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Rebunal Aepprt to Geriry Expert Report of February 2001 <br />7.0 CURRENT CRACK PATTERN AND CHARACTER DO NOT SUPPORT <br />SUBSIDENCE ALLEGATIQN <br />Mr. Gerity's model used to allege damage to the Tatum house would put it in a mne of tension. <br />To our knowledge, Mr. Gerity has not demonstrated that the pattern or character of current <br />cracks support his model. WWE conducted a site inspection on February 20, 2001 to evaluate <br />evidence for and against tension forces on the structure. The portions of the structure most <br />susceptible to tension forces would be the wall correcting the kitchen to the garage, the <br />flagstone-floored covered porch, the curved concrete sidewalk connecting the drveway pod to <br />the covered porch and the east wall of the patio. None of these shows evidence of tension <br />cracks. The curved shape of the concrete sidewalk makes it particularly sensitive to cracking <br />from northlsouth tension strain, yet it is free of cracks. <br />If A4r. Gerity's model were correct, the structure would have a southward tilt toward the center of <br />the subsidence. Previous investigator and W WE's visits on December 5, 2000 and Febnlary 20, <br />2001 have all noted as eastward tilting of the castem wall. None has noted a southern tilt. <br />8.0 ATWOOLL CONCLUSIONS <br />Mz. (3erity attempts to buttress the allegations of continuing subsidence with a slight misquote of <br />Mr. Atwooll's conclusions and tl-~e submittal of his report as Appendix S. Mr. Gerity wmte: <br />"His [Atwooll's] conclusion was that the damage to the house, that he observed, was due to coal <br />mine subsidence." Mt. Atwooll was the fast inspecting engineer to attribute the possibility of <br />mine subsidence being the cause of the house's damage. His report indicates that he relied on <br />the following erroneous information in forming his conclusions: "Based on maps provided to us <br />by Mr. Gerity, it appears that the mining from a depth of 450 feet came within 200 to 300 feet of <br />the residence." Yet Mc. Gerity had prepared reports and maps in January 1995 (three months <br />previous) that show that the house was 400 fi=ef from the mining. Atwooll further assumes that <br />... as only about 40 percent of the coal was extracted." Mr. Gerity knew that the extraction <br />ratio was 33 to 34 percent. Based on this incorrect information, Atwooll concludes: "We <br />understand the mine encountered wet ground conditions and a weak floor. (Emphasis added.) <br />Depending on the geology and other conditions, the angle of draw would be in the range of 25 to <br />Wright Wakr $ngincers, lnc. -3- 00]-161.000 <br />gp~'d GSi: Doh cOr"131, !3,A.N) u3!b't J,H`11'_",1 qc,_I IQ3'~1110.8Z-.~?d <br />