Capitol building to receive weekend electrical update

— The state Capitol will close from Wednesday night until Monday morning while the secretary of state replaces obsolete electrical equipment, secretary of state spokesman Alex Reed said.

The $190,000 project will replace electrical distribution panels first installed in 1964 that control power to the north side of the building, which houses the governor’s office and House of Representatives.

“It’s just the main units, it’s not like the wiring,” Reed said.

Reed said the circuit breakers that control those electrical boxes are no longer massproduced. He said if a breaker went out, it could be 12 weeks before a new one could be made.

“This is preventative maintenance,” Reed said. “The old units are obsolete. It could be a problem if the breakers went out and it took a long time to replace.”

An electrical distribution panelboard distributes power that comes into the building and houses the circuit breakers. A circuit breaker is a switchlike safety device that automatically interrupts the flow of an electrical current in a circuit when it becomes excessive.

This is the final of three stages of work on the Capitol’s electrical system, which began in late December 2011 and cost about $340,000 total.

Koontz Electric of Morrilton bid for and won the job. Reed said the money came from the secretary of state’s budget.

During the $90,000 first stage, the electrical room that controls the south side of the building was updated, Reed said.

“Some electrical upgrades were done to the Senate around 10 years ago, but that was only to the Senate. We finished the whole end of the building and brought all the equipment up to date,” he said.

The $59,000 second stage was an update to the electrical system for the building’s heating- and air-conditioning systems, Reed said.

An e-mail sent to people with offices in the Capitol building states that all electrical power will be off during the time the Capitol is closed. The 297,535 square-foot Capitol building has five floors.

Secretary of State Mark Martin is a licensed mechanical engineer.

The last three Arkansas secretaries of state have requested general-improvement money to update the Capitol’s electrical system.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 11/20/2012

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