Clockvault & Clock Lab
Construction

Looking south toward power room	Looking North toward clock vault	West wall, clock vault on right. Notice glass block in old coal chute.
Interior of clock vault	Looking at clock vault	Insulation going in clockvault

The “clock vault” is an environmentally controlled chamber that will house the Cesium Beam Reference Clocks and the two Hydrogen Maser Master Clocks. The “clock lab” is a laboratory dedicated to research, design and repair of time keeping equipment. The two rooms are being built in an old coal cellar. The coal cellar is a 300 square foot room in the basement of a 75-year-old home. The exterior walls are constructed of stone 30 inches thick. The east interior wall is of 13-inch thick brick and the dividing wall is of wood and drywall construction. The room is entirely below grade and well insulated. The environmental control system was designed and constructed by “t.a.c. Control Solutions, Inc." It is capable of holding the interior temperature at 73°F +/- 0.25°F. The humidity is held in a range of 40% to 60% RH. This special HVAC system uses water that is chilled by a geo-thermal chilling system. In the winter the excess heat is moved to the home for general heating (the home being on the same geo-thermal system.) Other features that are incorporated in the design are lighting, power distribution, cableways, grounding and shielding. In the photos large steam pipes are noticeable in the ceiling. To avoid potential disasters, these were later relocated out of the room.