53 



Appendix 1 



Aclng Federal Labormtoriea Need Repair 



and Up^adea 



The importance of reliable equipment and preventive maintenance and 

 repair was illustrated when a circuit breaker failed, causing an exhauster 

 to explode in August 1990. According to Lewis facilities managers, the 

 incident shut down the Lewis Center's central air building for 3 months 

 and half of the building for an additional 6 months, closed the Propulsion 

 Systems Laboratory, and limited the use of the Supersonic/Transonic Wind 

 Tunnel. 



National Institutes of 

 Health's Clinical Center 



The National Institutes of Health's (nih) original clinical center, a 12-story 

 research hospital on its main campus in Bethesda, Maryland, was 

 completed 38 years ago. Since then, nih has upgraded the clinical center 

 through several new additions and renovation projects, resulting in utility 

 infrastructure systems of varying ages and conditions. The m^or systems 

 that provide fire safety, electrical power, lighting, ventilation, air 

 conditioning, and plumbing are old, outmoded, and/or have insufficient 

 capacity to meet current and future research demands. These systems are 

 at the end of their useful life and, according to nih facilities managers, 

 have become functionally obsolete, unsafe, and, in some cases, 

 inoperable.' For example, neither the clinical center's fire safety or 

 emergency electrical power distribution systems meet current codes and 

 standards. 



In 1987, NIH initiated the Clinical Center Complex Infrastructure 

 Modernization and Improvement Program to address known deficiencies 

 in the clinical center's utility infrastructure systems. In response to nih's 

 initial proposal to upgrade the clinical center and other laboratory 

 facilities, the House Committee on Appropriations, in July 1990, requested 

 that the Secretary of Health and Human Services conduct a review of these 

 needs in cooperation with other federal agencies. The U.S. Army Corps of 

 Elngineers agreed to assess nih's facilities revitalization program regarding 

 the (1) extent of the problems, (2) probable cost of the work, and 

 (3) timetable for accomplishing the work. 



In a November 1991 report, the Anny Corps of Engineers' review 

 committee stated that it unquestionably substantiated the extent of the 

 overall problems identified in Niii's Facilities Revitalization Program. 

 Specifically, the review committee found that 



Tor more informauon about building obsolcscvncc. sot* the nuililiiift R«'»M*ar<-h Hoard's n'p«>n enlillcd 

 The Fourth Dimonsjon in Ruililing. STrati^jjii-H f(tr Mimnuzinx ( H)»oU's<Tncr (.lunt- lOO;)). 



