History of Progress Reports and Public Meetings
Current: Davis Square Progress Report Card - January 2021
2020 saw virtually no progress on the punch list. Despite past assurances, the city now indicates that it does not intend to move forward on repairs to brick paving and granite details. Given this inaction, the city appears disinterested in repairing the square while also stalling on multiple tasks where they note: "awaiting reply from DPW." It is an enduring mystery how inter-departmental communication gaps are held up as an excuse for multi-year inaction. Is it possible for the city to be responsive to citizens in the same way that their 311 system works for constituents - highly responsive and accountable.
We note that Kenny Park, which was newly brick-paved in 2014, remains completely flat and even - clear evidence of the viability of brick as a paving material when properly installed. We should be looking to build on that success.
The most recent Davis Square Progress Report Card is in PDF format here:
| 210112_progress_report_card.pdf |
Davis Square Progress Report Card - May 2019
February 13, 2019 Public Meeting at the Dilboy Post
This meeting was attended by over the 80 people, including several Somerville government and department representatives:
Ward 6 Councilor, Lance Davis
Councilors at Large, Bill White and Stephanie Hersch
Director of Planning, George Proakis
Engineering Department Engineers, Haleemah Qureshi and Brian Postlewaite
Director of Economic Development, Tom Galligani
All spoke of the city's commitment to making this happen, and to their enthusiasm for seeing so many people coming out to support this effort.
The purpose of the meeting was to highlight the negative impacts of the square's neglect over the past 35 years, and identify the concrete steps that DavisNow and the City have agreed to take to rectify its above ground public infrastructure. This will be a cooperative and collaborative effort to develop responsive solutions to the myriad deficiencies outlined in the Punch List.
A PDF of the Feb 13, 2019 slide presentation can be found here:
This meeting was attended by over the 80 people, including several Somerville government and department representatives:
Ward 6 Councilor, Lance Davis
Councilors at Large, Bill White and Stephanie Hersch
Director of Planning, George Proakis
Engineering Department Engineers, Haleemah Qureshi and Brian Postlewaite
Director of Economic Development, Tom Galligani
All spoke of the city's commitment to making this happen, and to their enthusiasm for seeing so many people coming out to support this effort.
The purpose of the meeting was to highlight the negative impacts of the square's neglect over the past 35 years, and identify the concrete steps that DavisNow and the City have agreed to take to rectify its above ground public infrastructure. This will be a cooperative and collaborative effort to develop responsive solutions to the myriad deficiencies outlined in the Punch List.
A PDF of the Feb 13, 2019 slide presentation can be found here:
| 190213_presentation_publish.pdf |
Report on Brick Repair Feasibility - December 2018
Fixing the brick sidewalks and crosswalks. It can be done!
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DavisNow.org
Subject: Davis Square Brick Report
To: Lance Davis, Rich Raich
By: Chris Iwerks
Date: 12/19/18
The brick pavers in Davis Square were manufactured by the Stiles and Hart Brick Company located in Bridgewater, MA (S+H embossed on the back of each one). I called and spoke with Mr. Kevin Barry who is one of their technical experts. After speaking with me, Mr. Barry visited Davis Square on Friday, December 14. He observed a number of different problem types and offered ideas we could test to try to fix the sidewalks without wholesale replacement. He is willing to come back to talk to the city about the walks and offered his expertise as a resource for finding solutions that will work.
We discussed these topics:
The Stiles and Hart bricks in Davis Square are known as the “City Hall” pavers (water struck molded units) widely found in Boston, Central Square, Harvard Square, and Davis Square.
ii.Sand set brick is easier to repair than concrete, which once displaced cannot be repaired (must be replaced and subbase adjusted). This most often occurs around tree roots which push slabs up.
iii.Brick is an integral part of the character of Davis Square
iv.Residents and business owners value the appearance of brick, but need it to be kept in good working order
v.Properly installed brick meets ADA compliance metrics
vi.Brick is a very long-lived material and can endure indefinitely
vii.Other cities and towns are installing brick in gravel/sand bases instead of concrete slabs. These include places like Waltham, Salem, Newburyport, Provincetown, and Lexington.
ii.Test two is to remove an asphalt patch in a location where the subbase has not displaced, and replace with brick using the same method as test one.
iii.Test three is to select a larger area where the subbase has sunk and bricks are not level with surrounding level bricks. From this location remove the brick and asphalt subbase. Install a new 6”+ compacted gravel base with sand setting bed. Reinstall bricks in sand with sand swept joints
Mr. Barry was very helpful in diagnosing the problems of Davis Square and has said he would be happy to meet with the city and DavisNow to delve into the technical issues.
Subject: Davis Square Brick Report
To: Lance Davis, Rich Raich
By: Chris Iwerks
Date: 12/19/18
The brick pavers in Davis Square were manufactured by the Stiles and Hart Brick Company located in Bridgewater, MA (S+H embossed on the back of each one). I called and spoke with Mr. Kevin Barry who is one of their technical experts. After speaking with me, Mr. Barry visited Davis Square on Friday, December 14. He observed a number of different problem types and offered ideas we could test to try to fix the sidewalks without wholesale replacement. He is willing to come back to talk to the city about the walks and offered his expertise as a resource for finding solutions that will work.
We discussed these topics:
The Stiles and Hart bricks in Davis Square are known as the “City Hall” pavers (water struck molded units) widely found in Boston, Central Square, Harvard Square, and Davis Square.
- The sidewalk subbase system used in Davis (and that was widely used in the 1980’s) is an asphalt subbase with a neoprene tack coat topping used to adhere the brick pavers. Over time, portions of the subbase have failed for a variety of causes.
- In contrast, the subbase around the T headhouses appear to be set over a concrete slab with asphalt above. Bricks in these areas have remained fairly level and individual bricks have not lifted, settled or broken down.
- Brick sidewalk and crosswalk failures have several causes:
- Brick paver units that have detached from the subbase and are loose and in some cases elevated above the adjacent pavers. This condition is prevalent and can be repaired locally without having to replace the subbase.
- Subbase deterioration due to settlement, tree root growth, or utility movement. These areas tend to be larger and are noticeably out of plane with surrounding brick pavers. In some case areas have subsided and in others they have risen.
- Horizontal restrains, such as curbs and tree wells, have shifted, allowing brick paving to subside into depressions
- Remedies
- Small areas where bricks have come loose or holes have been filled with asphalt can be repaired without replacing the subbase. Mr. Barry recommends cleaning out setting bed and resetting brick in sand, sweeping sand into joints to lock bricks in place.
- Larger areas where the subbase has obviously failed can be repaired by removing the old asphalt subbase and replacing it with a new base of compacted gravel and sand. Bricks would then be set in sand with sand swept joints.
- Brick advantages
ii.Sand set brick is easier to repair than concrete, which once displaced cannot be repaired (must be replaced and subbase adjusted). This most often occurs around tree roots which push slabs up.
iii.Brick is an integral part of the character of Davis Square
iv.Residents and business owners value the appearance of brick, but need it to be kept in good working order
v.Properly installed brick meets ADA compliance metrics
vi.Brick is a very long-lived material and can endure indefinitely
vii.Other cities and towns are installing brick in gravel/sand bases instead of concrete slabs. These include places like Waltham, Salem, Newburyport, Provincetown, and Lexington.
- Recommendations
- The city should perform three test repairs to see how they fair over the 2019 winter months:
ii.Test two is to remove an asphalt patch in a location where the subbase has not displaced, and replace with brick using the same method as test one.
iii.Test three is to select a larger area where the subbase has sunk and bricks are not level with surrounding level bricks. From this location remove the brick and asphalt subbase. Install a new 6”+ compacted gravel base with sand setting bed. Reinstall bricks in sand with sand swept joints
Mr. Barry was very helpful in diagnosing the problems of Davis Square and has said he would be happy to meet with the city and DavisNow to delve into the technical issues.
Progress on Pole Painting and Tree Lighting - December 2018
Painters seen in Davis Square in mid December painting the light poles. These were the black poles shown in the image to the left.
DavisNow has requested that all the metal poles, the yellow traffic signal and others be painted black too. But after they have been put back straight first.
DavisNow has requested that all the metal poles, the yellow traffic signal and others be painted black too. But after they have been put back straight first.
Tree lights came on briefly during December in Davis Square.
As of June 2019 the lights have mostly remained off and there is no apparent progress to address broken conduit feeds and extension cord wiring that hangs off lower tree limbs. DavisNow has been unable to learn if and when these will be repaired.
As of June 2019 the lights have mostly remained off and there is no apparent progress to address broken conduit feeds and extension cord wiring that hangs off lower tree limbs. DavisNow has been unable to learn if and when these will be repaired.
DavisNow meets with City Engineers and Ward Alderman, Lance Davis for On-Site to Inspect Sidewalks and Crosswalks - December 6, 2018
Rich Raiche (City Dir Engineering), Lance Davis (Ward 6 Alderman), 2 city engineering staff, and 3 engineers from Howard Stein Hudson (HSH - the engineering consultants hired by the city to define the side walk and crosswalk repairs), Chris Iwerks and Alan Bingham did a walk of all the streets and open spaces of Davis Square area (including 7 Hills Park) defined in the Punch List by Chris Iwerks.
There was general consensus that the brick sidewalks and crosswalks need immediate attention, and in many areas are not close to compliant with accessibility standards. The many very obvious tripping hazards all need immediate attention. DavisNow team stressed the goal that brick paver repairs need to match existing brick and is not a complete rebuild of the square. The focus is on the issues in the Punch List. This was accepted as the baseline by Rich Raiche and the engineers.
The city is an unknown number of years away from repairing the subsurface hydraulic infrastructure beneath the streets of Davis, so they feel it is not prudent to invest in major sidewalk reconfigurations that would then need to be replaced again (DavisNow team agree).
HSH will be developing a survey and menu of options for the City (and us) to consider that will be submitted before the end of the year. There does not appear to be a predetermined budget.
During the walk around the group inspected the setting beds of a few bricks that are raised up and discovered soft material underneath (dirt and plant material). An investigation is warranted to determine and how bricks can be reset successfully. Contrary to what is said about the bricks, they do not just pop up. Rather, once they come loose of their setting bed they are slowly displaced by the action of water and freeze/thaw cycles, and dirt seeping in. We will seek an outside opinion on this and not accept at face value that patching does not work. There are large areas of brick walks that remain flat, so it can be done. These are same bricks as found throughout Harvard Square, and there are very few asphalt patches there. It is likely these bricks are also used throughout Boston - they are very common - manufactured by Stiles and Hart of Bridgewater, MA.
Grove street brick is so intermittent and irregular that it was determined to be a candidate for replacement with concrete. The entire street and walkway system needs to be redone, but this street is not as critical as Elm, Highland, College and Holland. It was noted that curb resetting and perhaps sidewalk widening could become part of the future redevelopment plan.
Deficiencies in the brick sidewalks in 7 Hills were clear to see and seem straight forward to fix.
Brick crosswalks were acknowledged to be in very poor condition. The engineers prefer a stamped asphalt solution - cheap and easy. We stressed that appearance is also important for this signature square and we would like to see other alternatives considered that would not feel like everytown USA.
Tree wells with granite surrounds (in statue square) will be raised 6” and the Belgian blocks reset (taking care not to disturb roots); a few level tree wells will be reset to as level as possible.
Rich Raiche said that their aim is get all this work done within less than a year (spring was mentioned). The DPW was not at this meeting and we understand that they are responsible for everything else .
Rich Raiche (City Dir Engineering), Lance Davis (Ward 6 Alderman), 2 city engineering staff, and 3 engineers from Howard Stein Hudson (HSH - the engineering consultants hired by the city to define the side walk and crosswalk repairs), Chris Iwerks and Alan Bingham did a walk of all the streets and open spaces of Davis Square area (including 7 Hills Park) defined in the Punch List by Chris Iwerks.
There was general consensus that the brick sidewalks and crosswalks need immediate attention, and in many areas are not close to compliant with accessibility standards. The many very obvious tripping hazards all need immediate attention. DavisNow team stressed the goal that brick paver repairs need to match existing brick and is not a complete rebuild of the square. The focus is on the issues in the Punch List. This was accepted as the baseline by Rich Raiche and the engineers.
The city is an unknown number of years away from repairing the subsurface hydraulic infrastructure beneath the streets of Davis, so they feel it is not prudent to invest in major sidewalk reconfigurations that would then need to be replaced again (DavisNow team agree).
HSH will be developing a survey and menu of options for the City (and us) to consider that will be submitted before the end of the year. There does not appear to be a predetermined budget.
During the walk around the group inspected the setting beds of a few bricks that are raised up and discovered soft material underneath (dirt and plant material). An investigation is warranted to determine and how bricks can be reset successfully. Contrary to what is said about the bricks, they do not just pop up. Rather, once they come loose of their setting bed they are slowly displaced by the action of water and freeze/thaw cycles, and dirt seeping in. We will seek an outside opinion on this and not accept at face value that patching does not work. There are large areas of brick walks that remain flat, so it can be done. These are same bricks as found throughout Harvard Square, and there are very few asphalt patches there. It is likely these bricks are also used throughout Boston - they are very common - manufactured by Stiles and Hart of Bridgewater, MA.
Grove street brick is so intermittent and irregular that it was determined to be a candidate for replacement with concrete. The entire street and walkway system needs to be redone, but this street is not as critical as Elm, Highland, College and Holland. It was noted that curb resetting and perhaps sidewalk widening could become part of the future redevelopment plan.
Deficiencies in the brick sidewalks in 7 Hills were clear to see and seem straight forward to fix.
Brick crosswalks were acknowledged to be in very poor condition. The engineers prefer a stamped asphalt solution - cheap and easy. We stressed that appearance is also important for this signature square and we would like to see other alternatives considered that would not feel like everytown USA.
Tree wells with granite surrounds (in statue square) will be raised 6” and the Belgian blocks reset (taking care not to disturb roots); a few level tree wells will be reset to as level as possible.
Rich Raiche said that their aim is get all this work done within less than a year (spring was mentioned). The DPW was not at this meeting and we understand that they are responsible for everything else .
