Fairmont Woman's Club members pleased with progress on sinkhole mitigation project
Jun. 22—FAIRMONT — The Fairmont Woman's Club will soon sit on an even firmer foundation. Literally.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is close to wrapping up a project on 1st Street where crews have been using concrete to fill empty voids underneath the Woman's Club left there by coal mining in the area. Sinkholes have a tendency of forming on the property.
"If it's bad enough, like you see that wall that's sagging there in the alleyway," one of the company's workers said. "That would have happened under the house. They may have to tear this house down. So you drill and grout underneath that house or the house is going to subside and it's going to be a complete loss. What we're doing is an emergency project to save that house from being torn down."
The DEP contracted Howard Concrete Pumping Co., out of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, to do the work. So far, workers have drilled over 70 holes into the ground, and angled under the house. Workers pump a concrete-like slurry into the ground, filling any voids and stabilizing what's underneath.
The Times West Virginian agreed to withhold the name of the employee since the owners of the company are concerned media attention may lead to increased competition for business in the area. The owner also directed phone calls to the DEP, saying it's their project, despite Howard being the ones who are performing the work. The DEP did not return a phone call by press time.
The company made the slurry on site about a block away from the house. One of Caterpillar's famous backhoe loaders scooped material up with its plow and dumped it into a mixer, which then pumped it through a pipe into the ground. A pair of Howard employees held the pump line where it entered the ground, securing it while it deposited slurry into the empty space.
Filling the space under the house is just one of the steps that's taken when dealing with subsidence that is caused by an abandoned mine. The problem takes place when moisture weakens the walls and supports of an abandoned mine. Given enough seasonal cycles, eventually the mine collapses, triggering the ground up top to sink as the ground adjusts. This can be catastrophic for structures laying on the surface.
As part of its work, the DEP's Office of Abandoned Mine Land and Reclamation conducts an engineering analysis on the grounds to determine what kind of solution is needed to remedy the problem. In this case, the Howard employee said his company was called in once the DEP completed its engineering analysis and knew what they needed to stabilize the ground.
Woman's Club member Marcella Yaremchuk served as liaison between the Club and DEP to stabilize the land underneath the house for the Women's Club. The crew has been working for roughly a month to pump slurry into the ground.
"I'm real impressed with this Howard's company," Yaremchuk said. "Their workers are very conscientious. As soon as they see you drive up, it's, 'Oh, can you get into — do we need us to move anything? Can we help you?' They're just super kind, nice people."
Yaremchuk is glad the subsidence issues which have challenged the club are seemingly at an end. Not only have sinkholes appeared on the lawn, but the ground shifting has also led to cracks appearing in the house itself. The cause of the cracks were a mystery at first, but eventually it became clear that subsidence was a primary driver.
Moreover, Yaremchuk is glad to receive assistance on the problem that the Women's Club would never have been able to solve on its own due to its large scale.
"Three times we filled sinkholes and we could never really pinpoint what was happening," Yaremchuk said. "It was just a sinkhole, but when the DEP got involved, they really picked up the maps. They had engineers come and drill the core holes, and they knew exactly how far down they had to go, and what kind of rock they found, and where they found the coal, where they found the voids.
"They've kept us informed practically daily of the progress, what they're finding, and how much longer it's going to be, what exactly they're doing. They're just very transparent in everything they've done — 100% pleased with the progress."
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com
