2008 Woodie Awards
Carnesecca construction
Gregory Leporati, Editor-in-Chief
Issue date: 3/5/08Section: News
The mounds of dirt located outside of Carnesecca Arena are a result of St. John's latest construction project, aimed at improving drainage around Taffner Fieldhouse.
According to Fidelis Oziegbe, project director for St. John's Department of Facilities, the construction outside Carnesecca Arena is just the first phase of a larger plan, which will include not only fixing the drainage, but also paving the area.
"Anytime it rains, there is a lot of flooding in Taffner," Oziegbe said. "The existing drainage system did not have the capacity to handle all the rain, so we're enlarging the drainage system."
The construction will add around 2,000 feet of pipes, running underground from Taffner Fieldhouse to as far out as Union Turnpike, said Oziegbe. He explained that the plan aims to elevate the water using a grating system to ensure that there will be no more flooding.
The initial construction outside of Carnesecca Arena, according to Oziegbe, has taken about "four to six weeks" already, but it should not be taking as long as it has been.
"It's an aggressive project," Oziegbe said, "but the anticipation was it would only take three to four weeks. We are about a week late, due to scheduling conflicts."
According to Oziegbe, the
construction had to be postponed periodically over the last few weeks to accommodate events held at Carnesecca Arena, which he noted "always take precedence."
Oziegbe also said that there have been some obstacles during the digging process.
"There are some pipes that run across where we are that we cannot cross, so we have to go deeper than necessary to accommodate.
"Once we run into a problem like that," he added, "we have to stop and find other ways to do it and bring the engineer on and listen to his recommendations."
Oziegbe went on to say that the large piles of dirt in front of Carnesecca Arena should be gone in about a week. The second phase of the construction project, he said, will begin around April and continue until around May.
According to Fidelis Oziegbe, project director for St. John's Department of Facilities, the construction outside Carnesecca Arena is just the first phase of a larger plan, which will include not only fixing the drainage, but also paving the area.
"Anytime it rains, there is a lot of flooding in Taffner," Oziegbe said. "The existing drainage system did not have the capacity to handle all the rain, so we're enlarging the drainage system."
The construction will add around 2,000 feet of pipes, running underground from Taffner Fieldhouse to as far out as Union Turnpike, said Oziegbe. He explained that the plan aims to elevate the water using a grating system to ensure that there will be no more flooding.
The initial construction outside of Carnesecca Arena, according to Oziegbe, has taken about "four to six weeks" already, but it should not be taking as long as it has been.
"It's an aggressive project," Oziegbe said, "but the anticipation was it would only take three to four weeks. We are about a week late, due to scheduling conflicts."
According to Oziegbe, the
construction had to be postponed periodically over the last few weeks to accommodate events held at Carnesecca Arena, which he noted "always take precedence."
Oziegbe also said that there have been some obstacles during the digging process.
"There are some pipes that run across where we are that we cannot cross, so we have to go deeper than necessary to accommodate.
"Once we run into a problem like that," he added, "we have to stop and find other ways to do it and bring the engineer on and listen to his recommendations."
Oziegbe went on to say that the large piles of dirt in front of Carnesecca Arena should be gone in about a week. The second phase of the construction project, he said, will begin around April and continue until around May.
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