ALLENDALE, Mich. (AP) - Grand Valley State University is planning to start construction soon on the Mackinac Ravine to address erosion that could affect nearby buildings.
The Allendale campus development has accelerated erosion at the ravine streambed, resulting in less soil at the slopes providing support. The $4 million Mackinac Ravine Restoration Project is set to provide lateral restraint at the streambed level, MLive (https://bit.ly/2lYyRN9 ) reported.
The work is expected to stabilize streambed elevation and side-slope support to a level near where it was before the campus development. Other ravine work includes stone installation, vegetation and a construction access route.
The university’s Board of Trustees said the unstable condition, if left unimproved, could eventually impact critical buildings nearby, including the Student Services Building, Padnos Hall of Science and the Cook-DeWitt Center.
“We established monitoring stations in and near these buildings to understand the amount of movement present in the nearby ravine,” said James Moyer, associate vice president for facilities planning at the university.
The board approved the project’s budget on Feb. 10. Repairs are scheduled to begin in the spring and wrap up by October.
Moyer said obtaining a permit from the state for the project has been a difficult, three-year journey. He said that in order to satisfy requirements from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, there needed to be a couple of redesigns to devise an appropriate repair plan.
The project is being funded from the university’s Campus Development Fund.
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Information from: The Grand Rapids Press:MLive.com, https://www.mlive.com
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