We are sharing an update about the recent flood in the John Vane Science Centre Building and the ongoing work to restore the premises to full working order.
As many of you will know on Tuesday night a flood damaged two electrical distribution boards in the basement of the building with major loss of power to John Vane and the Wolfson. This prevented generators from cutting in initially but we were able to supply axillary power to critical equipment on Thursday. We are so grateful for the incredible effort from our staff and colleagues within FMD (especially our Lab Managers) and the Estates & Facilities directorate. As a result all boards in JVSC are now powered through a network of temporary cabling, ensuring that all equipment such as fridges, freezers, incubators, air handling etc. are supplied preventing any further physical losses or damage. However, this temporary solution means that the building remains closed at the minute. No new experiments may be commenced and continuation of any ongoing experiments can only go ahead after liaising with the Biological Services Unit. Please consult your lab managers about the status of restrictions in the building.
Work to restore the building to its full function are currently ongoing and we hope to achieve this sometime between Wednesday and Friday next week. In parallel we are working on a contingency plan should this more optimistic timeline prove impossible. The situation is very much in flux and we will keep you updated as it develops. We are expecting an update from E&F this afternoon and a root cause analysis to avoid this in the future is underway.
Many thanks to everyone who have worked tirelessly to respond to this emergency.
Prof Sir Mark Caulfield, VP (Health) and Dr Francesca Gliubich, Faculty Director of Operations (FMD)