Double Springs Fire prepares to move to municipal building

DOUBLE SPRINGS      -  Structural deficiencies at Double Springs Town Hall and the Double Springs Fire Department have resulted in the town hiring Alabama Foundation Solutions to correct the issues.
Will Edwards, representing AFS of Huntsville, informed the Double Springs Town Council during their Monday, July 10, meeting that he met with Mayor Elmo Robinson and Police Chief Kim Miller a few weeks ago to do a full inspection of the building. That inspection found the building has shifted on its foundation, dropping on both the front and back sides of the building, according to Robinson.

Correction measures will include installing push piers at the front portion of the fire department bays, which are located directly underneath town hall. This means AFS will excavate from inside the fire department bay, up against the front wall, placing the  piers every five feet, Edwards explained.
“Using the weight of the building to push them into the ground will stabilize that entire side of the building,”  Edwards said.
Also at the front of the fire department bay, AFS plans to address the structural columns between bay doors that are holding up the building, Edwards explained.  This portion of the building has also dropped considerably from its original height, Edwards indicated.
In this case, AFS will excavate on the exterior of the building, tearing out about five feet of asphalt in order to dig down to the foundational footer, where a different type of pier will be installed.
These piers spiral into the ground and attach to the building itself and, with the use of hydraulics, help stabilize the building and lift it back up to its original height, he continued.
In order to address the moisture and resulting mold inside the fire department bay area, AFS plans to eliminate the current flow of water through the block wall by setting up a new drainage system, Edwards further explained.
The entire block wall will be sealed off from water flow, with any water flow instead being pushed downward into a new gutter system which will send the water to two pumps, one at each end of the building, Edwards said.  Water will then be pumped directly into the parking lot and away from the building, he added.
“That’s going to capture all that water, relieving the pressure off of that wall so it stops it from bowing in and pushing that moisture through,” Edwards said.
“All of those projects together are going to permanently stabilize the building and prevent any moisture from building up and causing further damage,” he added.
After Edwards quoted the town a price on the project of $82,000.03, Council Member Tim Cockrell asked how long the fire department would be put out of the building while the project was ongoing.
“I don’t know the exact amount of time,” Edwards responded, because we haven’t been able to put it on the schedule.”
The project, Edwards continued, was estimated to take from one to two weeks, but there are no guarantees until the town is placed on the schedule.
“We’d need to have two estimates on it,” Robinson pointed out.  Another company had been approached about the project, which had recommended to drill into a wall and place anchors to stabilize the walls, he added.
Edwards responded the town hall/fire department already had wall braces inside the fire department.
“That’s already bracing your wall and preventing that from moving in,” he said. “So adding those anchors (the other company) was talking about...is just going to be a redundancy.
“The problem you have,” Edwards continued, “is the moisture you have behind that wall seeping through and pushing it up against the braces themselves.”
“His bid was about $10,000 cheaper,” Robinson said.
“That’s because he does cheaper work,” Edwards responded, met with laughter from the council and audience.
Edwards added AFS would assure a lifetime warranty to the structure once their projects were completed.
“I like your system better than what (the other company) was saying,” Robinson told Edwards.  “I like the drain system around it. I think that is where a lot of our problem is coming in at.
Fire Chief Brandon Lewis mentioned the moisture problems the fire department is facing.
“Almost every time we get a big rain now, we’re getting water inside the fire station” Lewis said.
“It has been getting worse gradually,” Lewis added. “I really have noticed it in the past year.”
“How is that going to affect you, being out for two weeks?” Robinson asked Lewis.
Lewis responded he had advised Resha Daugherty, Double Springs Municipal Building director, not to schedule events at the municipal building because the large open room (where public events are held) will have to be used to park the fire trucks to keep them out of the weather.
“You can’t leave them sitting outside, mayor,” Lewis pointed out.