UCR’s Central Plant will be conducting a routine inspection and maintenance of the steam utility distribution system.
When: Friday, July 12 at 12:00 PM through Sunday, July 21.
Impact: Heat and steam will be off to facilities throughout campus. This will affect building heating, hot water, sterilization, autoclave operations, and other laboratory processes. Affected buildings are listed below.
Purpose: The inspection ensures continued, reliable delivery of pressurized steam and hot water for campus buildings. This is for sterilization and other laboratory processes, and climate control. July requires a minimal demand for steam, due to warmer weather and smaller campus population, and has the least impact on the campus community.
Safety: Campus boilers will be turned off to cool for two days, and work will commence on July 15. The shutdown is labor intensive, both in the Central Plant and the steam tunnels. Skilled trade staff will work 10-12 hour shifts to: shut down boilers; drain the system; make necessary repairs; reignite boilers; reintroduce high-pressure steam; check the entire system for leaks; and bring buildings back online. The work is done in an environment that has no climate control and temperatures exceed 110 degrees, 24 hours a day. Boilers are planned to be relit on the morning of July 21 to have steam fully restored by July 22.
Affected Buildings:
• Anderson Hall
• Athletics & Dance
• Batchelor Hall
• Biological Sciences
• Bourns Hall
• Boyce East Vivarium, trailer
• Boyce Hall
• Boyden Lab
• Chapman Hall
• CHASS Interdisciplinary North and South
• Chemical Sciences
• Entomology Building
• Fawcett Laboratory
• Fine Arts
• FS Annex B
• Genomics Building
• Geology Building
• Greenhouses
• Growth Chamber Facility
• Highlander Union Building, HUB – Limited availability
• Hinderaker Hall
• Humanities & Social Sciences
• Insectary & Quarantine Facility
• Life Sciences & Lecture Hall 1500
• Materials Science & Engineering
• Multidisciplinary Research Building, MRB – Limited availability
• Olmsted Hall
• Orbach Science Library
• Physics Building
• Pierce Hall & Pierce Annex Wing
• Psychology Building
• Rivera Library
• School of Medicine - Education Building
• School of Medicine Health Science Research Building
• Science Laboratories 1
• Soil Sterilization Station
• Spieth Hall
• Sproul Hall
• Student Academic Services, SASS
• Watkins Hall
• Webber Hall
• Winston Chung Hall
The following are not impacted:
• Housing facilities will not be impacted.
• HUB Dining will have a backup boiler for hot water.
• Multidisciplinary Research Building/MRB, will have boilers to provide steam from July 16-18, 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
Thank you for your patience as we continue our commitment to maintaining a safe and sustainable campus environment. If you have questions regarding this inspection process, please call us at (951) 827-4214 or email us at facilities@ucr.edu.