>Valley Hospital expansion requires major excavation, geological expert says at Ridgewood hearing
MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2011
BY BARBARA WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — Dump trucks will make thousands of trips to cart off excavated bedrock and soil if The Valley Hospital doubles in size, a geological expert told the Village Council on Monday night.
A half-million gallons of water a day would also have to be removed from the site, Laurence Keller, from Whitestone Associates Inc., told about 75 people who attended the council hearing at Ridgewood High School.
But projects similar in size to Valley’s expansion plan “have been done before and can be done here,” Keller added. “It’s just challenging.”
Keller, who was hired by the village, estimated that it will take more than a dozen trucks an hour, eight hours a day over more than nine months to remove the excavated bedrock and soil. Home foundations in the area may crack, he said, and there may be a change in the area’s aquifer. Nearby residents may be exposed to loud noise over an extended period of time, he added.
