Showcase Projects
UTMB Biological Safety Laboratory Level 4

Gowan, Inc. is in the final stages of completion of the BSL-4 laboratory in Galveston, Texas. We were awarded the project in the spring of 2002 through the efforts of Jack Shrode and the estimating group. The general contract is through Vaughan Construction.

The laboratory is designed for working with exotic BSL-4 classified agents as defined by the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. This would include chemicals and such that might be used in a terrorist attack.

BSL-4 laboratories are the highest level of containment laboratory developed. They are designed and built around the concept of a 'box in a box' principle where the entire laboratory is built within a pressure- controlled buffer above, below and around the laboratory. This will be the fifteenth BSL-4 in existence.

The laboratory requires a series of "airlocks" for entry and exit, and use of positive pressure ventilated suits with breathing air attached at all times. Supply and exhaust air are HEPA filtered. A chemical decontamination shower is required on entry and exit from the lab. Liquid effluents from the lab are drained in a closed system to decontamination tanks and are sterilized as directed by the Environmental Health and Safety Department. Double door Autoclaves are provided for the decontamination of non-liquid material. After double HEPA filtering, the exhaust is routed through 40 ft. stacks on the roof of the building.

The project schedule was very aggressive. The concrete specifications were critical due to the nature of the project. No stress cracks could be allowed. As such, twelve of the sixteen months allocated for construction were needed to stand the structure in place, leaving only four months for the majority of our work to be installed.

All systems, including air-handling units, exhaust fans, backflow preventers, etc., have 100% redundancy, or backup, built in. All vents from the plumbing system are HEPA filtered before exiting the building.

This lab has brought national attention to the Galveston area and will help UTMB maintain its position with the frontrunners in the research field.

Key players from the Gowan team included: sheet metal foreman Louis Krzesienski, plumbing foreman Larry Larocca and Mike Hannah, piping foreman Bobby Bowman. Through the efforts of Safety Directory John Johnson and each of the men on the job, our installation was completed with zero recordable accidents.

We can be proud to be associated with such a high profile project. In the days since 9-11-01, our planning and efforts to protect our freedom and way of life have changed. The construction of this lab and the work it will do are a vital part of that process.

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