Though some may have secretly used them for sledding (an activity emphatically discouraged on a working construction site) those big mounds of dirt on Orchard Lot are actually there for a reason.
Ronald Tola, director of facilities management, tells us that they serve an environmental purpose as the construction of Tritton and Kim halls gets underway.
The soil was removed from other areas on the site, says Tola, when it was determined to be inadequate to provide the structural stability needed to support the new dormitories. Instead of being trucked away, however, the soil will be used to create the elevated green walkway and social space which will be built between the two buildings. “This will allow us to minimize the amount of soil being brought to and from the site,” Tola says, “thereby reducing the amount of energy needed to construct this complex, and furthering our efforts to receive a Gold Level LEEDS Certification.”
You can find more information on the progress of Haverford’s first new dorms to be built since 1968 in our new student-written blog and on the new dorms’ own dedicated site, which features news about the construction, photos and live video of its progress. The sites are being updated as we get new information—for example, just today we added a link to a PowerPoint presentation that was made to the college’s staff, featuring detailed artist renderings of the building’s interior and exterior plans. So check back often!