September 28, 1990

NEWS photo Terry Peters

“MAD ARTIST’? Dave Coupland airbrushes some
tips on his latest creation. The larger-than-life murat
of a blonde-haired beauty is on the exterior wall of a
new restaurant located at the corner of 13th Street
and Lonsdale Avenue in North Vancouver.

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Stylus blends
sports coupe & sedan

Automotives: 2]

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92 pages

Quake-proofing pounding
prompts neighbors’ protests

®@ WORK TO solidify the ground for the
foundations of a 16-storey highrise tower ad-
jacent to the North Shore Winter Club has
some area residents upset.

W The job entails the lifting of an 18-ton
hammer to a height of 65 feet and dropping it
to the ground every few minutes...from 8 a.m.
to 4 p.m. on weekdays for the past few weeks.

PROCESS used at
the North Shore
Winter Club building

site to make the ground
earthquake proof is rattling
area residents.

By Elizabeth Collings
News Reporter

North Vancouver District has
received 16 complaints from peo-
ple living in the East Keith Road
area where the contractor, Geopac
West Lid., is using a technique
called) dynamic compaction to
Prepare the ground for the foun-
dations of a I6-storey highrise
tower adjacent to the winter chib.

“My house is falling apart,’
said Monique Frydrysek, who
lives on Fern Street, approximate-
ly half a mile from the construc-
tion site.

Frydrysek said that since the
vibrations started on Sept. 10, a
number of cracks have appeared
on her walls, spreading
throughout the house where she
and her husband, Milan live with
their three children. Pictures and
plaster have also fallen from the
walls and ceiling.

“P've had to remove everything
off the walls, everything off the
shelves,"” she said.

Frydrysck said her biggest con-
cern is for the safety of her
children, aged 7, 5 and !6
months.

“Eve got three kids and | don't
let them out on the sundeck while
construction is being done," she
said.

Dynamic compaction is a pro-
cess similar to pile driving and is
used to densify the underlying soil
so that it will not liquify during
an earthquake.

Geopac vice-president Nelson
Beaton said the process involves
lifting an 18-ton hammer to a
height of 65 feet (20 metres) and
dropping it to the ground. This
process has been repeated every
few minutes from & asm. to 4
pm. on weekdays since Ceopac
began its work almost three weeks
ago at the site. Geopac expects to
finish its work today.

Bad vibes: two views

44 There are loose soils
underneath the site which
could be subject to
liquidification in case of an
earthquake. 9F
— Nelson Beaton
Geopac vice-president

46 I feel as individual
residents we are the ones that
have to pay the price with the

vibrations and then the
increased traffic. The whole
thing stinks as far as I'm
concerned. ¥¥
— lan Morrison
East Keith Road resident

Bob Barter, the district's deputy
chief building inspector said he
has passed the complaints, some
of which are claims of cosmetic
damage, to Beaton.

Barter said the complaints are a
civil matter between the area resi-
dents and the contractor.

But he said Thursday he would
be visiting the site ana touring the
area to investigate whether
Geopac is complying with district
bylaws regarding noise and
nuisance and building codes.

Beaton said. Geopac has not
received more complainis than it
normally would.

“te hasn't been unusual and we
know when we work in an urban
area there’s going to be a
respanse,”’ he said, adding that
Geopac has liability insurance in
the event of damage.

Beaton also said that he had
visited Frydrysek’s house and had
seismic fevels taken which were
‘extremely’? small.

“Her house was suffering from
settlement-related stress long be-
fore we got there. We've had no
indication that there’s been dam-
age to a third party as a result of
what we're doing,’” he said.

Although Frydrysek admits her
33-year-old house is settling, she
said the recent cracks started as
soon as the pounding process

See Residents Page 3

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