Worth the Risk?
The plans for the proposed high school include a site deemed dangerous by geotechnical engineers. Steep slopes, a need for blasting bedrock and Pittsburgh red beds are the recipe for a dangerous and costly landslide - which is exactly what happened at the proposed Walmart on Route 65.
The hilltop site has significant problems.
The 158-acre site which cost us 10 million dollars to acquire, can best be described as a steep-sloped hilltop ridge.
They plan to blast 30’ off across the top of the ridge to create a portion of the building site. (Thomas Williamson Site Development Options show this and is available on QVs site)
The site is underlain with Pittsburgh Redbed, the geologic material present at the former Rt 65 Walmart Site, and described by engineers as “notorious landslide material.”
Engineers employed by the School Board have stated the land has had landslides and it is subject to having more landslides.
The School Board plans on clear cutting 50 acres and cutting and filling to create the remainder of the site, as well as access to and from it.
Much of the proposed clear cut is on slopes so steep that clear cutting is forbidden by Allegheny County Ordinance for the very real danger of landslides. (Allegheny County Ordinances Division 7 Article 5 Section 780-504)
To avoid the landslide potential, special and costly grading protocols must be followed.
Thomas and Williamson estimate that this will cost us 6 million dollars. Earlier engineering estimates ranged from 14 to 20 million dollars to just do the grading. There is some concern over this vast differential.
If we accept Thomas Williamson’s estimates, the cost of the site plus cost of grading, plus improvements to the site including driveways, parking spaces, retaining walls to name some will be more than 30 million dollars!
Even more astonishing is the likelihood that the 30 million is not going to cover all those costs, given the earlier engineering estimates and the need for special anti-landslide protocols.
Think of the present condition of Little Sewickley Creek Road. You probably know that it is falling into the Creek. It is directly downhill of the hilltop site and is a good indicator of landslide tendencies and drastic effects.
A different but equally important concern is the environmental impact on the site. Wildlife, trees, shrubs, springs, streams, and 50 acres of habitat will be destroyed by bulldozing and blasting.
Will the blasting, clear-cutting and bulldozing affect the present High Quality Sewickley Watershed?
Aside from the site itself, Camp Meeting Rd. will need to be shored, widened, have its elevation changed and have traffic lights installed. At present, it couldn’t possibly bear the additional traffic safely.
Who bears the risk if the cost estimates are wrong or if they go up by the time the School Board is ready to proceed? Who bears the risk if there are landslides? It is not the QV School Board. It’s us, the taxpayers.