It is no longer necessary for students to cut through Klehm Hall to get across campus because weather conditions finally cooperated enough that the construction could be finished.

The grounds department reached its most recent target date Wednesday for the steam tunnels construction project, so the east and west sidewalk north of Klehm Hall and the north and south sidewalk will no longer be barricaded, said Carol Strode, interim director for facilities planning and management, in an e-mail.

“(The sidewalk) will be open to pedestrian traffic,”

Strode said. “There will still be some grading/landscaping to be done when the ground thaws and grass can be seeded.”

However, she said the east and west sidewalk north of Lumpkin Hall will remain closed to pedestrian traffic, and the fencing for the Booth Library construction site will be reconfigured. Fences will remain around Booth until the library is opened, which is scheduled to be January 2002.

The steam tunnels are important to the operation of utilities on campus.

“The steam tunnels carry utilities for the campus, including steam condensate, water, gas, compressed air and fiber optics,” Strode previously said. “The Garfield steam tunnel carries all the utilities to the south campus area.”

The construction of the tunnels was necessary because “the existing steam and condensate lines were at the end of their useful life and required replacement,” she previously said.

The steam tunnels construction project was originally expected to be completed in November. At that time, Strode said the project was behind schedule about three to four weeks because of heavy rainfall. She said the project would be completed by the end of December.

The completion of the project continued to be delayed, however, since it was further hindered by weather circumstances.

With the project relying almost solely on weather conditions, the progress now accomplished by grounds workers can be attributed to the satisfactory weather Charleston has experienced lately, she said.

Before the construction was started, there was staff

parking available in the area. That parking lot and the street east of the steam tunnel construction project still will not be available to students or staff even though the construction is nearly finished, Strode said.

“The area will remain available to contractors for various upcoming projects for their trailers and material handling area,” she said. “The area will not be used as a parking lot.”

Strode said the installation of signs and a gate by grounds department workers will prevent the public from entering the area.

“Our grounds department workers will be installing signage and a lockable gate on Garfield Street at the Seventh Street entrance by the end of the week,” she said.