J-school construction costs increase by $1.4 million

By Jaryd Wilson

Published Feb. 23, 2007

Deterioration of mortar in the old Sociology Building has caused an increase in expenses for the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute project.

According to MU spokesman Christian Basi, the cost of the project will increase by $1.4 million as a result of the need to replace the mortar.

"Prior to construction, tests were done to see how much damage was needed to be fixed," Basi said. "Unfortunately, the tests were not as accurate as we had expected, and the mortar had deteriorated worse than originally thought."

Despite increased expenses, the project will not be over budget because the university and the Reynolds Institute will each contribute half of the $1.4 million.

"The campus funded $700,000 because they realize the need to repair this building now rather than later," Program Development Director Roger Gafke said. "The Reynolds Institute funded the remaining amount, which was about $770,000, so we are not over budget."

Gafke said problems were expected when the demolition began because of the building's age, but they were not prepared for the damages they found.

"The mortar was like dust, and the bricks were essentially sitting on dust," Gafke said. "We stopped the original construction in April to begin grout injection to fix the mortar."

Grout injection is the process of drilling holes through the outer brick of the building and injecting liquid concrete between the bricks so when it hardens, it will act as the concrete that holds the brick up.

Gafke said this process has been going on since original construction was stopped, but the regular construction should begin in March.

"This is a 115-year-old building, so there are going to be issues," Basi said.

Another setback for the project was discovering that the grout injection was needed for the foundation.

"When we started the process of grout injection in the summer, the engineers told us we wouldn't need to do it on the foundation," Gafke said. "However, further studies showed we did need to do that."

Grout injection on the foundation of the building will cost an additional $300,000, but Gafke said the money would be funded by the project contingency.

"Every project has a fund set aside for unforeseen mistakes or unexpected expenses," Gafke said.

Gafke said the remaining money in the fund would be saved in case other problems arise in the future.

Campus Facilities spokesman Phil Shocklee said the overall construction process is not supposed to be altered once it begins.

"We are expecting a smooth and timely process," he said.

The completion date for the project is now set for April 2008.