COURTESY OF BARNSTABLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
BARNSTABLE – The Barnstable Town Council has approved spending $850,000 to make repairs to the roof truss system at the Hyannis West Elementary School.
David Kanyock, Director of Public School Facilities briefed the council on the need for the funds, which will come both from town reserves and loans.
Kanyock explained that over the summer school maintenance observed a downward bowing condition in the school cafeteria ceiling. Upon investigation failure was observed in two locations of the roof truss system.
“On or about June 4, this past year we had noticed a problem Hyannis West Elementary School with trusses in the cafeteria and noticed two had failed,” he said.
The failure was sufficiently alarming to recommend the immediate installation of a temporary support system. A temporary support system was installed by in the cafeteria and kitchen areas and work was undertaken immediately and finished that night.
“The rest of the building was also inspected and found to be fine,” Kanyock said.
The overstressed connections may have begun to yield early in the life of the structure and in doing so began shedding load to elements with greater capacity.
The appropriation also allows for Barnstable Town Manager Mark Ells to seek grants to help defray the cost of the project.
Design work has been completed for full repair to the truss system over the cafeteria, kitchen and stage areas and replacement of two trusses with modified steel beams has been completed to verify engineering standards and provide example for project completion.
Professional analysis of the roofing system throughout the remainder of the school has not identified any concerns outside of the cafeteria, kitchen and stage area.
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