After 43 years of neglect, the floor of Lynah Rink is getting its first makeover, which will be finished in just a month.
“There was extensive frost penetration into the ground under the ice,” Jeff Lallas, project manager for the Lynah construction, commented. “It had heaved the concrete, causing dips and valleys all over the floor.
“You know how the sidewalk gets warped from ice after a few years? Imagine 40 years of that. It wasn’t an ideal playing surface.”
Mullenberg-Betz Construction from Buffalo was hired to handle the project, which cost $750,000 and will span over five months, with a projected finishing date in the first week of October. The rink floor, drainage system, frost protection, refrigeration piping, and boards were all torn out.
“Usually, rinks get resurfaced every 30 years or so. We wanted to wait a couple more years to do this, so we could overhaul the entire physical plant, but the surface really needed attention,” Lallas said.
Yesterday, the company poured the concrete floor, for which they used two pumper trucks stationed in the parking lot adjacent to Lynah. Using 300 feet of pipe to pump the cement from the parking lot to the floor, the wet concrete was laid using a laser-guided screed, which electronically sifted the mixture on the floor. The lasers ensure that there will be no more than 1/8 inch vertical variance, guaranteeing a virtually flat, quirk-free playing surface.
The project used eleven miles of refrigerant piping with over 1,500 welds, and 265 cubic yards of concrete. Along with a new floor, Mullenberg-Betz will install new seamless boards next month, providing better visibility to on-ice action for the Lynah faithful and more “give” to Big Red hockey teams.
However, there will be no effect upon the ice itself. The ice surface will remain the same temperature, and the same type of water will be used. The floor should be ready for the ice by early October.
Women’s head coach Carol Mullins is glad to have the new floor.
“At least there won’t be concrete poking through the ice now.”
Archived article by Tom McNulty