When students returned to campus for the spring semester, they might have noticed a construction project underway between the Johnny Mize Athletic Center and the Walker Athletic Complex Soccer Field. Assistant Vice President of Facilities Management & Safety Hank Knight gave some information about what had happened while students were gone for Winter Break.
“There were some [galvanized] storm drain pipes at the Mize [that] were put in around […] 2000. And over the years, [holes began to rust in] the bottoms of the pipes[.] [W]hen the water [came] through there, it would [leak] out the bottom of the pipe [which] started washing out, and it caused a sinkhole down below the steps next to the soccer field,” Knight said.
When asked how Knight and his team knew there was a problem, he said, “We [had] a company with a camera […] come in, and we sent cameras up the pipes so [that] we knew what all we were going to have to replace before we started.” “We were originally going to do it over Christmas Break […], but the weather held us up, so we started when we did, right at the first of January,” Knight added. The project has since been completed and is no longer a safety hazard.
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