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Kalispell, Montana
Glacier High School
Lead Abatement in the Modern Era
As part of their continued efforts to remove lead from their school buildings, the Kalispell School District hired Morrison-Maierle to complete the lead abatement process at Glacier High School.
Unlike Cornelius Hedges Elementary School, where contamination was widespread, this much newer high school only had isolated areas needing updating. Because of this, we developed a precision approach to replace only the specific pipes and fixtures with problems, vs. an entire overhaul of the system.
Owner and Client
Kalispell Public School District
Size
242,664 sq. ft.
Budget
$350,000
Tests indicated that lead was present in the walled-in piping and in a nearby fixture.
The contractor cut small wall openings to replace the contaminated piping.
The finished product shows that lead can be removed from buildings with with minimal impact.
Services and Highlights
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Architectural finishes
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Complex teaming structure
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Drinking water abatement
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Funding agency management
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Hazardous materials testing
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Plumbing engineering
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Retrofit design
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School building activity coordination
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Subconsultant management
In some cases, we were able to replace the existing piping without disturbing much of the surrounding finishes.
The piping was routed to an accessible dropped ceiling, which made it possible to use vertical piping and fixture connections.
The contractor finished the space with matching paint and textures which made it nearly impossible to see the project work.
Working Around the School’s Summer Schedule
Sometimes, we can schedule lead abatement projects during the school off-season, completing the entire project during the summer when the building is vacant. However, at Glacier High School, various extracurricular and staff activities—band, sports, administrative meetings—keep the building occupied year-round.
Our team coordinated with the contractor, facilities director, and cleaning staff to create a schedule that gave Glacier High School access to the areas they needed at a particular time. This was especially important because, in many cases, we needed to completely shut off water access for the duration of construction.
Our testing showed lead contamination in the pipes below these sinks.
The contractor removed select tiles to access the affected piping and fixture connections.
Once the fixture and piping were installed, new tile was used to refinish the space.
In some cases, we were able to access contaminated exposed piping and fixtures that were on the surface of a nearby wall.
We routed the piping through a nearby wall and into a wall cavity prior to connecting it.
This lead removal project now lets students and teachers use areas that had previously been blocked off due to contamination.
Related Projects
Cornelius Hedges Elementary
Kalispell, Montana
The Kalispell School District hired Morrison-Maierle to design a solution to remove and replace its contaminated plumbing, piping, and fixtures at Cornelius Hedges Elementary.
Jim Darcy Elementary School
Helena, Montana
Originally constructed in 1965 and with additions in 1969 and 1977, the new Jim Darcy School eliminated three outdated, disconnected facilities that were dangerously close to a congested highway.