What are you going to do with the previous library building?

This is a question the library staff hears all the time.  The building and the property it sits on were purchased from the Federal Government by the City of Hastings.  Now that the library have moved into the new building, it will be up to the City Council to decide what happens to the library.  If you have practical ideas about how both could be used to benefit the citizens of Hastings, be sure to share them with your elected Council member.

 

 

 

May 2006

Here's some "renderings" of the new library.

(Click on thumbnail to get larger version, click back button on browser to return to this page.)

What is LEED's Certification?

• The Hastings Public Library Board of Directors expects the new library building to meet the necessary qualifications for LEED Silver Certification.

• This is awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council for Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design.

• A LEED certified building conserves water with low-flow toilets; uses large windows to capture more natural daylight, supplemented by energy efficient lighting; and employs heating and cooling systems that maximize the comfort and health of those who work in and visit the building. 

• Wherever possible natural materials from sustainable sources like bamboo and recycled materials are incorporated.  Energy is saved by using materials shipped from areas close to the site.  Environmentally responsible techniques of construction are also factored into the certification.

• A LEED certified building serves as a model for constructing a building that nurtures both the earth and the community.

   <<< click on picture for larger version n' further explanation.

Keep an eye out for the crane and join the sidewalk superintendents as the stone

columns get set in place for the new Hastings Public Library. The stone columns are

one of the new terms library staff and board members are becoming familiar with as

the construction of the new library moves forward. (Illustration from Hayward Baker

brochure on Vibro Systems)

In early June, construction workers at the new Hastings Public Library site are going to

start creating the stone columns that will hold up the library and keep it from settling.

A new process is being used, and the public may wonder what all the vibration is

about, library staff said.  The library site is composed of layers of

soil of various compositions. After doing a geotechnical evaluation the site’s subsurface

soils, SME–Soil and Materials Engineers, Inc. reported that the site was composed of

11- to 18 feet of sand fill, over intermittent buried topsoil, then natural sands.

Within the sand fill is a mix of debris like brick, glass and cinder fragments. Below the

buried topsoil are organic silt and peat seams.  The latter are probably due to the Thornapple

River and Fall Creek, which over the years have changed the position of their banks.

Erecting a building on this combination of soils could risk cracks in foundations and

walls. That’s why SME has recommended using “vibro compaction” or “stone

columns.” This process was first developed in Europe in 1936 as a way to densify loose

soils. Using a specially designed vibrating tube suspended from a crane, compaction is

achieved as the tube bores vertically.  Published literature explains that “horizontal

vibrations are generated at treatment depth with the use of eccentric weights that are

rotated by means of electric motors rated up to 200 hp and eccentric forces up to 38 tons.”

In other words, the soil is punched with weights and compacted by the accompanying

vibrations.

Hayward Baker, the company that specializes in this process, will begin “vibro compaction”

on the library site in early June.  The stone column is created by injections

of crushed stone, densely packed into the boreholes and injected through the end of the

vibrator tube as it is withdrawn. In some cases, water is used to remove soft material in

the borehole. An alternative to that is a dry, bottom feed replacement which is expected to

be used at the library site.  With all this weight and vibration action

underway, one would expect nearby buildings to be affected. SME officials have assured

Hastings City Manager Jeff Mansfield, that the process should not bother City Hall.

Once the stone columns are established around the site, steel framing and conventional

slab foundations can be laid and the two-story library building should be stable and not

experience any effects from settling, said Library Administrator Barbara Schondelmayer.

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