Cooper Elementary to be Rebuilt
By Gary Niemi
The project team is working at a feverish pitch to begin site work this month at Cooper Elementary School.
Soil testing for the foundations at the new Cooper location showed softer clay soil than was expected. The anticipated building settlement was about 1.6 inches over the life of the building. From a structural, safety and usability standpoint we can only tolerate 1 inch or less.
Cooper Elementary site photo showing work to be done
The project team has decided that soil remediation work must be done this fall to allow foundation work to start in the spring and maintain the project schedule.
The anticipated remediation work is to strip the topsoil from the building site and place a 3-4 foot berm of sand over the new school footprint.
This will allow the clay to pre-consolidate over the winter months, eliminate the excess settlement, and allow the building to be constructed as planned.
See the site photo with notes to get an idea of the work to be done and areas affected.
Site work bids will be due on November 23rd, and we plan to start the site construction on November 30th.
Updated site plan of Cooper Elementary from the City Planning Commission meeting
