Heating coil breaks in Allen, closes elevator

For the second time in two days, a heating coil in a University building’s ceiling burst,… For the second time in two days, a heating coil in a University building’s ceiling burst, causing damage to acoustical ceiling tiles and surrounding machinery.

The collapse knocked out ceiling tiles in the glass-blowing laboratory in room 511 of Allen Hall early Tuesday afternoon, and water from the coils seeped into the elevator system.

“I walked into Allen Hall at 11 o’clock this morning, and it sounded like a huge faucet was running,” Anna Quider, an undergraduate student, said.

The quickly spreading water caused a short in the building’s elevator system, disabling it until further repair.

“I looked up and there were floods of water coming down the stairs from the ceiling, there were floods of water coming out of the elevator,” Quider added.

The elevator should remain out of service for three or four days, according to Pitt’s assistant news director John Fedele.

People attempting to reach the upper floors of the building must now bypass the open doors on the ground floor of the elevator and instead proceed to climb the flights of stairs or use the elevator in Old Engineering Hall, which connects to Allen.

By the time the classrooms and laboratories had been vacated for the night, a pile of tile chunks and water filled a large tub outside of the glass-blowing room. All of the water was contained, but a light mist of dust still hung in the air.

The scene seems reminiscent of the fourth floor of Hillman Library last weekend, where a heating coil had also broken. Like in Allen Hall, water from the burst in Hillman damaged ceiling tiles and spread to bookshelves.