veritas(faciligibbs/veritas_opsreview...central building cost estimate 4 item estimate subtotal base...

VERITAS Facili.esSteve Criswell -‐ VERITAS Ops. Rev., December 20091

VERITAS Facilities

• Provided by SAO

• Site in Na.onal Forest

• U.li.es at basecamp

• Backup power at basecamp

• Offices, electronics labs, and storage at basecamp

• Founda.ons for telescopes and electronic sheds

• Mirror lab at basecamp

• Vehicles for transport

• Heavy equipment (maintenance and opera.on)

• Communica.ons

Steve Criswell -‐ VERITAS Ops. Rev., December 2009 2

Current FacilitiesTasks

• In 2009, Telescope 1 was relocated on budget and ahead of schedule using NSF construc.on funds. (~$270k)

• Smithsonian maintenance funding -‐ Off Budget

• Mirror lab ven.la.on upgrade. (~ $60k) -‐ Completed

• Upgrade the UPSs and ba[eries. Reinforce the shed founda.ons. (~$50k) -‐ Requested

• Upgrade FLWO wide communica.ons. (~$100k) -‐ Requested

• Repave basecamp pavement and Telescope 3 area (~$30k) -‐ Requested

• Control Building


• VERITAS has displaced several support employers from their offices. (JW, ML, MMT, TW)

• FLWO projects have lost drop offices.

• VERITAS is paying $357/month to rent a trailer that is too small for our technicians.

• The basecamp bedroom was converted to the VERITAS control room.

• During summer when collaborators are here, we have to eat lunch in shics.

• VERITAS has no offices for observers (3) or visi.ng collaborators during the summer.

• FLWO has no offices for visi.ng scien.sts.

Why a Central Control Building is Needed.


Central Control Building Status

• Conceptual design and Forest Service approval is complete.

• Final design is at 68%.

• Design and building will be LEED cer.fied.

• Should have bids in March 2010.

• To save $s, we dropped the dorm and reduced the floor area from 4,500 to 3,000 sf. Lack of day sleeping rooms forces observers to drive to the mountain acer a nights work.

• Central building is mostly funded by SI.

• We may have money problems.


VERITAS Central Building 1


Computer

Control

Storage

Open Office

Office

Office

Lab

Conference


Steve Criswell -‐ VERITAS Ops. Rev., December 2009

Kitchen

7

Central Building Cost Estimate 4

Item Estimate Subtotal

Base Bid w 10% MR. $937k

1. Lower Wall $15k

2. Glass Walls $39k

3. Folding Wall $12k

4. Rain Collection $1k

5. Work Benches $5k*

6. Central UPS $55k*

7. Concrete Floors $11k

All Options Subtotal +$138k

Furnishings +$80k

Construction Administration

+$30k

Less Opt. Deleted * -$60k

Grand Total Cost Est. $1,125k

Architect EstimateDec. 2009

NSF Construction - Unencumbered

$680k

NSF Construction - Encumbered

$194k

SI Construction $910k

Total $1,784k

Funding w NSF encumbered & unencumbered $’s


NSF Construction - Encumbered

$194k

SI Construction $910k

Total $1,104k

Funding w only NSF encumbered $’s

9

$659k Surplus

$21k Shortfall

End VERITAS Facili.es


Facili.es Backup Slides Follow

65% Bid Options


# Descrip.on $

1 Removes top half of exis.ng CMU wall. $14,789

2 Adds interior glass walls. $38,906

3 Adds accordion par..on to separate conference from kitchen. $11.930

4 Adds water collec.on system with cistern. $1,242

5* Adds built-‐in work counters in lab and control room. 4,795

6* Adds central UPS unit and wiring. 54,857

7 Replaces .le floor with finished concrete floor. $11,340

Total $137,859

• Construc)on stopped in April of 2005. (5 founda.ons, water tank, underground-‐u.li.es, power entrance and powerline road) (~ $1,000k).

• The Horseshoe Canyon recontouring and revegeta)on cost es.mate report is underway. Recontouring and revegeta.on tasks are undefined and costs are unknown.

• Ques.ons

• If we are giving the report to the Na.on, how should it be edited?

• Are we burying or removing the Horseshoe Canyon infrastructure?

• Will any NSF construc.on funds be available for the Central building construc.on? (~~ $200k).

Horseshoe Canyon


Discussion of Risks


• I have listed the major risks that threaten VERITAS on a separate spreadsheet. In the following slides I comment on some of these risks.

• We have examined these risks to identify any low cost actions we could take to significantly reduce the risks. The actions we have taken are listed.


Risks 1

14

• Lightning strikes could take out a lot of expressive electronics. We shutdown for the monsoons, installed lightning rods and are located in a valley. We have had only one minor strike in the first three years of operations.

• Funding reductions or terminations are a constant threat to government funded programs. We do good science, make presentations and hope for the best.

• Optics Support Structure (OSS) collisions could damage the OSS or the positioner. We have had 4 collisions. In all cases, the OSS bent what it hit and sustained no damage. We have increased training and are investigating additional interlocks.

• We are 42 miles from the nearest hospital.


Risks 2

15

• The original VERITAS designers are starting to disperse. For the most part, they are retaining their connection to VERITAS. The collaboration has modified its rules to encourage this.

• We have one mirror recoating technician to strip, clean, recoat and anodize 250 mirrors a year. If he were to leave, we would loose this ability. Currently industry is not setup to do this work. If they were, we would have to pay ~ $1,000/mirror. If this were to occur, we would hire and train a new technician using the original design engineer as a teacher.

• Washington University designed and built the FADC boards. These large complex boards have a very low failure rate and we keep spares. Nonetheless, if WU was not available to repair these boards, it would be difficult to find these skills elsewhere.

• Mirror lab vacuum pump ($30k) is a single point of failure. Upgrade will provide a new pump and current pump will become the spare.


Risks 3

16

Risks 4• The scientific and engineering VERITAS staff is limited. Proposals have been

submitted for AGIS and the VERITAS upgrade. If awarded, these projects can impact VERITAS Operations. Fortunately, most of the work for both projects takes place at the collaborating institutions not the VERITAS site.

• Wild fires are always a risk in unpopulated areas. We work with the Forest Service to reduce the fire risk. The location of VERITAS in a flat area with roads, few trees and a water supply reduce the danger somewhat.

• Black helicopters with search lights are the natural enemies of astronomers. We work with the Border Patrol and have had few issues.

• At night the basecamp area is active with UDAs drug transporters and government agencies chasing them. We brief observers and have had few problems since the basecamp was occupied in 1990.


End of Risk Slides



Safety and Environmental

• The VERITAS site is inspected yearly by a team of specialists from DC. A copy of this years report is available at the review site.

• All visiting observers must complete a 30 minute safety briefing before they work a shift for the first time.

• All manlifts, cranes, forklifts are inspected yearly by a independent inspector.

• All crane and lift operators take yearly training.

• Harnesses are worn for all operations above 10 feet.

• Bears, ringtailed cats and rattle snakes have been observed within the basecamp. Observers are told to use flashlights and not to feed wild life.


Safety and Environmental

20

• Fire drills are conducted twice a year.

• All waste is disposed of using the FLWO HazMat waste disposal systems.

• First aid (and CPR) training is conducted yearly.

• Respirators and special ventilation systems are used for mirror stripping.

• Hard hats are used for all lift operations.

• Observing crews are always at least 3 persons.

• Most observers stay at the ridge dorm. This requires mountain driving after a nights work. Mountain driving advice to provided to new observers.

• There were no injuries during the relocation of telescope 1.

• For the entire VERITAS project, there have been no night time injuries and two lacerations and a shoulder injury during the day.


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