MES foundation is fine

MEEKER I “This was one of the most brilliant technical presentations I have ever had the privilege of listening to,” local geologist and retired attorney Frank Cooley said of the soils report presented at a special meeting of the Meeker Board of Education, Tuesday last.
Cooley and many others, including representatives from The Neenan Company, Structural Consultants Inc. (SCI), the school district’s attorney and “owner’s rep” on the project, heard the results of additional soil consolidation tests on the new Meeker Elementary School site.
The soils tests, from the third geotechnical company on the project, were ordered by the school board before repairs designed by SCI can be made by The Neenan Company to the school.
“We ran a lot of numbers in various combinations and I think we have a good mathematical model of this thing,” Bob Thompson of CTL Thompson told Meeker school board members. “I’m very comfortable with our predictions and very confident in the data.”
Thompson recommended hiring a surveyor to monitor the site and “to watch the drainage on the east side of the building.”
“I do believe your risks in repair are certainly well within what Structural Consultants thinks they can live with in respect to the risk of future settlement,” Thompson said. “I’m very comfortable with it.”
Wayne Muir, president of SCI, said this is an “opportunity to create a baseline” to monitor the settlement into the future, which Thompson’s tests predicted to be less than two inches.
Muir said they would review CTL Thompson’s final report, analyze the results to determine the impacts and complete any necessary redesign. Muir will return Dec. 12 for the scheduled school board meeting to report any needed modifications or updates to the repairs before they begin.
“Hopefully we can get through the process in a matter of days,” Muir said. “Worst case scenario, we would have it by Jan. 1, if we can get it done sooner we will.”