The campus is rumbling with construction projects at every corner; from a new dormitory to new academic complexes, the University is facing major upheavals to its physical landscape.The $35 million reconstruction of Ridgewood is progressing as planned, Executive Vice President of Campus Operations Peter French said.

The construction project has been in the works for years, but finally broke ground over the summer. Construction workers are in the midst of excavating the area to put in site utilities, Vice President of Capital Projects Dan Feldman said.

Ninety percent of the discarded material of the old building was recycled, he added.

"We are on schedule with the residence hall," French said, adding that he would continue updating the community on the project. He also said students, faculty and staff can sign up for advisory notices on the Office of Capital Projects' Web site.

The new residence hall will consist of three buildings of apartment-style suites with single rooms, kitchens and living rooms. They will house 184 students, a net gain of 75 beds. The housing will be ready for occupancy spring 2009, University officials said.

Drilling and blasting will commence on the site Tuesday and continue for two weeks.

In mid-October footing and foundation will be poured, Feldman said. The South and West buildings will be made of concrete, and the building between the Admissions building and the Slosberg Music Center will be made of steel.

French said that on top of all the building construction, there will also be a steam line going in to service the Ridgewood area. This will involve a great deal of digging at the front of campus and will last for the next few weeks, he said. During this time the Admissions parking lot will be closed.

"Those of us who are involved in the execution of these projects really have appreciated the forbearance of the community as a whole," French said. "Things get dug up and pathways get rerouted, [there is a] loss of parking, all that stuff."

The first phase of construction on the $154 million Carl J. Shapiro Science Center is also in the works. The project, which commenced in Spring 2006, will replace the Kalman, Friedland and Edison-Lecks buildings, all built in the 1950s. This first phase includes the construction of a new building, followed by the demolition of Kalman and Friedland, and eventually Edison-Lecks, Feldman said last November. This first phase is expected to be complete Spring 2009.

In place of the three buildings there will be two buildings. One will be 100 square feet and will house two floors for teaching and three floors for research, Feldman said.

"They're in very poor shape," Reinharz said of the older buildings. "You cannot do 21st century science in buildings of that sort."

In addition to the new building, a connector is being constructed between Rosenstiel and Kosow, and renovations will take place in several of the other buildings.

"The reason for [the connector]," Feldman said, "is that connectivity in the science complex is really important and was really stressed by all the faculty. Those sort of connections are what really distinguishes Brandeis science; that they do that kind of interdisciplinary science so well."

The science center will include state-of-the-art research labs, classrooms, a science commons, seminar rooms, conference space and a cafe. Payette Associates, a leading architectural firm in Boston, is heading the project. Payette designed the Museum of Natural History at Amherst College, an engineering lab at Brown University and a chemistry building at Harvard University, among other projects.

The complex is expected to open Spring 2010, officials said.

Construction on the Edmond J. Safra Center for the Arts is slated to begin later this semester, Feldman said. Architect Moshe Safdie, who also designed Ben Gurion Airport in Israel in 1995, the National Health Museum in Washington in 1999 and the Boston Museum in 2004, is heading the project. Safdie and Associates are based in Somerville.

The building will take the place of the Pollack, an arts building, and will be a "two story bridge" between the Rose Art Museum and Goldman-Schwartz, Feldman said. The building will contain programmatic space, as well as lecture, seminar, and mechanical space. It is expected to be ready for occupancy by Fall 2009.

$10 million out of the Campaign for Brandeis fundraising effort, launched in 2000, will go toward the Center, a building that University administrators said in March 2006 will triple the amount of space available on campus for the teaching of fine arts and art history.

The Rabb steps were re-done this summer because the original slate steps were deteriorating and it was "time to refresh them," Feldman said. The new steps are made of granite and have new handrails, he said.

French said that for aesthetic purposes, no fliers can be taped to the stairs. Information boards at the bottom of the stairs can be used for this purpose, he said.

French added that placing TV monitors displaying daily announcements at the Rabb steps, an idea proposed last spring by Student Union officials, is under consideration and a decision will be reached shortly.