WALLAGRASS – A Presque Isle construction company will reinforce the beams in the gymnasium of the Wallagrass Elementary School during the summer, repairing a problem discovered last December.

The $97,000 contract to PNM Construction Co. is expected to start around June 21, after school ends for the summer, and conclude by Aug. 5, according to James Grandmaison, SAD 27 business administrator.

Last December a crack was found in one of the beams supporting the roof over the gymnasium. The project would repair that beam and reinforce the rest. The project involves installation of I-beams to support each of the wood-laminated beams.

The project, which including engineering fees will cost $110,000, is being paid for by state and local funds. The local cost, 35 percent of the project, will be paid from funds in the 2004-2005 school budget. The state share, 65 percent, comes from the state’s revolving renovation fund.

“It was the determination of engineers that the entire [gym] roof was compromised,” Grandmaison said Thursday. “The split in one beam was noticed during [December]. A forensic engineer determined the cause to be in the design of the beams, not the load on the roof.

“We have two other schools [St. Francis and Eagle Lake] with the same kind of beams, built in the same year,” he said. “Those were said to be OK, but that we should keep an eye on them.”

The bottom line for the stress problem in the laminated beams is that they are not of the best design. The type of beams have been improved over the years.

The three schools all were built around 1965. They were built to handle stress factors of 50 pounds pressure per square inch. Such structures now are built to handle pressures of 85 pounds per square inch.

Grandmaison explained that while there were only a few inches of snow on the Wallagrass Elementary School roof when the problem was found, over the years the building has had more snow on it that the schools at both Eagle Lake and St. Francis.

He said the winds in those two communities blow the snow off better than the winds at Wallagrass, noting the issue concerns the geographic placement of the school.

Over the years, the roofs on the buildings have held as much as 5 feet of snow. Last December, there was only 5 inches of snow when the problem was identified.

“The failure of the beams could be disastrous for those buildings,” Grandmaison said. “We will be keeping an eye on the buildings and the beams.”

Snow levels on the roof will be kept to inches, instead of feet, Grandmaison said. The school district also will look to reinforce the roofs of the two other schools in future capital projects.

At Wallagrass, the entire roof structure will be beefed up to a weight-bearing capacity of 85 pounds per square inch, he said.