Due to routine electrical maintenance, a series of gaping holes now dot the Tufts Academic Quad and the President's Lawn in front of Tisch Library.
While they may be unsightly, the holes are a necessary step towards the upkeep of the campus' electrical feed, according to Vice President of Operations John Roberto. Such "scheduled maintenance repairs" of the electricity are annual procedures, he said.
"Every year, upon Memorial Day, we test and inspect the University's electrical distribution system and all buried conduits to make sure that it's performing okay, so there aren't any problems to be identified by testing," Roberto said.
This year, however, Roberto said that the conditions of several of the buried conduits needed to be assessed prior to replacing the main electrical feed because some of the ducts may have collapsed.
In most cases, the conduits, or underground tubes encasing and directing wires from building to building, must be cleared of blockages prior to replacing the cables in May.
"Digging the holes allows us to get access to the blockages of the underground duct bank," Roberto said. The project, performed by members of the Facilities Department as well as by various contractors, began at the beginning of Spring Break. Roberto, however, insisted that the timing had nothing to do with the mid-semester vacation.
Roberto also said he has assured both faculty and staff that the holes will not become campus fixtures and that the excavations "shouldn't be open for a lengthy period of time."
"Hopefully we should find all of the blockages and repair them within the next week to two weeks," Roberto said.
Furthermore, "standard safety procedures" are being enacted, such as protecting the holes with fenced-in enclosures. Those working at the sites are also told not to open or expose the excavations for extended periods of time, Roberto said.
Nevertheless, students across campus have reservations about the large holes as well as the time of the year at which the procedure is taking place.
Freshman Daniel Marcus-Toll said he is concerned that the holes make the campus look "unattractive" at a time when many prospective students are coming to look at the school.
"The weather is getting nicer so that means that more students are coming to visit the schools in Boston and, among them, Tufts," Marcus-Toll said.
Marcus-Toll worried that the "unsightly" excavations will "fail to impress" visiting students and parents, especially when April Open House, a program welcoming newly admitted students to the campus, is on the horizon.
This year's April Open House program, however, is scheduled to take place mid-to-late April, well after the time Roberto hopes that the work will be completed.
Sophomore Theresa Pecoraro said she understood that the digging of the holes, while unattractive, is essential to ensuring electrical efficiency on campus.
"I would rather see a few large holes outside of the library than experience periods of black-outs as a result of faulty wiring," Pecoraro said.
Several other construction projects have also begun over Spring Break. According to Roberto, various utility works, such as telephone and data wiring, must be "installed and relocated" in preparation for both Sophia-Gordon Hall and the new Music building.
Roberto also said that the new access driveway paved toward the loading dock of the Mayer Campus Center must be completed so that contractors can begin "concentrating on the two new buildings."
