College of the Redwoods Eureka Campus Seismic Hazard Evaluation, Materials Testing and Inspection, Engineering, and Land Surveying Services

In 1989, College of the Redwoods (CR), located nine miles south of Eureka in Humboldt County, California, embarked upon an expansion program that culminated in the new Learning Resource and Child Development centers. Because the site is within a fault zone in a seismically active region, CR asked LACO to review the campus for suitable building sites.

Over the next several years, our project team undertook an extensive program of seismic hazard evaluation, including excavating a mile of exploratory trench, in order to develop a fault rupture micro-zonation map for the entire campus. Using this map, we identified potential earthquake rupture hazards, including settlement and liquefaction, and then helped select the best sites for the new buildings. Our recommendations were approved by the California Division of the State Architect and the California Geological Survey.

During construction, we provided DSA-approved special inspection services for the two new buildings, including concrete strength, slump, and entrained air testing on 6,000 cubic yards of concrete and special inspection and QA/QC on over 500 tons of reinforcing steel. All shop and field welding for the moment resistant frame structural steel was conducted by our AWS certified staff. Our Geotechnical Engineer and soils technicians performed field observation and compaction testing for the project.

LACO was also responsible for engineering and surveying services for the design of site civil, utility, and infrastructure needs related to the construction of a new student union building. The project included grading for the student services building that was planned on the same site; access and parking area design; retaining wall and layout; underground utilities including stormwater drainage, sanitary sewer, and water system with required reroute mitigation measures; and reroute of existing dry utilities with tie-ins.

“LACO’s excellence as a consultant has enabled us to move forward with critical projects for the college. They have taken care of crucial project issues in terms of fault hazards, and successfully conducted over one mile of difficult trenching throughout the Eureka CR campus….Throughout our history working with LACO their team has always listened to our concerns and responded professionally…I recommend LACO Associates without reservation for any of your potential projects.” 

-Tim Flannagan
Director, Facilities and Planning
College of the Redwoods

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