Construction begun for new Isotope Sciences Facility

Construction on a new office building for the Chemistry and Materials Science Directorate (CMS) started the first week of December.

The construction contractor has installed new security fences as a part of preparations to allow contractor access to the construction site. A construction access lane will be created down Fourth Street between Bldg. 151 and the construction lay down area at Mesquite Way and Avenue A.

To ensure employee safety, the portal just east of Bldg. 151 will be closed during construction. Another portal is available just south of the construction area beside Bldg. 141.

The two-story, 22,000-square-foot building, to be numbered Bldg. 155, will be built in the lawn area immediately east of Bldg. 151 and will be about the size of Safeguards and Security’s Bldg. 274.

"The new building will allow CMS to increase the number of permanent offices available next to Bldg. 151, the Isotope Sciences Laboratory Facility," said Mike Atkinson, the Plant Engineering project manager.

The new building will house 65 offices and a 150-seat auditorium, about the size of the Bldg. 543 auditorium. "This will provide a meeting place and a venue for scientific and technical seminars, and is large enough for Division-wide meetings.

The façade of the building will be concrete block with windows extending from the ground to the top of the second floor. The design was completed by Fong and Chan Architects, an award-winning firm from San Francisco. The contract for construction was awarded to GSE Construction of Livermore.

The project will take about 15 months to complete with occupation of the building scheduled for spring 2003. Funding for the $8 million project was approved in 1999.

Construction of the new office building is one part of the Isotope Sciences Facility project, which consists of several sub-projects. Other project components include seismic retrofitting of Bldg. 151; retrofitting of the Bldgs. 151 and 154 ventilation systems and clean-up of material and equipment in Bldg. 241.

Design work began earlier this year to make structural upgrades to Bldg. 151 necessary to meet DOE seismic requirements. Upgrade construction on the Bldg. 154 ventilation system, including the addition of two new exhaust systems, was completed in November. Design for similar upgrades and retrofitting in Bldg. 151 began in April.

Legacy equipment in Bldg. 241 will be characterized, decontaminated where required and removed in 2002, 2003, and 2004 allowing the building to be returned to use for CMS program activities. Removal and clean-up of roof-mounted exhaust equipment was completed in 2000.

The project was approved in fiscal year 1999 and is funded through 2003. Work on the $17.4 million project began in January 2000 and is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2004.