Montgomery County Schools plan more corrective action to ensure the structural soundness of several school buildings — including two in the Shawsville area. News/Talk 960’s Evan Jones has the story.
Montgomery School Schools plan more corrective action to ensure the structural soundness of several school buildings, including two in the Shawsville area.The school system announced today it will check and tighten bolts at the Shawsville Elementary multipurpose room and evaluate the masonry walls at Shawsville Middle’s auditorium and gym areas to determine if the design is adequate. It’s part of the review of all Montgomery County school buildings after the Blacksburg High School gym collapsed last winter. The work in Shawsville is scheduled for completion by September.
Here is the the complete Montgomery County Public Schools News Release:
As part of Montgomery County Public Schools’ commitment to the safety of students and staff, assessments are in process at all facilities. Testing began in February 2010 with a visual repair of all buildings and has progressed to this structural assessment of long span roofs in seven schools – Auburn High School, Auburn Middle School, Christiansburg High School, Christiansburg Primary School, Harding Avenue Elementary School, Shawsville Elementary School and Shawsville Middle School.
The major recommendations for immediate attention are truss splice connections in the Christiansburg High School auditorium and truss-to-column connections in the Auburn High School auditorium. Both connections involved inadequate full penetration welds and additional support was recommended. The repair work at Auburn High School is complete and the Christiansburg High School repair work is expected to finish by March 11.
The report calls for additional actions to be completed prior to September 2011. The items are:
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Check and tighten bolts in the Auburn High School gymnasium, Auburn Middle School multipurpose room, Shawsville Elementary School multipurpose room, and the Christiansburg High School gymnasium and auditorium. The bolts have been checked and tightened at the Auburn High School auditorium and the Harding Avenue Elementary multipurpose room.
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Attach joist bridging to the masonry wall in the Auburn High School auditorium.
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Evaluate the masonry walls at Christiansburg High School, Auburn High School and Shawsville Middle School in the auditorium and gymnasium areas to determine if the design is adequate.
This report is a continuation of a year of structural testing at all facilities. An overview of all testing, including this assessment is available online at http://www.mcps.org/newsreleases/2010_2011/FacilityStudiesRelease010511.PDF.
An additional $400,000 for engineering inspections is included in the school division’s 2011-2012 proposed operating budget. If approved, these funds would provide an evaluation of the building systems in the schools, including architectural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, windows and other systems.
