Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2001)
ODOT seeks input on temporary closure of Hwy. 47 The Oregon Department of Transportation will hold a pub lic meeting, August 7 at 7:00 p.m., at the Mist-Birkenfeld Fire Station, 12525 Hwy 202, to dis cuss work to install a new cul vert on Oregon 47 at Messing Creek during the week of Au gust 20. Alternate route info Public input at the meeting will be used to determine exact dates of the expected three- day closure of the highway, at a location just north of the Hwy47/Hwy 202 junction. Alter nate routes and detour infor mation will also be discussed. ODOT maintenance crews will replace the existing five- feet diameter culvert with one that is six feet high and nine feet wide. Highway 47 floods each year at Messing Creek because the old culvert is too small to deal with typical winter rainfall. ‘The old culvert can’t deal with the amount of rain this area receives during a normal winter,” said Ron Kroop, Dis trict 2A Maintenance Manager. ‘This new culvert has the ca pacity to deal with virtually all storm events that we typically see over a 50-year period." Emergency response arrangements made The Mist-Birkenfeld and Clatskanie Fire Districts have worked out an arrangement that will not restrict emergency services during the highway closure. The Mist-Birkenfeld INSIDE: Fire Department will respond to emergencies south of the clo sure while the Clatskanie Fire Department will answer calls on the north end. Hood to Coast not affected by closure The work will be completed before the opening of elk hunt ing season August 25. That portion of Hwy. 47 is not on the route of the Hood-to-Coast Re lay, which is scheduled August 24 through 26. SmartyPants in Banks........pg. 4 Pickles and Relish and more..........pg. 7 These aren’t your mother’s cheerleaders •............. p g -9 PRESORTED STANDARD U .S . P o s ta g e P a id V e rn o n ia , O R 9 7 0 6 4 P e rm it No. 37 Attn: Leslie Larson UO Library-OMP 1299 University Of Oregon FREE •1 Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley’ Vol. 16, No 15 Almost finished... Engineers explain schools’ problems Following a long-range facilities study, the Vernonia School District Board of Directors has recom mended total replacement of exist ing school buildings. Because this is a very large undertaking, The INDEPENDENT is presenting a series of articles on elements of the study specific recommenda tions and reasons for the recom mendations, in an effort to help district residents understand the proposal. Since this photo was taken, about 10 days ago, of the new shower/restroom building in Anderson Park, paving and landscaping have been added, most of the RV sites have also been paved and a great new children’s play structure has been erected. Dedication of the new facilities will be on Friday, August 3 ^ t jk 3 0 ^ m ^ 3M will bring new models to Vernonia bia County Commissioner Tony General Motors Corp, and a ride and drive through down Hyde and Bill Woolsey, chair Chevrolet Motor Division will town, suburban and rural Port man of the upcoming Vernonia • hosting 40-45 automotive land and Columbia County, a Jamboree Logging Show, who jrnalists from the Western lunch stop in Vernonia, con will present a twenty-minute S. July 31-August 2 in the cluding with an afternoon ride logging demonstration in the eater Portland area to intro- and drive back to the River- park both days. Woolsey and Place Hotel in Portland. ice two new truck models - The lunch stop on Wednes Hyde will demonstrate axe e Avalanche Ultimate Utility throwing, different types of cuts jhicle and the TrailBlazer day and Thursday, August 1 and furniture making, as well JV. Two waves of media will and 2, will be at The Scout as demonstrating a brand new, >me to the Portland area for Cabin in Vernonia. Lunch will state-of-the-art power saw that e three-day event. The pro- be catered by Simply Delicious can cut a 30-inch log in 1.5 am will be split into two Catering, of Vernonia. Lunch seconds. The motor for the aves, each beginning in the time entertainment for the me saw is built by General Motors. /ening and concluding the fol- dia will be provided by Colum wing afternoon. Each wave atures an evening reception r the journalists, along with •esentations by GM engi- Vernonia Lake Park and the Linear Trail Extension from Ver aers, followed by dinner the nonia Lake to Anderson Park will be closed to the public from Au ay of arrival. Day Two of the program fea- gust 6 to 8 in order to seal coat the pedestrian/bicycle pathways ires breakfast, marketing p l in these areas. The seal coat process requires surface preparation before ap antations by GM Brand Team plication of the asphalt-like seal coat, and time for it to cure. lembers and members of the The areas will be open for public use on August 9. ehicle Line Executive teams, Linear trail extension and Vernonia Lake will be closed for seal coat August 1, 2001 As part of the long-range fa cilities planning process, the Vernonia School District Board of Directors contracted with Walker/Diloreto/Younie, Inc. (WDY), consulting engineers, to conduct an assessment of the existing school buildings’ ability to withstand an earth quake. This report is included in the Long Range Facilities Planning Report available for review in the district office. It is important to note that the scope of the report is based on a cursory walk-through of Washington Grade School and Vernonia High School, study of building plans and the compa ny’s experience with similar buildings constructed during similar periods. Construction now very different Construction methods from the early part of the last centu ry concentrated on ensuring that buildings would stand up and remain standing with a lot of snow on top of them. This type of construction considers only what is known as vertical load, i.e. the weight of the building itself and anything that might collect on top of it such as snow or rain. Vertical load is not the only load a building is exposed to, however. The force of wind and, more devastatingly, earthquakes, produce side-to-side and up- and-down motion, or stresses known as horizontal load. Since the 1960’s, engineers have been studying the effects of horizontal load and how var ious elements of construction enable buildings to survive hor izontal loads, particularly earthquakes. Ground movement a consideration Every time a major earth quake or windstorm occurs, engineers gather from all over the world to survey the dam age. Weight and motion from a building must be transferred to the ground and engineers have determined that an intercon nected system of bracing that connects vertical and horizon tal surfaces is necessary for buildings to survive earth quakes. Unbraced connections between walls (vertical) and ceilings (horizontal) become hinges - similar to those on a door, gate or piano - and in the event of an earthquake allow the two surfaces to come to gether. As Dave Söderström, the district’s contract architect, explains it, “ If the ground moves and the building does not, the building falls down." The study conducted by WDY revealed the extent of the problems with both the grade and high school buildings. Constructed in 1930 and 1950 respectively, neither building benefited from any considera tion of horizontal load. It simply was not part of standard build ing practice or building code of the time. Since 1967 local de sign codes have required that buildings be able to withstand a reasonable amount of wind pressure and earthquake mo tion for the area in which they are constructed. While code requirements for wind pressure Please see page 5
