Inevitably in the Site Plan Review Process, the subject of this project being situated on a challenging grade came up (35 degrees in some areas), and the developers have prepared an impressive study showing how this will be accomplished. The main obstacle is assessing what’s called “global slope stability,” which is the assessment of the overall strength of the slope. The project must be constructed and engineered so that the top layers do not slide with the additional weight of construction equipment and the buildings themselves.
Gary Wood, an engineer in Ithaca conducted the study with the assistance of several specialist contractors (Nothnagle Drilling, TG Miller PC, Ravi Engineering, and information provided by the City from Bermingham Construction for the 1992 Police Station build next door).
The primary implications for the project include the planned deployment of soil monitors that will detect any shifts of the slope during construction, and that the foundations will be constructed “cast-in-place” (dug out, then poured on-site). See the third PDF section for a sketch of the excavation plan sequence and the fourth for the building construction sequence.