – In addition to the national One-Call number 811, all states provide a One-Call communication system that provides one telephone number for excavation contractors and the general public to call for notification of their intent to use equipment for excavating, blasting, tunneling, or other similar work. Details are provided below.
Here's the info on Call Before You Dig President Posti. No charge, thank you. Consider it my donation to the district. Might save us several thousand dollars in change orders some time.
28 comments:
Change order # 3 coming up !
Well that's one way to gut a building and get insurance to pay for it. Plus you no one can criticize Nello for not staying on schedule.
Cochran Road has been reopened. The LeboALERT says issues related to the struck underground electrical line have been resolved.
Elaine
The district is lucky that school was not in session. Scary thought, huh?
Heck of a lot of fire equipment rushed to the scene of a minor electrical fire that was put out in minutes.
One of these devices:
http://www.megger.com/us/products/ProductDetails.php?ID=186
would have prevented this.
How much did we pay a company to look for the electrical line?
12:09 heard thru the grapevine (you'll never get an accurate story from the PIO) that students were on the building and were treated for minor minor smoke inhalation.
That's "in" the building, not "on" the building.
Something doesn't jive. If you watch the construction update Mr. Marciniak states most work crews stop at 3 pm. He did say and excavator was working until 5.
I believe the first fire equipment didn't roll out until 5:30.
That and the district phone lines are down this morning. Was the damage more extensive than we're being lead to believe?
According to last night's meeting, everything is canceled at the high school today due to a power failure. Anything scheduled at the stadium is still on.
Elaine
Looks like enough justification to add another building. You know, for the safety of the children. Wonder if it'll be $18/month.
People at the scene said it sounded like a bomb went off and there was lots of smoke throughout the building.
Of course there is no doubt the district is complying with all EPA regulations regarding hazardous chemicals/spills and Community Right to Know responsibilities under the EPCRA Act.
Aren't transformers in public buildings required to be isolated or have protection from electrical faults such as the one creating by hitting a power line?
Maybe we're getting a better idea of why their bid was so low...
We had the proof with the Public Safety Building. I wrote about it previously.
Elaine
WTAE had this to say: Electrical line hit, transformer blows at Mt. Lebanon High School
Last night at the commission meeting, I spoke with two residents who live across the street from the school. They said there were two explosions.
Elaine
Soot from transformer fires is typically black, friable, carbonaceous material. Preliminary cleanup of the areas visibly contaminated with soot should involve dry vacuuming of both horizontal and vertical surfaces with a vacuum cleaning system equipped with a high efficiency particulate (HEPA) filter.
Final cleanup methods should include washing surfaces with alkaline27 or nonionic84 synthetic detergents in water. The addition of a caustic agent, such as trisodium phosphate, may help to remove grease deposits, floor waxes, and furniture polishes. Waxed and polished surfaces tend to absorb contaminants from the air. Cleaning with organic solvents is useful for nonporous electrical and mechanical equipment where contact with water-based cleaning fluids may damage the equipment. Organic solvents, such as kerosene, mineral spirits, and trichlorotrifluoroethane, may carry contaminants deeper into porous materials and should not be used on these surfaces. Complete decontamination of porous surfaces, such as concrete and masonry surfaces in vaults, may not be possible; therefore, application of an elastomeric, abrasion- and flame-resistant sealant may be required.
Post-Decontamination Testing
The adequacy of the decontamination effort should be determined by followup sampling and analysis of the contaminated areas
From the district site:
"Mt. Lebanon High School will re-open on Wednesday, August 15, to all students and visitors. An electrical line was struck during construction this week which resulted in a loss of power to some areas of the high school. This incident also caused a district-wide phone outage that is still in effect. Because of the power outage, high school offices, including the guidance office, will move to the 4th floor cafeteria. Click the link above for more information."
From WTAE's reporting of the incident:
"Electrical line hit, transformer blows at Mt. Lebanon High School"
A stretch of Cochran Road was closed for a short time Monday evening after reports of a possible explosion and fire near Mt. Lebanon High School.
"It was crazy. I hope everyone's OK, though," Mount Lebanon student Terran Schmidt said.Lebanon Fire Battalion Chief Nick Sohyda told WTAE Channel 4 Action News an excavator hit a utility line, causing a transformer to blow. "It appears there was an electrical issue and a problem with the transformer inside the building," Sohyda said. "When the electrical line arched, one or two of the manhole covers on the school district property might have popped up a little bit."
Odd that there is no mention of a blown transformer in the PIO's release, yet both WTAE and the Chief do report it???
I ran into a high school employee who said that Servicemaster is frantically cleaning the school. He said that portions of the building still do not have power. That was of 3:15 PM today. He doesn't see how the school is going to open in time. That should be interesting. Of course the School District will downplay the explosions. That is why our PIO makes the big bucks.
Elaine
3:44 wrote there was smoke throughout the building. I could swear the student quoted in the WTAE said there was smoke everywhere, but the story has been updated and no mention of smoke. Was I seeing things or is this a cover up?
In my 11:20 AM post, the video in the link I provided mentioned smoke two or three times.
Elaine
If Nello read this article:
http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/power-outage-closes-mt-lebanon-schools/nGfzQ/
They would have known the power line was near the central office, even without looking at drawings.
Tapped into an unknown sewer line... Hit an unknown electrical line.
Come clean Lebo Larry, you're sneakin' in non-union immigrants workers again, aren't you?
Oh by the way Elaine, any reference to smoke has been wiped clean from that article!
Seriously, these guys hit a waste water line, they hit an electrical line, they omitted plans for supporting walls, they had to truck in $187,000 worth of dirt.
Are we sure that we hired the best people for the job?
The initial bid for the project was around $127 million if memory serves. I know we deleted some stuff to get the number down, but could it be Celli/Dick/Nello cut stuff too. Like hiring inexperienced crews, using interns rather than using experienced ourneymen.
After all we're spending way more than any of the recent schools projects in the area.
I have visions of them taking down building C and half of building B with it.
2:57 that is an interesting article in the PPG from October 2007.
"Duquesne Light crews currently are working to replace the faulty cable and to proactively replace two other cables that supply electricity to the high school. Power is expected to be restored by 5 p.m. this evening and school is expected to reopen on schedule tomorrow."
How many underground cables could there be? Wouldn't any of our maintenance people have known where Duquesne worked in 2007. Plus aren't you suppose to "call before you dig in PA?"
Another good reason to question the competence of the people involved in the project.
North Carolina: 1-800-632-4949
Ohio: 1-800-362-2764
Pennsylvania: 1-800-242-1776
Virginia: 1-800-552-7001
West Virginia: 1-800-245-4848
Be Safe -- Call First
Accidentally hitting utility lines is extremely dangerous and may result in serious injury or death. Such accidents also endanger others and can disrupt utility services for customers. Be safe -- protect yourself and those around you by avoiding underground utility lines that can injure or kill.
Call First – Underground power lines, communication cables, gas lines, water lines or other utilities may lie at various depths below the surface of your property or areas of planned excavation. It is important to be safe before excavating by calling the appropriate state notification center and allowing time for the utility companies in that area to mark the location of their underground facilities.
Respect Marks –It also is important to respect the marks indicating the presence of underground utilities. Excavation should be carefully performed only after confirming that all utilities have marked the location of their facilities. Remember that the locating of underground utility lines is not an exact science and location marks have varying bands of required accuracy, depending on a particular state's requirements. These can range from 18 to 24 inches from the actual facility.
One-Call System – In addition to the national One-Call number 811, all states provide a One-Call communication system that provides one telephone number for excavation contractors and the general public to call for notification of their intent to use equipment for excavating, blasting, tunneling, or other similar work. Details are provided below.
Here's the info on Call Before You Dig President Posti. No charge, thank you. Consider it my donation to the district. Might save us several thousand dollars in change orders some time.
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