The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees is planning to consider three separate building projects at the end of this week, including new plans for a genomic sciences research building.
The board’s agenda is set to cover the “preliminary project scope and budget” for a brand new genomic sciences research building, an area in which UAB has invested in for many years.
The university has partnered with organizations such as HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in this field, particularly focused on better understanding the progression of certain diseases.
In addition to the new genomic sciences building, a construction contract for a new Collat School of Business is going to be discussed for approval.
The board is also predicted to approve a gift of $60,000 from two UAB mathematics professors who have established a scholarship fund for those students who want to pursue a career teaching mathematics.
However, the focus of the meeting will be on the two new construction projects at hand.
Alabama has recently received some new construction equipment that could help with the two University projects.
Power Incorporated just received a new crane, shipped in separate pieces all the way from Germany.
What makes this particular crane so unique is not its height, but rather, how much weight it can lift.
The crane stands at exactly 490-feet-tall and can lift over 1 million pounds. To simply move it requires 18 trailers for its separate parts.
OSHA 1926.1402 states that cranes must be assembled on firm, level ground that has been drained and graded, which is why this one was only assembled after having reached the construction site.
Alabama officials report that this crane will not only help the construction industry, but the chemical, power, and petroleum industries as well.
While UAB’s construction projects are still a ways off, they may be making use of this crane in the future.
