There are several new buildings going up around the Woody Hayes Drive and Woodruff Avenue areas, and construction is right on schedule.

The Knowlton School of Architecture is beginning to take shape on the corner of Woodruff and Neil Avenues. The construction crew from PJ Dick Inc. has just finished pouring 250 concrete columns that are set into the ground to hold up the building. The next step will be pouring the concrete floors and walls.

“When that is done, the structural frame of the building will be complete,” said Scott Conlon, site captain for the new building.

Construction on the new school started in June and is expected to be finished in time for autumn quarter, 2004. To date, the construction is on time and on budget and moving along smoothly.

The building will be unique both inside and out. Marble shingles will help add to the aesthetic value of the building along with a rooftop garden terrace. Concrete ramps, stairs and elevators will be the primary vertical circulation mode within the building. A column grid of the building is completely new and irregular in a structural way, Conlon said.

Just east of the architecture school is another construction site that will soon be home to a new physics building. The earthwork, or moving of land, for the building is more than half done and concrete footings are being poured. Construction of the physics building is expected to be completed in 2004.

Also in the process of construction and renovation is a new building to be built west of Townshend Hall as well as renovations and construction on Robinson Laboratories and the Wexner Center.

All of the current earthworks and concrete pouring are on schedule, and some stages are even ahead of schedule, said Jill Morelli, university architect. However, the construction projects will create some inconveniences.

“Construction is not a clean process. There will be additional traffic as trucks make their deliveries, and pedestrians will be disrupted as we create safety zones around the job sites,” Morelli said.

Safety and efficiency are the primary goals of all involved with the improvements and changes.

In January and February construction will start on the Woody Hayes Drive bridge. A new bridge will be erected along side of the current bridge. This will allow construction crews to bring down the old bridge and keep from disrupting the flow of traffic.

“We will always have traffic running. Our goal is to maintain traffic during this construction time,” said Jeff Wallace, manager of traffic control and special events.

There has been little trouble with parking and transportation detours. However, more detours will be going up as ramp additions to state Route 315 begin.

Eventually there will be two ramps that will allow easier access to campus and other areas such as The OSU Medical Center. Twelfth Avenue and Cannon Drive will be significantly affected by this construction.

Heavier trucks and larger loads will start to appear on campus in the coming months, and police officers will be on duty to direct the flow of traffic around these areas.

“Be cautious around the sites. There is a lot of action going on in a small area,” Wallace said. “My advice is to leave early and be patient.”