Project Highlights

S&ME is performing construction material engineering and testing services for the new William Amos Hough High School (formally Bailey Road High School) in Cornelius, North Carolina.  The new Bailey Road High School is a 99 classroom prototype.  The school is scheduled to be completed by August 2010 and will relive overcrowding at North Mecklenburg and Hopewell High School’s.  S&ME services for this project included testing observation on the soils, concrete, masonry, structural and reinforcing steel, and sprayed on fireproofing evaluation.

S&ME’s engineering technicians performed proofrolling of subgrade soils in structural and pavement areas, soil density testing to confirm required compaction, visual soil classifications to confirm suitability of fill material, laboratory proctor tests for maximum dry density, optimum moisture content.

S&ME’s staff professional observed the near-surface foundation bearing materials for the proposed new high school and the reinforced zone of retaining walls 1, 2, and 3.  The foundation evaluation began by performing a visual observation of the exposed bearing materials to evaluate their character and continuity.  Hand auger borings with Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) testing were performed to estimate the soil strength and relative density of the near-surface bearing materials and their suitability for foundation support.  The foundations were also probed with a ½” diameter probe rod to evaluate the consistency of the near-surface soils.

S&ME’s engineering technicians performed the following services for the masonry construction: monitored the placement of reinforcement, monitored the placement of grout in the cells, fabricated masonry grout prisms, monitored temperature and batch times, and performed compressive strength testing of grout prisms.

S&ME performed the following services on the structural steel: observation and visual weld inspections to verify torque on bolted connections and observation of reinforcing steel, collect material certifications for verification of bolts, nuts, and washers, certified Mill Test reports for structural steel for material verification and collect a Certificate of Compliance at the completion of the fabrication of structural steel.

S&ME’s engineering technicians performed the following activities for the concrete construction: monitored the placement of concrete, performed slump testing, air content testing, unit weight testing, fabricated concrete cylinders, monitored concrete temperature and batch times, and compressive strength testing of concrete cylinders.

S&ME engineering technicians performed thickness measurement tests on the fireproofing material applied to the, density test, and cohesion/adhesion (bond) tests on beams.

S&ME performed the following activities for asphaltic concrete construction: verified thickness and tested for bulk specific gravity and density.