So in the spring, a small team of workers in Tyvek suits, gloves and goggles began stripping six inches of soil from the Lorraine Street fields, the most highly contaminated of the sites, situated directly across from the Red Hook housing projects. Using front loaders, excavators and bulldozers, workers placed soil in piles on the edges of the site, covered with large tarps. All but a few pockets of soil have been dug up on the first site. Thirty-nine trees have been removed and 62 will be replanted.

Then in the summer, a small convoy of dump trucks each weighing between 18 and 20 tons began moving the soil out of the neighborhood, their tires and undercarriages hosed down with a pressure washer to remove any contamination before heading out.

The trucks then take a route away from the Red Hook Houses for a 90-minute-long highway drive to the Fairless Landfill in Falls Township, Pa., a town of around 33,000 people across the Delaware River from Trenton, N.J. Any recyclable concrete from the site is being shipped to Allocco Recycling in Brooklyn, a scrap yard near Newtown Creek.

Some local residents asked why dont we move it out by barge, said Martin Maher, the head of Brooklyn Parks. Mr. Maher and his team researched the possibility, but found it would actually involve more trucks, more loading and unloading of the contaminated material and cost twice as much.

The area is regularly sprayed with water to keep dust to a minimum, and the air is continually monitored for contamination, with results posted at the local Red Hook Library.

If all goes according to plan and winter is not too harsh, the ball fields in Phase 1 should be open by late spring, and the entire project completed by 2023.

Karen Blondel, an environmental justice organizer from the neighborhood, was worried that Red Hooks vulnerability to flooding might affect any work on the ball fields and pushed for additional measures.

Read more from the original source:
How to Get Rid of 9,000 Tons of Toxic Topsoil - The New York Times

Far too many retaining wall projects start with this simple step: homeowners see a clearance sale on retaining wall blocks, make an educated guess how many they need, and have the big box store deliver them. Once the pallets of block are stacked in the yard, they set aside a weekend or two, recruit some friends or family, and undertake a construction project.

We can easily understand do-it-yourself energy (we call it the energy of the innocent) because weve gotten over our heads in home improvement projects many times, when we should have reached out for expert assistance. By the time the project is finally finished, weve made enough mistakes to learn how to do it right the next time. As were fond of saying, anything worth doing is worth doing twice.

Building decorative garden walls is very satisfying and rewarding, as well as being good exercise. When the purpose of the wall is more functional, its important to add an engineering step before starting the project. Retaining walls for purposes like holding back hills, supporting paving or buildings, and controlling runoff are serious projects with long-term consequences, so learning by doing isnt always a good idea.

As a certified hardscape contractor, we often get called after the fact when structural retaining walls fail for one reason or another. This is never a pleasant experience for us or the homeowner. Its vastly more expensive and time-consuming to fix a poorly-installed retaining wall that to install it in the first place. Usually the cause of the wall failure is designed-in and the only solution is to remove it and start over.

In previous columns weve offered retaining wall tips. Heres a brief summary of the basic principles weve already talked about:

Hardscapes should never be built on fill, or on ground that stays wet because of improper drainage. The center of gravity of a retaining wall should be BEHIND the wall foundation, or footer. The taller the wall, the more it should start below ground. The heavier the wall, the more substantial the footer needs to be. There needs to be a way for water to freely escape from the footer trench, and from behind the wall, by gravity. Backfill behind the wall should be clean crushed (not round) stone.

Walls should be tied back into the hill, so that the weight of the backfill prevents the wall from moving. Geotextiles are a typical method; there should be a layer of geogrid back into the hill every two courses on taller walls. Water runoff behind the wall should never be allowed to run into the backfill behind the wall. Curved walls, or walls with multiple corners, are vastly stronger than long straight walls.

Understanding these basics is a good start, but there are many more tips and tricks that come with training and experience. Every wall situation is different, and there are many different types of segmental wall systems, each with cost-benefit tradeoffs. We want you to succeed with every home improvement project you dream about. Its important to know your own limitations before you begin.

Steve Boehme is a landscape designer/installer specializing in landscape makeovers. Lets Grow is published weekly; column archives are on the Garden Advice page at http://www.goodseedfarm.com. For more information is available at http://www.goodseedfarm.com or call GoodSeed Farm Landscapes at (937) 587-7021.

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Retaining walls that last - Record Herald

Retaining walls near Highland Park are not in critical need of replacing but will need to be changed in the coming years. The walls and options for handling them were discussed during last Mondays City Council meeting.

We received a call from a homeowner and have had some discussions with the Highland Park Association on some of the failing walls, said Derek Gajdos, Grand Haven Department of Public Works director.

Gajdos noted an issue with the failing walls is not knowing who owns them - as some are on private property and others are in the road right-of-way, who will pay for the replacement and who will continue to maintain the walls into the future.

The estimated price for the repairs is $300,000, Gadjos said.

Its a significant cost, he said. My question for council is where are we heading with that?

One option could be to split the costs 50/50 between the city and homeowners, similar to what is being done on Lake Avenue, while another option discussed during the meeting was to split the $300,000 three ways.

Members of the Highland Park Association, Bill Van Lopik and Bob Minnema, current and past president respectively, used the example of a retaining wall fixed near Minnemas home.

When the wall needed to be repaired, the bill was split evenly between the city, Minnema and another homeowner to the west and residents in the area.

Van Lopik and Minnema said they could bring the proposal of splitting the bill three ways - between the city, the homeowners nearest the walls and the association - to their annual association meeting in July.

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Discussion begins on fix for Highland Park retaining walls - Grand Haven Tribune

O'FALLON, Mo. An O'Fallon, Missouri mother told the 5 On Your Side I-Team she's just trying to keep her young daughter who has autism safe on her own property.

So why is the city of O'Fallon taking her to court?

Even under her mother's watchful eye, Leera Brown, 4, is hard to keep up with. The little girl has a seemingly endless amount of energy, according to her mom Ariel Brown. But she also has some limitations as well.

"She's autistic and she has balance and coordination issues. She will literally trip on air," said Brown.

That coordination issue, says Brown, has led to her falling off the family's 4-foot brick retaining wall in the past.

That's why her mom said she began looking into safer alternatives to replace the brick wall. After doing some research, she created a retaining wall made of recycled tires. Each tire was painted, and plants and landscaping were installed in and around the display.

"Most people don't believe me that it's tires. They have no clue. So i put a lot of work into trying to make it look nice," said Brown.

The wall has some admirers, but the city of O'Fallon is not one of them.

"Just because you have good intentions, does not give you permission to violate city law. It does come down to that," said Tom Drabelle, a spokesperson for the city of O'Fallon. "It was also brought to us by her neighbors. It wasn't something we went out looking for."

The use of old tires is against several city codes.

Drabelle points to one specifically under prohibited 'Nuisances', which states, "Any accumulation, deposit or outside storage or any vehicular or equipment parts, inoperable appliances and other equipment, junk or material of any nature where said accumulation, deposit or outside storage may constitute an attractive nuisance danger to children, provide a breeding or nesting area for vermin, rodents and other animals, or collect stagnant water."

"The use of old tires as a design element... It's a health risk to the community. The second thing is, it's also a fire risk," said Drabelle.

Brown argues the tires aren't collecting water, and aren't inviting vermin since they have plants and soil in them.

The city wants the wall taken down. Later this week, a judge will decide on the fate of the wall.

Brown said the wall has already proven to be effective in its purpose.

"[Leera] ended up tumbling down this but only had a couple minor scratches. If it had been the regular retaining wall, we would've been lucky to just be in the hospital," said Brown."When it comes to my daughter's safety. I will fight to the end for it."

If the judge rules in the city's favor, the family will be responsible for taking down the wall. If they refuse, the city could do it for them and send them a bill. The family will also be fined for the citation.

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More here:
O'Fallon, Missouri fights to remove tire retaining wall for child with autism - KSDK.com

729 Seventh Avenue, at the southeast corner of 49th Street and 7th Avenue mear Times Square in Manhattan, as photographed in March 2018.

The building that fatally dropped a hunk of faade on a Manhattan woman last week is just one of thousands citywide with open violations and some of the longest-offending buildings have no scaffolding to protect unsuspecting passersby, the New York Post says it has learned.

Some of those violations including one against a crumbling Bronx building looming over a daycare playground are more than a decade old, a review of city records found.

Of more than 5,300 open citations citywide against buildings for failing to maintain safe exterior walls under NYC Admin Code 28-302.1, the Post has identified the 10 addresses with the longest-standing open infractions that also lack protective sidewalk sheds.

Among the offenders is the five-story building at 333 150th St. in the Bronx, which abuts the Brightside Academy daycare centers playground and has open violations dating to 2008 for a rear retaining wall that collapsed in 2004 and at one point blocked the buildings rear entrance for years.

Today, the buildings faade is visibly damaged, with cracks on the molding surrounding the building a source of concern for parents from the neighboring child care site.

Thats scary, said mom Keila Ocasio, 30, who was dropping off her 3-year-old twins at Brightside on Thursday. We walk down this street with our kids all the time. It could be anybody.

Architect Erica Tishman was killed Tuesday after a chunk of facade dropped off 729 Seventh Ave. in Manhattan.

The structure had damaged terra cotta at areas above 15th floor in several locations which poses a falling hazard for pedestrians, the city Department of Buildings found when the owners were issued a violation in April for failure to maintain exterior building facade in a safe manner.

Meanwhile, the 150th Street building in the Bronx still has 13 open violations including one for the same code under which 729 Seventh Ave. was cited.

While its owners paid the $5,000 fine associated, there is no indication they fixed the underlying issue, city records show.

And its not the only property in the city with longstanding, unresolved violations under the same section of law.

A six-story building at 207 Clinton St. in Manhattan has a 2008 facade violation for corroded soffit/facia at top of bldg and cornice at 5th floor is separating from exterior wall.

I think its terrible that they got a complaint in 2008 and they havent done anything about it, said neighbor Orlando Perez, 62. Obviously the laws sanctioning the landlords are too lenient. They probably figured its worth leaving it like that than spending money to fix it.

A property at 14-18 Boerum St. in Brooklyn has racked up so many violations and nearly $30,000 in unpaid fines that one neighbor said the owners dont do work, they just make holes.

The owners were cited under 28-302.1 in 2015 for missing bricks on the fifth floor, broken awnings on two other floors, and a 7th floor balcony crack, the records show.

Other properties identified by the New York Post with long-open facade violations under Admin Code 28-302.1 are:

A seven-story mixed-use building at 1627 Amsterdam Ave. hit with a violation in 2011 for failing to maintain an exterior decorative cornice and for severly [sic] corroded tin.

An apartment building at 254 Seaman Ave. in Inwood cited in 2013 for cracks, deteriorating and displacement in parapet facade, and flower pots stored on facade ledge.

The Church of Saint Michael at 424 W. 34th St. in Manhattan, issued a violation for missing asphalt roof shingles and cracked cement stucco in 2014.

A mixed-use building at 201 W. 145th St. dinged in 2014 for the deteriorating condition in parapet, and cracking throughout the buildings exterior.

Public School 130 at 151 E. 5th St. in Brooklyn, cited in 2015 for exterior brick facade (that) has become porous allowing water to penetrate into bldg.

PS 58 at 455-459 E. 176th St. in the Bronx, which was ticketed in 2015 for exterior walls that have become porous allowing water to penetrate and water leaking from facade.

An eight-story apartment building at 1670 174th St. in the Bronx slapped with a violation in 2013 for spalling on balcony slabs.

In a statement Sunday, Department of Buildings spokesman Andrew Rudansky said the agency swept over more than 1,300 facades that require repairs to make sure each had appropriate pedestrian protections in place after Tishmans death.

In cases where we found property owners had inadequate pedestrian protections, we are issuing enforcement actions, including orders to put up sidewalk sheds, he said.

The owners of several buildings identified by the Post did not return calls seeking comment. Others maintained work had been done and claimed the violations were still open because they failed to file the paperwork certifying the repairs had been made.

The owner of 333 150th St., Earl Bailey, insisted the issue was fixed at least three years ago.

At Brooklyns PS 130, facade and masonry work was completed but has yet to undergo a final inspection, schools spokesman Kevin Ortiz said adding that work to repair PS 58 will be taken care of by a full-scale masonry project that has not begun.

The owners of 1627-1635 Amsterdam Ave. said in a statement that they contracted to fix the chimney cap and that a sidewalk shed would go up Monday.

In other cases, physical work has long been completed, though as a landmarked building, there can be delays before the paperwork is registered by the city, the statement said.

Despite the city records regarding chimney and brickwork violations at the Church of Saint Michael, a man identifying himself as the pastor claimed the citations were for plumbing and electrical issues, not the facade.

Thats all been fixed, yes, he said. It was plumbing and electrical.

An official at one building had a different take, saying the violations there were fake.

There are no violations, basically, said Miriam Chan of Ymm Realty LLC, which owns 207 Clinton St. in Manhattan. Those violations are fake violations.

So many people, so many people live in the building, she said. They dont pay. Whenever the company asks them to pay they call 311, they create all kinds of information, fake information.

But, she said, the company already engaged a structural engineer to take care of the problem.

Additional reporting by Khristina Narizhnaya, Kevin Sheehan and Olivia Bensimon.

This report also appears at NYPost.com.

Read the original here:
Thousands of New York buildings may pose same risk as the one whose damaged faade killed architect last week - MarketWatch

Belgiums iconic Christmas series or Kerstperiode kicked off this weekend with Waaslandcross in Sint-Niklaas and with the infamous Namur World Cup on Sunday.

The two races could not have been more different. Waaslandcross featured fast, dry and sandy conditions, while Namur was one of the heaviest and most challenging courses of the year.

The womens race at Waaslandcross was highlighted by a battle between world champion Sanne Cant and the young BNS Technics - Concrete House rider Aniek van Alphen. Van Alphen has made a name for herself this season by being one of the few riders in the elite womens field opting to bunnyhop the barriers.

Van Alphen used these skills to great effect in Sint-Niklaas, attacking Cant by hopping over a retaining wall into the final sand section. Cant however proved to be the strongest on the finishing stretch.

Waaslandcross is Cants first victory since February. The competition was understated in anticipation of Sundays world cup, but this victory is nonetheless a promising sign for Cant as she builds towards a fourth world championship title defense.

The world cup in Namur was quintessential cyclocross. It was cold. It was wet. It was muddy, and it was perilously challenging. The mens race featured a battle between Mathieu van der Poel and Toon Aerts that kept viewers on the edge of their seats until the final moments of the race.

Van der Poel was not on unbeatable form in Namur, and thanks to poorly timed punctures and minor errors, it looked quite likely at multiple points during the race that the world champion would in fact be beaten.

While Aerts appeared to have a slight upper hand, the course conditions were so challenging that whenever one rider appeared to be riding away with the race, an incident would occur to let the other back into contention.

It wasnt until the final lap when Aerts took a hard crash on Namurs most perilous descent that van der Poel was able to break free to claim a hard fought victory. As a consolation prize, Aerts has now taken over the lead of the World Cup

The conditions at Namur created quite a spectacle for fans, but mid-race images of Iserbyt being carried away from the course as he succumbed to hypothermia-like symptoms illustrated just how challenging the day was for the racers.

Iserbyt was unable to finish the race due to the cold, which cost him the lead in the World Cup Standings.

Toon Aerts last lap crash was reminiscent of his season ending 2017 Fiuggi crash. X-rays taken on Monday morning revealed Aerts sustained a non-displaced rib fracture. His Telenet Baloise team will now assess whether or not the Belgian champion will be fit to compete in the remaining races of Belgiums Christmas series.

Tom Pidcock also suffered a last lap crash on the same descent which took down Aerts. Pidcock was poised to earn his first elite world cup podium, but was left to settle for fourth following the incident. The Yorkshire native claimed on social media that he had never been so cold in his life, and that he simply couldnt function on the final lap.

American Katie Clouse suffered a dislocated shoulder after going over the bars in the elite womens field. She hopes to continue to race the Christmas series, but any future starts are uncertain for the time being.

Here is the original post:
The Damages From Namur -- Takeaways From The Weekend's Racing - FloBikes

Mon, Dec 23rd 2019 10:50 am

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced certain private nonprofit organizations (PNPs) located in 18 counties throughout upstate New York that do not provide critical services of a governmental nature may be eligible to apply for low-interest rate disaster loans. These loans are available following a presidential disaster declaration for public assistance resulting from damages caused by severe storms, straight-line winds and flooding on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2019.

PNPs located in the following 18 counties are eligible to apply: Chautauqua, Chenango, Cortland, Erie, Essex, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Oswego, Otsego, Saratoga, Tioga and Warren. Examples of eligible noncritical PNP organizations include, but are not limited to food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers, schools and colleges.

President Trump recognized that people and nonprofits affected by wicked Halloween weather that affected almost 30% of New York state needed help. In addition to FEMA assistance, the SBA is offering low-interest loans to private nonprofits who do so much to help our communities 365 days of the year, said SBA Atlantic Regional Administrator Steve Bulger, who oversees agency operations in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

PNP organizations may borrow up to $2million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets.The interest rate is 2.75% with terms up to 30 years. Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase up to 20% of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA, for mitigation purposes.

Eligible mitigation improvements may include a safe room or storm shelter, sump pump, French drain or retaining wall to help protect property and occupants from future damage caused by a similar disaster.

The SBA also offers economic injury disaster loans to help meet working capital needs, such as ongoing operating expenses to PNP organizations. Economic injury disaster loan assistance is available regardless of whether the organization suffered any physical property damage.PNP organizations are urged to contact their countys emergency manager for information about their organization. The information will be submitted to FEMA to determine eligibility for a public assistance grant or whether the PNP should be referred to SBA for disaster loan assistance.

Applicants may apply online using the electronic loan application (ELA) via SBAs secure website at DisasterLoan.sba.gov.Disaster loan information and application forms may also be obtained by calling the SBAs customer service center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or sending an email to [emailprotected]. Loan applications can also be downloaded from http://www.sba.gov/disaster. Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

The filing deadline to submit applications for physical property damage is Feb. 17, 2020. The deadline to submit economic injury applications is Sept. 21.

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SBA disaster assistance available to New York private nonprofit organizations in 18 counties affected by severe Halloween storms - Niagara Frontier...

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From ticketing to the France Pavilion, EPCOT sometimes feels like one big construction site. But heres the good news: progress is moving quickly! Here, weve gathered all the latestEPCOT construction updates, starting from the parking lot up to the World Showcase entrance.

As guests approach the park on the monorail, we can see work on new utility lines continues outside the main entrance between security checkpoints and the parking lot.

Work on the new paving between the east parking tram drop-off and the security checkpoints is also progressing.

A wider look shows where new sidewalks are being poured and landscaping planted.

Paving on the east tram loop looks nearly finished while work on the sidewalks continues.

Friday, most of the construction walls just after the entrance of EPCOT were removed, and we finally saw the completedwalkways and planterscreated as part ofProject Gamma. But theres still more work to be done: the new entrance fountainis still undergoing construction. Heres the progress weve seen over the last week.

We noticed some big gray pieces appeared on top of the white base, which is the foundation for the fountain. The gray pieces are the actual exterior of the fountain and are what we will see when it is finished.

A rendering of the fountain can be seen just below Spaceship Earth in the artist concept above. The fountain was designed as a call-back to the original entry fountain that was once in EPCOT.

In front of Innoventions East, we see paving has been completed on the new bypass pathway that will lead to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and the Play Pavilion.

To the west of Spaceship Earth, expansion of the walkways that will eventually lead to the Moana Journey of Water trail continues to progress.

In time, the new concrete will connect to this existing backstage walkway.

From above, we can see that work continues on the planters behind the greenery as well as construction on the Moana-themed barriers.

Over by The Seas with Nemo & Friends, guests are greeted by the construction walls that will eventually lead to the western bypass to the park entrance.

Construction on Future World started to show more and more signs of accelerated progress this week.

Over at Innoventions West, we can see that the final wall has been removed from the old structure that housed Club Cool.

Only two segments of windows remain to be taken out before all that remains is metal work.

At the former Fountain of Nations site, the ground has been completely leveled.

To the side of the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind building, only a few more segments of walkway remain to be poured.

Frame work has been put into place for more sidewalks out by the entrance to the attraction.

Work on the Play Pavilion has seemingly not shown much progress beyond the land clearing that has been completed.

Behind the walls by Mission: SPACE, we can also see where more materials have been stored, including new retaining walls and bricks.

Guests walking to and from Mouse Gear through the rear entrance walk over the lines being laid underneath this wood cover on the ground.

Work on the expanded walkway between Test Track and Future World is progressing, with new cement poured. Additional framing is being laid out, while electrical work ahead of light placement continues.

Work in front of the restrooms is beginning to also take shape with new sidewalk paving framework and utility pipes having been brought in.

Work on the area between Imagination and The Land progresses.

We can see that the construction includes new utility lines and the beginnings of a small brick structure behind the green fencing.

Space 220 Restaurant saw some work being completed today, with workers on-site performing various tasks.

The entrance is still covered by construction walls.

That does it for our look at the construction work inside EPCOT. Stay tuned as we continue to track the progress of the parks reimagining.

Related

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PHOTOS: Latest EPCOT Construction Update (Park Entrance, Innoventions, Space 220, Guardians of the Galaxy, and More) 12/23/19 - wdwnt.com

AKRON, Ohio A 53-year-old man died after he suffered a cardiac episode while driving in Akron, which caused him to crash into a retaining wall, according to police.

Officers responded to a crash at 7:50 a.m. in the 500 block of Madison Avenue on Thursday. They found two vehicles involved in a collision.

A vehicle was traveling southbound on Madison Avenue when a 53-year-old driver suffered from what appears to be a cardiac episode, police said.

His medical emergency caused him to lose control of his car, which went left of center, striking a stopped northbound car head-on. The 53-year-old man continued southbound out of control and crossed over Madison Avenue, say police. His vehicle came to a stop against a wooden retaining wall in front of 564 Madison Avenue.

The driver was transported to Cleveland Clinic Akron General, where he was pronounced dead. His identity is being withheld pending notification of family.

The 79-year-old driver of the other vehicle who was hit head-on suffered minor injuries.

See original here:
53-year-old man dies after having cardiac arrest while driving - News 5 Cleveland

Lanes of Highway 152 have begun to open at Lovers Lane in Gilroy after a fatal crash and a vehicle fire, CHP officials said.

According to the CHP, the collision occurred at 5:11 p.m. on Highway 152 just west of Lovers Lane. An unknown model of Jaguar that was traveling westbound at a high rate of speed crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with a GMC van.

Following that collision, the Jaguar hit a tractor trailer and was sent into a retaining wall. Both the Jaguar and the GMC van caught fire, officials said. The male driver of the Jaguar was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials have not released his identity.

The driver of the GMC van suffered major internal injuries and was taken to San Jose Regional Medical Center, authorities confirmed.

The driver of the tractor trailer was uninjured.

Read more from the original source:
Lanes of Hwy. 152 Reopen in Gilroy After Fatal Crash - NBC Bay Area