A tricky site, an unfortunate choice of materials and an elusive leak are the primary reasons behind the delay, which officials now say could have been avoided if they'd approached the project differently. The chilled water, which is used for air conditioning, runs through two 24-inch pipes that worm their way across campus. The mistake in the latest line extension was choosing plastic piping over steel. Steel, which is expensive and difficult to install, usually lasts longer and most importantly, does not leak.
Plastic sometimes does.
This time, it did, and what began as an attempt to save money may end up costing the university far more in the long run. Construction workers have searched for the evasive leak for six weeks, tearing up a good chunk of the work they spent months putting together. In hindsight, this would have been a great time to use welded steel. Plastic is not only susceptible to leaks, but because it is far lighter than steel piping, many of the pipe joints must be buried in concrete for the test. All of the pipe joints weren't exposed this time because of the difficulty of the area.