Job well done: Bryan Duncan, Indiana State University’s director of capital planning and improvements, highlights that the Hulman Center project was completed on time and safely even with COVID-19 precautions in place. Staff photo by
Austen Leake
Construction work is a hands-on job, bringing many challenges as skilled laborers often work closely side by side and even rotate to different job sites to complete large projects.
That all got even more challenging amid the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for Hannig Construction, the general contractor for the $50 million renovation of Hulman Center on the campus of Indiana State University.
The university celebrated a virtual ribbon cutting Dec. 3, however the 10,200-seat multi-purpose arena remains largely closed to the public, with exceptions for family of ISU basketball players, through December.
The pandemic prompted Hannig to bring new health and safety measures to the work site and use creative ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
As work began in late December 2018 and into 2019, about 130 workers moved back and forth demolishing paneling, walls and removing old heating and cooling systems for the 174,000 square foot facility, often working in close proximity on the job site.
“We were lucky to get that work done early with so many (subcontractors) moving around,” said Troy L. Biddle, president of Hannig Construction.
In March 2020, everything changed.
After orders from Gov. Eric Holcomb, Hoosier restaurants, hair salons, dental and ophthalmologist offices and public buildings were closed, while public gatherings and venues were limited or shut down in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus across Indiana.
While construction work was exempt from closure, it would require new measures if contractors were to monitor workers and provide clean work sites daily.
Similar to an approach taken by the NBA for its championship games, Hannig created a sort of “construction bubble” for the Hulman Center project.
Workers assigned to the project remained assigned to that job site for the duration and did not rotate to others, said Jason Jones, a project manager for Hannig. Additionally, some workers had to get new tools that had to remain on that site alone.
After the spring executive orders, a core group of 45 to 60 workers continued progress on the renovation.
“The biggest challenge I think we had was getting it through people’s head to stay home if you are sick,” said Steve Maher, also a project manager for Hannig. “They would come into work and tell you they are sick” instead of calling in, he said. “A lot of that ended up being non-COVID,” he said, such as simply headaches or pains.
“Or they would come and tell you they had been around someone who had the coronavirus instead of calling in,” Maher said.
The federal CARES Act helped provide a solution for Hannig, a union worker contractor. Under that federal law, workers get paid up to 80 hours of sick leave and employers can seek reimbursement through quarterly payroll taxes for money spent for a worker quarantined or seeking medical attention.
“We actually had minimal quarantined workers,” Biddle said.
Maher said that “some isolated incidents occurred among subcontractors, but it never turned into a big spreader.”
Jones added, “We tried to have guys space their work out, so they are not on top of each other like you often see on a job,” he said, requiring workers to wear masks when in close proximity.
Additionally, Jones said if two or more worked on a specific job, those workers remained together even during lunch hours, away from other workers.
And all workers were encouraged to keep spaced apart during lunch breaks and told not to gather in groups, Biddle said.
“It changed the parameters of how you operate on a job site,” Biddle said, adding that work recommendations from the state changed during construction, such as closing down construction offices or working from home “which we did for a period of time when [the pandemic] first started. We had the controller and accounting folks work on alternate days in the office as obviously we had to have payroll checks,” Biddle said.
Jones said COVID-19 did have a direct impact on materials, especially for limestone on a south entrance of Hulman Center, as the production plant for that limestone trim shut down for several weeks due to the virus. It meant changing some work schedules and moving installation of some materials out of sequence during construction, Jones said.
Meetings changed, with limited people permitted in a room, and Zoom meetings became the norm, both with ISU and subcontractors.
“Luckily we have not had a Hannig employee test positive [for COVID-19],” Biddle said. “That is probably some luck, but also taking this seriously and trying to operate as cautiously as we can — because with one outbreak, it could shut down the job.”
Additionally, the renovation project required weekly “tool box talks” on safety.
“We would make that part of every week with reminders of the extra cleaning that we had to do here at the site. We brought in hand wash stations, we had certain bathrooms in the [Hulman Center] that were operational that ISU let us use just to spread people out so that we room between each other,” Biddle said.
Maher said the job required a lot of additional clean-up at entries and exits, which included simply wiping down door knobs and flat surfaces. “We dedicated another employee just to clean and disinfect daily all day long,” he said.
Hannig’s construction bid was $42.8 million of the $50 million project. Jones said 80 percent of labor cost was funneled into Wabash Valley contractors, ranging from electrical and plumbing to steel and masonry.
“There are numerous companies on this that have done multiple projects at ISU, so they have a pretty good vested interest in keeping the job operating,” Biddle said.
Some of those include Terre Haute-based firms such as Hef Serivces Inc., B&S Plumbing, SMC Inc., Pro Panels Inc., Strode Construction LLC, Lennox Steel Co., Dennis Trucking, Apex Masonry Inc. as well as Misco Enterprises of West Terre Haute and Clinton-based SDR Coating Inc.
“It was important to keep ISU’s project going. It is important for us and our employees. Most of the people have been with us for 20 or 30 years. So everyone is like a family,” Biddle said. “It is important to me to try to keep them protected.”
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