Southeast Raleigh YMCA and Elementary School

S&ME was retained by The YMCA of the Triangle to provide construction materials testing and special inspections during the construction of the Southeast Raleigh YMCA / Wake County Elementary School located adjacent to Rock Quarry Road and the Beltline. Our responsibilities included; the evaluation of foundation bearing grades and subgrades, construction observation, special inspections and testing of soil, concrete, masonry, structural steel, and fireproofing.

Construction challenges: The subsurface conditions at the site included old fill soil and debris.  Aggregate piers and a compacted structural fill mat were installed across the building footprint (by others) to improve the subsurface conditions for supporting the building foundations and floor slabs.

S&ME confirmed the ground improvements during construction by exploring the subsurface conditions at each footing location and assessing the conditions as foundation construction progressed. S&ME worked with the General Contractor and others to see that field modifications were made when necessary to achieve satisfactory support of the impacted foundations and floor slab areas.

Our supporting services included construction observation and special inspections of concrete reinforcing steel in footings and slabs, field and laboratory testing of soil, high-strength grouts, normal and lightweight concrete, elevated slabs, reinforced masonry, structural steel, cold-formed metal framing, and spayed-on fireproofing.

Discrepancies identified in the work and corrective measures to resolve discrepancies were routinely communicated to the Owner’s Representative, Structural Engineer, Architect, Contractor, and other appropriate design team members, so resolutions and corrective measures were properly documented.