Repairs on MES to start in 2012

MEEKER I “All things considered, we feel this is good news,” Wayne Muir of Structural Consultants Inc. (SCI) said after he and Frank Bumgarner presented an engineering report to the Meeker School Board about the planned repairs at the Meeker Elementary School building.
Repairs will not begin until 2012, since some of the plans designed in September will need to be redesigned to accommodate the change in soils classifications at the site.
A geotechnical report produced by CTL Thompson changed part of the site’s Class C soils classification previously assigned by Terracon to a Class D. The change was deemed necessary after CTL Thompson performed a seismic test at the site.
“The most positive way to determine site classification is to use wave velocities in the ground,” John Meckling of CTL Thompson said.
Bumgarner said the plan for additional bracing will not change, but some of the braces will need additional support in the form of a larger beam on the east-west portion. Additional bolts in the columns will be needed to transfer the lateral load. The repairs to the north-south direction of the building can already handle the additional 30 percent seismic load.
“We’ll add some mass to handle the additional load,” Bumgarner said. “We feel the work is very doable and we are close to completing it.”
SCI will identify any changes to the plans, submit them to Neenan before the end of the year and present their drawings to the school board at its Jan. 3 meeting.
SCI will use the drawings to begin the permitting process with the state and will try to get as many activities to run consecutively as possible.
“We are in a much better place than we could be,” school board president Iris Franklin said after the presentation.