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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 11, 2018)
DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2018 145TH YEAR, NO. 245 ONE DOLLAR Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian Corey Heikkila of Portland works on the finishing touches of his sandcastle for his team Tie Dye in the Masters Division. Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian ‘THE SAND TRAP’ The Broadway Street bridge in Seaside has been identified as particularly vulnerable in case of an earthquake. BROADWAY BOUND New tsunami model ranks risk of bridges, roads in Seaside By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian S EASIDE — A new computer sim- ulation by Oregon State Univer- sity identifies bridges and roads in Seaside that would have higher mortality rates in an earthquake and tsunami. The bridge on Broadway Street over Neawanna Creek would result in the most fatalities and should be prioritized for improvement, researchers found. Other critical locations at the two bridges on 12th Street, the bridge on Sundquist Road and Ocean Vista Drive in the Cove were also flagged. “The real issue with Broadway is there is really nowhere else to go, but by the time you get to that bridge you have very little time to do anything else,” said Dan Cox, an Oregon State civil engineer who created the model with Haizhong Wang. “It’s a combination of what options you have and how much time you have to do it.” The bridges and roads are high prior- ities to retrofit not because of structural integrity issues or age — metrics most often considered when replacing city infrastructure. The mortality rate spikes because of relative proximity to areas where people live and gather, making them some of the most populated evac- uation routes. They also fall in the path of where tsunami inundation will most likely occur. Thousands of scenarios were run through the model based on the starting points of 4,500 imaginary people, dis- tributed to resemble where most people would be on a busy, summer day: on the beach and shopping downtown. “As engineers, we’re interested in Multiple bridges and roads in Seaside have been deemed problematic during a recent study of the effects of an earthquake and tsunami in the area. One of the bridges over 12th Street in Seaside is an example of infra- structure in the area that could fail in an earthquake. infrastructure and what can be done to have more lives saved,” Cox said. The goal was to provide Seaside a simulation that would support evi- dence-driven decision-making when it comes to addressing the city’s infrastruc- ture needs, Wong said. Without assign- ing specific dollar amounts, research- ers also simulated how the mortality rate might change depending on how many resources were allocated to what struc- ture to make it more likely to withstand an earthquake. They found that the bridge on Broad- way should have the highest priority for retrofitting due to the fact it was the most traversed bridge in their simulation. The study also recommended investing resources in building highly resistant ver- tical structures inside the inundation zone as a more economical choice than spend- ing greater amounts of resources on ret- rofitting multiple bridges. Sandcastle Contest keeps family connected By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian C ANNON BEACH — Thousands came out on Saturday to watch people of all ages transform piles of sand into intricate- ly-sculpted flying saucers, Egyptian pyramids and, of course, the humble but classic sandcastle. The Sandcastle Contest, now closing the chapter on its 54th year, began in 1964 as a way to boost spirits after a tsunami hit the Oregon Coast. The contest was sandwiched in between the annual Sandcastle Parade on Friday and a 5K fun run on Sunday. About 32 teams from across the country com- peted — a number consistent with last year but lower than the average of 50 the contest expects. Debbie Nelson, the chief organizer, attributes the low number to the fact the contest fell on the same weekend as many school graduations and the Grand Floral Parade in Portland. As the day unfolded, crowds ebbed and flowed on and off the beach as the weather alter- nated from bright sun to epic rain. Despite the chaotic weather, builders remained steadfast, peeling and putting on layers of rain gear as they crafted. One of those teams was the Jessop family, a Masters Division team who in their ninth year is considered to be one of the Sandcastle Con- test’s longest-running competitors. The team out of Monmouth placed third this year with a full-on miniature golf course replica called “The Sand Trap,” with windmill structures stacking up past 6 feet tall. See CONTEST, Page 5A Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian Isaac Linville of Lacey, Wash., catches a clump of sand that a teammate shovels at him during the Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest on Saturday. See MODEL, Page 5A ‘THE REAL ISSUE WITH BROADWAY IS THERE IS REALLY NOWHERE ELSE TO GO, BUT BY THE TIME YOU GET TO THAT BRIDGE YOU HAVE VERY LITTLE TIME TO DO ANYTHING ELSE.’ Dan Cox | an Oregon State civil engineer who created a new computer simulation Knappa graduate enjoyed freedom of online school Rethati likes to play softball, photo concerts By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian K NAPPA — As a kinder- gartner at Hilda Lahti Elementary School in Knappa, Mikayla Rethati said, she was academically in second grade, having fun at school then going home to an advanced curriculum with her mother. After learning she couldn’t skip grades, her mother asked her whether she wanted to stay in kindergarten or try to learn from home. The deciding fac- tor in choosing to stay at home, Rethati said, was being able to hang out with her pets. Now 16, Rethati gradu- ated Saturday in Salem from the Oregon Connections Acad- emy, part of about 400 students who finished high school this year through the online char- ter school. “It’s a really easy school to be in, because you can do whatever class you want,” she said. “I don’t think I’d do as well in an environment where I wasn’t allowed to control what I was learning.” See RETHATI, Page 5A Andrea Weaver Mikayla Rethati, who graduated this year at 16 from Oregon Con- nections Academy, has played for Knappa High School’s varsity softball team since 13.
