SWAMPSCOTT – Blasting is soon to start on the construction site of the new elementary school. During an on-site meeting on Thursday, the Fire Department, Earth Removal Advisory Committee and contractors introduced the blasting plan to the public.
Noise and vibrations will be expected near the old Stanley School from mid-January to mid-March. According to Pete McNamara, the manager of Explosive Technology, the blasting will start from the C section of the building, which is on the site’s south side.
McNamara believes neighbors will be very clear about when the blasts will occur. The blasting period will last for two months, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Blasting will happen two to three times a day, but there may be times when blasting is cancelled due to weather issues. The Swampscott Fire Department will be on-site during the blasting.
“When we go to initiate a blast, you’ll hear horns and there’ll be some signage on what those horns are,” said McNamara. “You’ll hear three loud sirens five minutes before the blast, and then one minute before the blast, you’ll hear two more sirens. And then we’ll shoot the shot [blaster] one minute from those two sirens and then one all-clear at the end.”
During the blasting, a rock crusher will be working to turn the rock into usable gravel fill material. The Earth Removal Advisory Committee hopes the material can be reused for this project.
Seismographs will be set up for every blast. A seismograph is an instrument that measures and records the details of earthquakes. Although state law only requires one seismograph for blasting work, the construction team will adopt more than one seismograph for this project.
The construction team also talked about the drilling process that will occur before the blasting. “All of our drills have two methods of dust suppression. They’ve got a water suppression system, which we mix with the antifreeze in the wintertime. There’s also a vacuum system. So, there are two methods to keep the dust down during the drilling, and the dust will sit right there and fall down on the ground right next to the drill and doesn’t go anywhere,” said the team. The drilling period in a day is allowed to be longer than blasting.
McNamara also explained that the frozen ground wouldn’t affect the blasting and will not increase vibration.
A pre-blast survey was sent out in the mail, and around 46 surveys were returned. A second set of surveys will be sent out this week to neighbors of the construction site. The deadline to return them is Dec. 28.
A follow-up meeting will be held 30 days after the start of blasting to check in with the community for any concerns.
