Geotechnical Engineering & Archaeology Firms Start Working This Week

On Thursday (April 12th), Columbia West Geotechnical Engineers met with Keith Bloom of ESD112 Construction Services Group to discuss where the soil and water test pits will be dug next week.  On Friday, Archaeological Investigations Northwest Inc. will do a walking study of the areas where Columbia West is going to dig.  Next week, they will also be shovel digging a few test pits.

ESD112’s Construction Services Group (CSG) works with School Districts to help walk us through the amazingly complicated process of constructing a school, they’ve already done a great deal of work with us to guarantee that we could hit the ground running once the bond passed in February.

Geotechnical Engineering studies are important for many reasons.  The two biggest data-points their reports will provide are: 1) What types of soil are on the site and 2) How water runs-off and collects.  It’s important to know the types of soil in order to know what steps need to be taken in order to ensure the ground underneath the new school is properly fortified to hold the building’s weight.  By knowing how the water is retained and how it runs off of the property, the architects can plan and design for proper storm water run-off– a crucial step in our climate.

Archaeological studies are required in order to ensure that no culturally important artifacts are being overlooked or destroyed in the process of building the school.