Strengthening foundations Seismic upgrading at Delta Secondary School By Tammy Schuster
The school hallways have craters as deep as six feet dug into the floor, the shop class is boarded with plywood, and there is dust everywhere. Frank Geyer, director of facilities and planning for School District No. 37 (Delta), is at the helm of a two-year major seismic upgrade underway at the Delta Secondary School in Ladner. Closing off sections of the school, moving classes to different rooms and buildings, and drilling when classes are on break, make way for an intricate choreographed dance of trucks, power 28
Ops Talk • Fall 2015
tools, and men in vests. Geyer says the upgrades are designed to ensure the school is capable of withstanding an earthquake. “The seismic upgrade just enhances the safety of the occupants, but people were worried. The building looks like a war zone,” he says. “We are the unofficial complaints department.” The structural seismic upgrading at Delta Secondary School is part of a major capital project by the Ministry of Education under the School Seismic Mitigation Program.
The program recognized schools with at least one high-priority building that need upgrading. Three schools in Delta met the criteria; South Delta Secondary, which was completed this year; Delta Secondary, which began in the spring; and Gibson Elementary, which is proposed for 2016/2017. The oldest block of Delta Secondary School was first constructed in the mid‘60s when the impact of a major seismic event was unknown, at least not in the way it is known today. “The school is basically a multitude
