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Blasting To Begin At North Grounds Connector Site, On U.S. 250 Bypass, May 26
May 24, 2005 -- On Thursday, May 26, the first of three rounds of blasting at the North Grounds Connector construction site will begin, weather permitting. The blasting is necessary to loosen rock in the path of the road, being built off of the U.S. 250 Bypass. Those near the area at the time of the blasting may hear a muffled sound and feel a small ground vibration, said Project Director Richard B. Laurance. To keep automobiles safely away from the blast site, a Virginia Department of Transportation rolling roadblock will stop traffic on Route 250 in all lanes. Flagmen also will be posted near all access points to the job site to keep pedestrians away from the blasting area. Immediately after the blasting, normal traffic will resume on Route 250. Blasting will not occur during the busy traffic hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. No blasting will occur on Sundays. Each blasting site will be covered with a minimum of three feet of soil and blasting mats will be used in specific locations if necessary. These are techniques used successfully in previous construction projects at U.Va.’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, Clark Hall and the John Paul Jones Arena. During all three rounds of blasting, site activities will be halted five minutes prior to each blast, and equipment and workers will be moved from the blasting area. Before blasting, a survey will be conducted by the project’s geotechnical testing and inspection service company, Schnabel Engineering Inc., including exterior visual surveys of buildings within a 200-foot radius of the blast zone. Seismic monitoring devices will be used during all blasting, and monitors will be set up at specific points around the project site. One-week notice will be given for blasts in Zone 2 and Zone 3. Dates have not been determined for this later blasting. The latest updates on the North Grounds Connector Road project, being built by U.Va. to provide access to the North Grounds and the John Paul Jones Arena, are available online at http://fmweb.virginia.edu/fpc/ArenaProject/NorthGroundsConnector.htm. For additional information, call the project office at 434-243-5335 (Project Manager Kevin McMichael or Project Engineer Nathan Mallory for Barton Malow Co.) or 434-982-2859 (University Project Director Richard B. Laurance).
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FOR
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Contact the Office
of University Relations at (434) 924-7116. Television reporters
should contact the TV News Office at (434) 924-7550. All press releases from 2004 (Web site) |
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Top News site edited by Dan Heuchert (dnh6n@virginia.edu); maintained by Karen Asher (kac@virginia.edu); releases posted by Sally Barbour (sab4w@virginia.edu). |
