Work was scheduled to begin this week on the foundation for the new elementary school, according to Tom Murphy of the project management firm NV5. Murphy said he expects workers will start pouring concrete next week.
At the School Building Committee’s Aug. 8 meeting, Murphy reported that the excavation work was complete and all the rammed aggregate piers (RAPs) had been installed. The piers, pounded into the ground vertically in a grid pattern, were topped with a layer of compacted gravel. These preparations made the soil dense enough to provide a base for the concrete foundation.
Earlier this summer, the excavation work encountered two unexpected problems. The first was arsenic-contaminated soil that had to be removed; the second was pockets of boulders that had to be cleared to install the RAPs. Murphy said both issues had been resolved within the budget that the committee had approved, drawing from the construction contingency fund.
The soil and boulder problems delayed the project’s schedule somewhat. As a result, Hildreth Elementary School Principal Josh Myler said the traffic pattern for the first few weeks of school would remain the same as it was last June, both for buses and for parents who drive their children to school. Families will get a notice reviewing the traffic pattern, Myler said
