State Capitol Building to Reopen on Schedule
The State Capitol Building will open on schedule after being
closed since 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, for an electrical upgrade. The building
was closed to remove existing electrical equipment and make the transfer to a new
system.
The first 72 hours were the most crucial to the outage
success, as demolition crews worked around the clock to remove existing
switchgear and busway traversing the southwest wing of the building. At the
same time, framers prepared a new fire-rated and code compliant electrical room
where the connection was made between the OG&E vault and the new
underground feeders.
Electricians worked in shifts to make the connection with
the new state-of-the-art equipment and components of the existing system that
will continue to power portions of the building for the next few years.
Additionally, pipe fitters capitalized on the building downtime by relocating
sections of condensing water pipe in another wing of the Capitol to facilitate
future construction.
“I’d like to
thank Manhattan, FSB, OESCO and OG&E for their hard work in ensuring the
electrical upgrade during the outage was carried out safely and on schedule,”
said State Capitol Project Manager Trait Thompson. “I would also like to thank everyone at OMES
who worked for months to ensure a smooth transition for the agencies during the
relocation to alternate work space, and thank the agencies for their patience
and understanding during this necessary restoration work at the Capitol.”
Throughout the week crews have been testing and inspecting
the new gear. From the main 3,000 amp breakers to the computer graphic display
screens that produce real-time load calculations, every piece of the new
electrical system was tested and inspected by various authorities. The
emergency generator was fired up for the first time on Thursday morning, a full
24 hours ahead of the original schedule for this final step in the upgrade
process.
The building will open for regular business at 6:00 a.m. on Monday,
Oct. 23.
Media Contact
Shelley Zumwalt Director of Public Affairs (405) 535-5198 | shelley.zumwalt@omes.ok.gov
About the Office of Management and Enterprise Services
The Office of Management and Enterprise Services
provides financial, property, purchasing, human resources and
information technology services to all state agencies, and assists the
Governor’s Office on budgetary policy matters. Our mission: Supporting our partners through unified business services. For more information, visit OMES.OK.gov.
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