Retrofit of Provo schools is likely to cost millions

PROVO — Seismically retrofitting schools in Provo is expected to cost millions of dollars.

That's according to the Salt Lake structural engineering firm that's working with the Provo School District on a seismic study, though exact figures haven't been determined.

Dunn Associates Inc. Chief Engineer Paul McMullin met Friday with a committee of a dozen district employees, school board members, Brigham Young University engineering professors and a retired city engineer to discuss the study, which will take the next six months to complete.

It also will include a soil study by Steve Smith of Earthtec Testing and Engineering in Orem.

The school district has hired Dunn Associates to study 11 buildings: Provo and Timpview high schools, Dixon Middle School, and Farrer, Provost, Grandview, Westridge, Edgemont, Rock Canyon, Wasatch and Canyon Crest elementary schools, said Greg Hudnall, the district's director of student services and chairman of the committee.

Provo School District will pay Dunn Associates $55,000-$150,000 for the studies, based on the complexity of analysis necessary.

The district will pay Smith at least $15,000 to determine the character of the soil beneath all the schools — specifically liquefaction, or soil strength when the ground shakes.

Some soils can absorb earthquakes and others amplify them.

Buildings in the Provo District aren't unique in their need for seismic retrofitting, committee members noted, and the district is not the first to study earthquake safety.

Alpine School District hired Salt Lake-based Reaveley Engineers and Associates to study its buildings.

Salt Lake City, Jordan and Davis school districts have also performed seismic studies on its buildings in recent years.

In Provo, engineers will study the schools using the American Society of Civil Engineers "Seismic Rehabilitation of Existing Buildings" method to determine building safety.

The school district has chosen to retrofit the buildings to a basic safety level, which will keep students safe but will not guarantee the building can be immediately occupied after the earthquake.

"We usually go with the (basic safety level) ... without the extreme cost of retrofitting for immediate occupancy," McMullin said.

"I am comfortable with that," school board member Sandy Packard said. "As long as the children are safe. We don't have millions" more to spend.

Engineers already have a portion of Provo High's study complete. The school was built in 1956, with several additions built through 1998.