Beach Building Services address leaks in the Walter Pyramid

Contractors scaled the northwest face of the Walter Pyramid Tuesday to perform scheduled water-proofing due to an apparent leak.

The maintenance was part of “Phase Two” of the Pyramid roof repair, according to Danny Houp, project coordinator of Beach Building Services.  

“We’re addressing leaks in various locations of the Pyramid,” Houp said. “They’re new leaks from the heavy rain we had last year. There were a lot of repercussions from that rain.” 

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Houp added that the water-proofing was not in response to the anticipated rain Wednesday.

“The repair was recommended by a consultant, so we attempted partial repairs to see how that would work, and it worked quite well,” he said. 

The repairs were performed by two riggers from a private contracting company, Versatile Systems. The company was contracted by the university and was the same crew that performed the repairs last year for a leak that occurred over the center court of the Pyramid. 

According to Johnny Solorzano, one of the riggers, working on the Pyramid poses additional challenges compared to a “traditional skyrise.”

“It’s definitely different from what we usually do,” Solorzano said. “We do a lot of skyscraper buildings where it’s just up and down. The pitch makes it interesting.”   

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Houp said contractors will perform a leak test in mid-December when riggers will douse the Pyramid with hoses and infrared readings will be taken inside to check the humidity. 

“We might get a small test tomorrow with the rain,” Houp said as he laughed with the crew. 

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