Dear Editor,
[Re: Towers proposed for 91原创 Mall site, 91原创 Advance Times, July 24]
I read in the July 24 edition of the 91原创 Advance Times that a company called Orion Construction is applying to build six high-rise buildings on the nine acres where the 91原创 Mall currently resides. A major undertaking that would be for sure. And it would definitely alter the face of downtown 91原创. And it's probably a good idea to have six of such buildings so that when they begin to tilt they will have each other to lean on. 
As citizens of 91原创, you may have noticed that there are no such similar high rises in 91原创 City. The tallest buildings in the 91原创 lowlands are no more than six storeys high. As I understand it, the soil conditions under 鈥淭he Place To Be鈥� have a very poor weight-bearing capacity. Obviously the taller a building is the more it weighs. Apparently within a hundred feet or so below the clay of 91原创 City is a thick layer of squishy peat. That top layer of soil will apparently hold about six storeys of mostly wood-frame construction.
But tall concrete ones, not so much.  
There have been a few attempts in the past. For example the 15-storey building proposed for the northwest corner of 203rd Street and Industrial Avenue is now a six-storey residential apartment. Belatedly, the developers of that site discovered that they would have had to sink a few thousand friction piles into the ground to withstand the weight of their initial idea.
And the 91原创 Lodge, right next door to the 91原创 Mall, was built many years ago on what they called a 鈥渃ontinuous pour.鈥� Before they could build that five-storey care home, they had to pour truck loads of concrete night and day, and let it spread out under the topsoil before they could begin construction. A virtual floating concrete pad. 
91原创 City's planner have encouraged builders over the more recent years to go for it. Build your high rise. And apparently it can be done, but at what cost?  In theory, friction piles can be pounded into the ground every few feet. These piles have flanges that spread out under ground once in place to provide more stability. But they must be terribly expensive. And the cost of a dozen acres of floating concrete pad, I would think, would be beyond reason.  
I suppose if some one has the money and the time, 91原创 City might someday see a building higher than six storeys. But, then again, maybe not. 
Evan Brett, Walnut Grove

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