Ground Underneath The Marlinton Community Center Needs To Be Shored Up

Marlinton, WV – Dale Withrow, of the Chapman Technical Group, says the soil tests for the proposed multipurpose community center adjacent to Marlinton Elementary have been completed. Withrow says the results are not what they had hoped for. He presented the findings to the Pocahontas County Board of Education Monday night.

“We got the soil investigation or Geo-technical report back. It wasn’t very good news. What we have found is that Knapps Creek use to cover this whole area. What we basically doing is we’re building on creek bottom, hich is not the best place to build.”

Withrow says the perimeter of the building will be set on deep foundations and therefore will not be subject to settling. To reach solid, stable ground they will have to go down over 20 feet. To get to this depth, they are considering a technique called Rammed Aggregate. This method is more cost effective than traditional pilings or concrete piers and will provide a solid foundation.

Withrow says that the greatest concern therefore is the slab. To remedy this potential settling problem they have to stabilize the building location. Prior to the onset of next winter, they want to build the site up above the flood plain level with compacted soil. Then add another 2 or 3 feet of material to simulate the weight of the building and let nature do the final compaction over the winter.

He says the following spring, the contractor can remove the extra material and start the building on solid ground. Withrow says that all construction projects have phases.

“Every project goes through five phases: that’s Preliminary Design, Design Development, Construction Documents, Bidding and Contracting and then Construction Administration.”

Withrow says the preliminary design is complete and that the Design Development phase is over 50 % finished. And they are trying to accelerate this phase even more. He says the Construction Documents phase will begin in about 30 days. And they hope to have a contractor on board by late summer. He says he will meet with Parks and Recreation Board again in April and will update the board at that time.