AIKEN, S.C. – Workers have replaced the roof of a laboratory important to the Savannah River Site (SRS), ensuring the facility will continue safely housing University of Georgia (UGA) staff, students, and equipment, and the school’s animal care program.

EM contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) and subcontractor C.E. Bourne & Company, of Greenwood, South Carolina, a small, woman-owned business, successfully replaced the deteriorating, leaking roof at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL).

“With the large number of competing infrastructure needs around the site, we are exceedingly grateful to DOE, SRNS Site Services, and the roofing subcontractor for responding to our dire need for roof replacement in a timely manner, and for insuring the safety and security of our staff as we conduct our mission here at SREL,” said Olin E. Rhodes Jr., SREL director.

The laboratory’s mission involves research, education, training, and community outreach. It was established after the late Eugene Odum, a professor of ecology at UGA known as the “father of modern ecology,” was invited by DOE’s predecessor agency, the Atomic Energy Commission, to conduct biological inventories of what was then known as the Savannah River Plant, before site operations began.

The roof replacement is among many upgrades across the 300-square-mile site.

“The majority of the improvements have involved installing new roofs, paving roads, and renovating buildings, all part of an effort to ensure continued achievements related to our site missions,” said Mark Eberl, SRNS subcontracts execution manager. “We are pleased that the same level of performance and dedication to safety applied to our projects could also be obtained for our friends at SREL.”