Water Well Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/705618
"The piping has a pretty good compressive strength, but the grout weighs so much," Nussbaum says. "They had a little bridging of the grout, and it collapsed the outer pipe. It just flattened it right out." It's a rare issue Lawless says was caused by a miscalcula- tion in grout weight. The pipe was pulled out of the hole, re- placed, and regrouted with no other problems. "There are more steps, but once a crew knows what they're doing and how to work together to put it in, it's pretty sim- ple," Nussbaum adds. The geothermal work for the project is complete and the building is expected to reopen later this year or early 2017. Unity Temple is the third project where Nussbaum has used Rygan's product to make geothermal a viable option without having to drill too deep. In all, Nussbaum has put more than 10 geothermal systems in Chicago landmarks during the past few years. Geothermal is a popular alternative with owners of historic buildings—whether it's a traditional system like the Bach House or a system like Unity Temple's—and expects the trend to continue. "The last thing (owners of historical buildings) want is this huge big modern piece of junk making noise, when you can have it running quietly in the basement," Nussbaum says. "All of the things that make geothermal an attractive solution are extra attractive to these types of clients." WWJ The work space for the geothermal system installed at the Emil Bach House was very tight. WWJ August 2016 25 Jennifer Strawn was the associate editor of Water Well Journal from 2004 to 2007. She is currently in the internal communications department at Nationwide in Columbus, Ohio. She can be reached at strawnj2 @gmail.com. Twitter @WaterWellJournl GroundwaterWeek.com + Las Vegas∙Dec. 6-8, 2016 SM 2 days of exhibits 3 days of workshops 2 days of bonus oerings Revealing the power of innovation. The power that comes from… Make your plans today to attend Groundwater Week.