After 15 years of service, the long span timber roof trusses over the Apple Valley library main hall began failing – 6 of 21 trusses had chord fractures.  The County identified the hazardous condition, evacuated the Library, installed temporary shoring and filed an insurance claim.  The loss of the library was a devastating blow to Apple Valley, which depends on the library for community benefits, such as job training and youth education.  The County engaged a trusted vendor for structural design services to quickly develop a repair strategy.  Unfortunately, the repair design met strong resistance from the Insurance Experts, who believed it exceeded the coverage and thus would not support the full project cost.  After months of stalled progress, Degenkolb was retained to provide an independent opinion and to help resolve the impasse.   While initially engaged in a review role, Degenkolb quickly transitioned into Engineer of Record for the repair and developed a repair approach that received insurance approval.  Due to the importance of the structure, however, the County opted for an upgraded repair – eliminating timber from the critical truss sections and moving to steel trusses.  Degenkolb provided the design for the steel truss solution while concurrently carrying the insurance-approved timber-replacement system through cost estimation and claim resolution.  The roof was ultimately replaced with steel trusses and the library was returned to service.  The project provided a clear reminder that while insurance does not dictate the scope of repair, the scope of repair must be appropriate under the policy.

Features

• Apple Valley Branch originally established in 1946
• Newton T. Bass Branch library constructed 2001
• Architecturally consistent with public campus
• Repairs maintained original roof expression

Benefits

• Community resource
• Free access to computer workstations
• Classes and event space
• Adult Literacy Services