TRACK CONCERNS at BOE MEETING By Klaus Gaebel--Post Star
While Daniel Hershberg of the consulting firm Hershberg & Hershberg expressed confidence the school's track problem has been properly corrected, some members of the Board of Education continued to have concerns. The controversy began in October when construction manager Craig Zandonella discovered the track's asphalt was 3 inches too short in width. That led to an additional layer of track being added to correct the design error. A special Board of Education meeting was held on November 28th to discuss concerns about the fix. Board member Jim Steinhilber began the questioning of Hershberg and inquired into what Steinhilber referred to as a "design flaw." Hershberg, a sub-contractor for the district and representing his Albany firm, pointed to his 44 years of experience and having designed 15-20 running tracks over the years. He said this was the first time they've encountered a "flaw". He furthermore said "as a matter of fact we're not aware of any design problems with regard to any other tracks we've designed for other school districts or municipalities." The fix that was applied consisted of an additional two foot layer being applied, one foot new and one foot over the existing track. School board president Don Tucker expressed the board's concern about the expected longevity of the fix. Hershberg replied "my opinion, based upon 44 years of experience designing asphalt projects, many different types of asphalt projects, is there's absolutely no concern that should be raised regarding any vertical failure in regard to this." Hershberg based his confidence in the fix because "there's virtually no load on that extra one foot of asphalt." He stated "we design pavements all the time were we're carrying truckloads, HS20 loading, which is heavy truck loading. We do that all the time. We're concerned then about the potential for failure between a pavement. When you're talking about the [NYS] Thruway, when they have a joint that occurs on the Thruway shoulder, there's a concern then on that location due to truck loading." HS20 refers to calculated truck operating loads used in highway and bridge designs, which have been in use for several decades in the United States. In addressing board member Rich Petramale's concern about the possibility of a seam or crack eventually appearing because of the cold joint that had to be applied, Daniel tried to alleviate concerns. He indicated wide tracks are rarely compressed in one pass. He added "there's no doubt, it's clear that, it would be somewhat preferable to our repair, if we had a hot joint. But that's not the case; we're after the fact and we're stuck with designing something which in our opinion would secure the track, make it fully usable, and not result in any sort of damage." Trustee Terry Parisian re-questioned Hershberg about his comments concerning risks to the track. Hershberg reaffirmed that since there is no substantial load, even with foot traffic - there should not be any problems. Board member Michael Brennan asked what affects frost might have on the part of the track that was added. Hershberg said that frost is formed when water accumulates, and because of the excellent drainage put in, there should not be any problems. Petramale asked the school's attorney what would happen if the extension to the track failed prematurely. Daniel Petigrow replied that when the project is complete the architect will be required by law to certify to the board and the State Education Department that the work is in conformance. "If there is a failure and it's established that the work in fact did not conform, then your architect may be responsible if ultimately it turns out to be a design issue," said Petigrow. Petigrow also offered that the school district may want to hire an "independent expert, consultant, to take a look at the issue because if the architect believes it was done correctly, well, he may have a self interest." He suggested that if the board decided to go this route, they have a consultant look at the track from the design stage through installation. Petigrow also said that the district may want to negotiate to have the track monitored on a regular basis to become aware of any problems as soon as possible. Responding to a question by trustee Bob McCaig, Petigrow said it was common for all consultants in a large renovation and building project such as this to carry "errors of omission" policies. "Errors of omission" insurance policies provide protection for professional firms in case they become liable for errors or mistakes in a lawsuit. Michael bellows of the district's architectural firm of GSG Architects of Rensselaer, also appeared at the meeting to answer board questions. Steinhilber asked Bellows what other options there were besides the one they pursued in fixing the problem. Bellows responded: "obviously the other option would have been to totally remove everything on the site and start over from scratch. Obviously, that was not deemed as a viable option." District school superintendent Richard Rhau reiterated to board members that "this is a very complex and complicated and involved project." He continued: "we have to expect that here and there some things are not going to go the way we like them. The good part about this is that it was caught. We caught the mistake. The professionals came in and made recommendations on how to correct it." Steinhilber noted his displeasure with the superintendent concerning the slow communication that occurred in notifying the board of the track problem. "I wish that the board was informed before this correction was made," Steinhilber said. Steinhilber went on to say that the track is a hot button issue with public and board. It's believed Steinhilber was referring to the controversy that erupted in September when the public and board questioned the design of six lanes for the track rather than eight. Steinhilber addressed the superintendent when he said "any other concerns that crop up let us know before, so that we can research the options and just get peace of mind and not feel like we've been overlooked. We are a board that got voted in by the public to oversee this capital project." |