Feds, UConn Create Database To Analyze Crumbling Foundations

VERNON, CT — University of Connecticut engineers and researchers joined federal, state and local officials the Ryefield condominium complex in Vernon Thursday to show off a new and more efficient way to identify crumbling foundations and build a database "to learn from."

The meeting at Ryefield was organized by U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney.

A UConn team of civil engineers and concrete took core samples from one unit to test for the presence of the mineral pyrrhotite, the source of the crumbling concrete foundations epidemic that has affected 46 towns in the state, most east of the Connecticut River.

"UConn's work is critical to helping families and municipalities identify at-risk foundations, and to understanding the true scope of the crumbling foundations crisis," Courtney said.

It was the second visit by UConn to Ryefield in two weeks.

The ongoing work is supported by a federal grant award of $768,000 from from the National Institute of Standards and Technology , which Courtney announced in August. Last year, Courtney and the Connecticut delegation worked to secure $1.5 million in funding for NIST specifically to conduct research on the effects of the mineral pyrrhotite on concrete aggregate.

In collaboration with crumbling foundations advocate and condominium-owner Debbie MacCoy, UConn has partnered with Ryefield to collect concrete samples from its buildings to test for pyrrhotite. The complex, which was built in 1984, is considered "at-risk" for crumbling foundations.

The bad concrete has been traced to a quarry in Stafford from that period into the 1990s.

Units recently tested came back with no traces of the mineral, UConn engineers said. Diane Lux, the Ryefield association president, said 124 of the 204 units could be affected and the majority of those could be in the critical category.

Vernon Mayor Daniel Champagne said it is a relief to have such a program. He is also the state senator from the 35th district, which is one epicenter of the crumbling foundation problem.

"To partner with UConn ... just makes me so happy," he said. "These are the experts."

Testing could cost more than $2,000 per home, officials said.

Members of the UConn team said their method employs samples from several areas of a foundation that are obtained less intrusively that the tradition boring.

The goal is to obtain as many samples as possible to compare not only immediately, but over time. Engineers said they are still learning about the long-term effects of pyrrhotite.

"It's wonderful that our flagship state university, located not far from here, is taking this on," Courtney said. "We're finally addressing the problem in the region at a different level, which will tell us where to go with it in the future. It's an incredibly critical issue here in eastern Connecticut."