-*W
4
SANO Y ( O f ) POST Thvrt
M m
July 24 194'J (Sec 2)
Required soil tests never taken at school
by M ICHA EL P JONES
H m I Corretpondenl
’Ä
. ‘i
i
Tests of fill m aterial
u nd er W elches G ra d e
School's new Si 4 million
school addition could have
identified potential pro
blems associated with the
construction and averted
lengthy arbitration pro
ceedings. which concluded
Tuesday
D e s p ite
the
IS, 000
budgeted for soil and con
crete testing, the tests re
quested by a Clackamas
County building inspector
were not taken
d
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On this f ill sits 12
classrooms, a library, a
kitchen, a music room and
an office complex, as well
as a separate bus facility
The fill material became
a matter of suspicion in the
latter part of the summer
of 1980, after slabs for two
wings were poured without
inspection, according to
Gary Yeaman. a building
inspector for Clackamas
County.
When interview ed in
1981, Yeaman said “ A ” and
“ C” wings of the project
were poured before he had
satisfactorily determined
whether the fill beneath the
buildings could adequately
support the weight of the
buildings without settling
Settling can result in pro
blems involving the floors,
walls and ceilings.
F ro m the beginning
Yeaman said the project
had problems He said
there appeared to be a pro
blem in determir ing what
the responsibility of the
Welches School D istrict
was, as well what the role
of the architectural firm,
Richard L Gessford &
Associates of Portland,
was playing in the con
struction.
In addition there were
coordination problems bet
ween the various contrac
tors and suu-contractors in
volved
Yeaman said a general
contractor, which this pro
ject apparently never had,
was supposed to oversee
construction and make
sure the tests were taken
on the fill beneath the
buildings These tests were
supposed to be taken for
every eight inches of fill
material added to insure it
had no organic material
mixed with it.
With no person acting in
the capacity of the general
contractor. Yeaman said
his prim ary contract was
with a construction super
visor. Phil Fleming of
Glynbrook Construction,
Salem Glynbrook had the
contract for doing the ac
tual construction of the ad
ditions along with the bus
barn
In the early part of the
summer Yeaman said pro
blems developed between
himself and Fleming, who
was not calling for inspec
tions He said he warned
Fleming, on a number of
occasions, that this was the
normal procedure for con
struction projects
Upon visiting the site a
short time after construc
tio n
had
begun, he
discovered the footings for
“ A ” wing had already been
poured.
Yeaman said he again
warned Fleming and was
assured it would not hap
pen again On July 7 an en
tire slab was poured
without an inspection
When the slab for “ A”
wing was to be poured.
Yeaman said he was called
the day before with a re
quest for an inspection for
the next morning When he
arrived he discovered “ 90
percent of the concrete was
already in place ”
D ic k
D o p p,
ad
m in is t r a to r
of
*t<e
developm ental services
section of the Environmen
tai Services Department,
who also doubles as the
building official for the
county, explained that it is
not unusual for a contrac
tor to get ahead of the in
spectors He said it is
something county officials
don t like, but it does occa
sionally happen.
" I t ’d be pretty fair to say
that everybody is in a
hurry to get a job going and
most contractors, when
they call for a footing in
spection, we have to hustle
to get there before they are
ready to pour,” said Dopp
“ Often times they are
there waiting with a con
crete truck when the in
spectors come up to make
an inspection So it's not
like he (F le m in g ) did
anything more or anything
less than any other con
tractor would do "
A few days later he
poured again without the
re q u ire d
in s p e c tio n
Yeaman said he did not
give permission for the
“C” wing slab to be poured
because of the organic
materials he saw in the fill
No tests on the fill had, thus
1939-44 reunion planned
■ . j •
The combined classes of
1939 th ro u g h 1944 at
Gresham High School are
planning a reunion party
for Aug 18 at the Thunder-
bird Inn at Jantzen Beach
Festivities will include
dinner, and dancing to
music of the 1940s Ac
tivities will begin at 6 p m
Class members are being
asked to call organizer
Pete Carlson at 66&4I01 for
an invitation and additional
inform ation. They may
write him at P 0 Box «36,
Sandy. 97055
Carlson is asking for any
names and addresses of
members of these classes.
. . . See Clackamas County
Bank for financing at
any of its three
..
convenient offices!
i=T
K ubitz completes
basic training
Pvt Leroy A. Anderson
Jr , son of Leroy A Ander
son of Sandy, and Carolyn
Kubitz of Isleton, C a lif .
has completed one station
unit training <OSUT> at the
U S Army Infantry School.
Fort Penning, Ga
the class of
Got a home
improvement
project
in mind?
» ■ * ’•
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particularly
1941.
Member FDIC
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far, been presented to the
county as he had re
quested
Yeaman said after "A "
wing had been poured he
both telephoned and wrote
Gessford. and told him that
the county had to be called,
prior to the pouring of any
more slabs or footings, so
the necessary inspections
could be made
Gessford. according to
Yeaman. assured him the
concrete had been placed
propertly and done to code
He said Gessfird had taken
photographs of various
phases of the work
The concern, however,
said Yeaman. was not the
slab itself Rather, it was
what was underneath the
slab
THE MISSING TESTS
The "A " wing site was in
an area that had been ex
cavated so there was little
concern about the fill
underneath There was a
concern, however, that the
site's excavated materials
had been used for fill
underneath "C " wing.
When I walked up there
and saw the concrete was
in place (on "A " wing). I
started looking around to
see if it was all right," said
Yeaman “ For the most
part, what I saw from the
exterior surface ground,
and how the thing was ex
cavated, it was okay It
was "C ” wing that was for
sure in trouble because of
fill Everything had been
scrapped off the "A " wing
area and pushed into "C "
wing area
“ I looked at that and told
them. Now you're not go
ing to be able to pour con
crete over there until we
have some testing done *
And that superintendent,
M r Fleming, assured me
they were going to dig
down to solid ground for the
footings But that left fill in
the center ’’
A few days after “A" had
been poured, Yeaman said
Fleming called him back
and told him that the
testing had been done
Y e a m a n said he was
assured that he was to
receive the test
results
shortly Today, nearly two
years later, the test results
have yet to be sent to the
county
The only tests received
by county officials were
taken shortly after the site
was cleared in March of
1980. and only the top 12 in
ches of soil was analyzed
The tests requested were to
anaylze every eight inches
of fill added
Yeaman said he gave
F lem in g perm ission to
pour "subject to the testing
approval."
Organic material from
the excavation of the “ A"
wing site had been moved
over into the "C " and "B "
wing areas, said Yeaman
As a result rotted wood.
grass, logs, stumps and
large chunks of wood were
mixed in with the fill
A fter “ C” wing was
poured Fleming quit and
the superintendent's posi
tion was taken over by
E m il
F a h re n k ru g
of
Almsville, Ore
Fahrenkrug said from
the time he arrived on the
job, Yeaman kept pressur
ing him for the test reports
He said he asked the a r
c h ite c ts , R ic h a rd
L
Gessford and his partner.
Leon Hamblin, who both
assured him the tests had
been taken and w ere
already in the county's file
"A t first I thought Gary
(Yeam an) was a kind of
hard nosed son of a bitch,"
sa id F a h re n k ru g
*'I
thought, ‘Jesus Christ, they
tell me he's got 'em (the
soil tests)."
F a h re n k ru g
said
Gessford had even assured
him that "he personally
sent them in "
" I told Gary this and he
said. I ain't got a damn
thing. " said Fahrenkrug
Upon learning the county
had still not received the
soil reports, Fahrenkrug
said he again approached
the architects
He was
reportedly told by Hamblin
that Northwest Testing
Laboratories of Portland
had ta k e n the tests
However, when he con
tacted Northwest Testing
for a copy of the reports.
Fahrenkrug said he was
told they had conducted no
such tests
It was about that tune
Fahrenkrug said he began
to get nervous He said he
"started to notice the floors
(in "C" wing) were beginn
ing to buckle ”
In the fall of 1980 Glyn
brook
p re p a re d
the
footings and concrete slab
for ‘.he school’s new $55.305
bus facility When Yeaman
arrived to inspect the job.
he said there was already
HYPNOSIS
Call fo r A p p o in tm e n t
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• STRESS
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Call 668 4221
Billie M cNutt PHD C ertified Union Hypnotherapist
three inches of crushed
rock in place and com
pacted
Yeaman said the site
“ looked good to him but
underneath was organic
fill As a result, the entire
slab had to be torn out and
redone
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