In the world of landscaping, there are several approaches to the problem of keeping flowerbeds irrigated. Planting right in a fountain, however, is among the more atypical. It turns out that that wasn’t the purpose behind the recent changes to the fountain dedicated to David Haviland ’64, former vice president for Institute Advancement.
The inner retaining wall of the monument collapsed on July 19, causing water to spill out of the upper basin. After Environment and Site Services cleaned up the resulting mess, the site did not undergo significant visible improvement until this past month, when it was filled in with soil and decorated with some greenery.
This development has raised the ire of students. Many upperclassmen have to pass by the site on the way to and from their classes. While the plants may be an improvement over the eyesore of the broken edifice, several feel that it is not enough. According to Jay Ives ’08, “They just basically wasted the money that the people donated for it.”
The flora is just an interim solution, though, according to Vice President for Administration Claude Rounds. He noted that ESS is committed to fixing the fountain, citing its importance as a campus feature. The department is currently involved in a bidding process for the reconstruction job, and final plans should be available to the campus within a couple weeks.
This is, in fact, the second such process since the collapse over the summer, which Rounds said is one reason that the campus has seen so little progress in the fountain’s repair. In the first attempt, the proposal received bids around $100,000. This number was too high; Rounds emphasized that while it was “not a money issue,” he thought that with revised plans the work could cost around half of that figure. For comparison, the original price was approximately $80,000, and the annual maintenance for the working system is estimated between $7,000 and $8,000.
Even if it was functional, the fountain would still be turned off for the winter season. It should be completed and running, however, before commencement next semester.
According to Rounds, the exact cause of the fountain’s failure is unknown. He cited the weather, vandalism, and the natural stresses of being on a college campus as possible contributors, and while he couldn’t say for certain that the cause was any single one of those, he is confident that the solution is ultimately to make the structure more durable.
On the last point, at least, Julie Mark Cohen ’74 agrees. Cohen received bachelor’s degrees in building science and architecture from RPI, went on to get a Ph.D. and P.E., and currently does forensic and structural engineering work for firms in several states. She visited the fountain one day after its collapse.
Based on her knowledge and past experiences, Cohen said that the failure was not due to the weather or vandalism at all—rather, it was a predictable event that occurred due to faulty construction from the start. She described the situation in terms of a basic statics problem. The blocks of the inner fountain made up a cantilever-like retainer. They lacked vertical reinforcement, however, and were unable to withstand the forces created by the water pressure of the upper pool.
Cohen also cited the fact that there was no mortar in the joints of the masonry; nor were there any reinforcing bars in the notches along the horizontal surfaces of the blocks. The blocks were therefore only held in place by the friction generated by their own weight and that of the blocks above. Considering the significant pressure exerted by the water in the upper reservoir, this was probably not enough to counteract the overturning forces generated by the pool, which led to the wall’s eventual collapse.
Cohen emphasized that these were fundamental problems that should have been detected earlier. She also dismissed the commonly-held opinion that students sitting on the fountain walls hastened their failure. Rather, she said, those students were reinforcing the structural integrity of the monument by applying more weight to the blocks, thereby increasing the horizontal frictional forces holding them in place.
The Class of 2005 donated $5,000 toward the construction of the fountain. The class approached the administration with the desire to build a tribute to Haviland’s contributions and service to RPI, according to Rounds. The suggestion was readily adopted, as it was in line with already existing plans to improve the area around the Commons Dining Hall. From there, Rounds said that the design was done in-house with the assistance of a landscape architect.
“We have a campus community that, in my opinion, has been very supportive and very respectful of us,” said Rounds as he expressed disappointment that the fountain was not able to withstand the stresses that are typical to a college campus in the Northeast. He also expressed his hope that these projects continue, in spite of the difficulties encountered with the fountain.
