Progress on a new on-campus parking ramp located north of Morrill Hall is proceeding on schedule and on budget, university officials said.

The construction of Ramp 6 broke ground in May after the completion of the spring semester, but isn't scheduled to be completed until summer 2007.

When finished, the $19.5-million structure will rise about five stories tall and offer 730 parking spaces, primarily for faculty and staff members.

"It won't be too long before you'll start to see the building take shape above ground," said university engineer Bob Nestle, who is supervising the project.

The ramp's external structure will begin to go up in the next two to three months, he said. In several places, concrete walls are already peeking out of a hole dug to accommodate the ramp's underground levels, where the majority of the summer's work took place.

The construction crew is in the process of pouring the foundation and has completed the ramp's load-bearing caissons - concrete pillars which will hold the weight of the upper stories.

The project has yet to encounter any significant setbacks, Nestle said.

"There were concerns expressed whether the vibrations from construction would have a detrimental impact on educational buildings, particularly Morrill Hall," he said.

Vibration levels around the site were monitored throughout the summer and were found to be safe, he said.

The budget for the project contains contingency money in case any unforeseen problems arise, but that money will most likely not be used, he said.

The university has attempted to minimize the impact of the construction on pedestrians, Nestle said, but fences surrounding the site have blocked off access to several sidewalks around Morrill Hall and the Human Ecology Building.

Those fences will begin coming down as the construction crew finalizes work around the site, he said.

"That's virtually at the end of the project," he said.

Education junior Christopher Fay said he doesn't anticipate any inconvenience from the project.

"I haven't noticed it and haven't ran into it," he said. "You have to expect some construction to make the campus look good."

Ramp 6 is being built on the former site of a 200-space faculty and staff parking lot. A number of people expressed concerns last spring about the loss of those parking spaces during construction, but the university has made efforts to provide additional parking, Nestle said, including a temporary parking lot constructed south of the Old Horticulture Building.

But finding a parking space in the temporary gravel lot is still an issue, said history Professor Lisa Fine, adding that the construction creates distracting noise.

"It's very disruptive in our day-to-day routine," she said.

Fine, whose fourth-floor Morrill Hall office had a view of Grand River Avenue, isn't excited about losing her view.

"I'll be looking at a concrete wall, probably, when it's done," she said.

Fine said she understood some inconveniences were necessary.

"We've always had a problem with parking, so having more spaces in the long run will be positive," she said.