Work has begun to secure the external courtyard of the “Santa Marta” building in via Recinto Oblati to be used as a nursery school.
The works include general safety measures in the areas outside the building and above all the consolidation of the existing concrete support wall of the embankment to protect the courtyard outside the school which, at present, presents unstable conditions. “Since it is a gravity wall, without foundations, for the purposes of user safety in the event of an earthquake, states councilor Principato, it was decided to start the process for the calculations and the planning of the consolidation and safety intervention. Once the project has been approved and authorized by the competent bodies, with sums from the local authorities, the work to make the wall and the municipal property safe will finally begin.”
The consolidation intervention involves the following work phases: Excavation in a mandatory section to make room for the new foundations; basic lean casting; drilling the wall for the subsequent insertion of chemical anchors; connection of reinforcing bars to the anchors, consolidation of the wall with the GFRP mesh layer, insertion of threaded bars, after drilling, in the existing retaining wall, layering of plaster with structural mortar.
Finishing works aimed at eliminating architectural barriers are also planned, i.e. the construction of two access ramps for disabled people, currently not present, the creation of suitable flooring and stitching with the new foundation block and the installation of a railing on the ramp .
«Those of the Santa Marta complex in via Oblati – explains the LL.PP councilor. Gerlando Principato – these are important works that have been awaited for a long time. They will guarantee the use of the structure and the safe opening of a kindergarten in the historic center. A unique opportunity to revitalize that part of the city, making it even more lively and welcoming. The kindergarten as well as the external areas will become new places of aggregation, where recreational, sporting and socio-cultural activities can be carried out.
An intervention that is part of the recovery plan for the historic center and which will allow us to enhance our historical and cultural heritage, improving the quality of life of the citizens of our Agrigento.
Another objective achieved in terms of safety and school buildings – comments the Principato councilor – which adds to the consolidation interventions underway in other parts of the city, from Via Alessi, to the side of Via Picone, to the side of Via Favignana , and to the many extraordinary works already carried out in the school structures, not least those underway in the Tortorelle complex and in the Garibaldi school”.
