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Monday, September 9, 2013

Gravel Gets A Lift In

For a minute I thought Mr. Crane was targeting me.
He was actually moving forms into place along the east wall of the annex.
The concrete pump didn't waste any time.  Once the forms were up, he started pouring.  You can see his nozzle on the left.  The men on the right are operating the vibrator which prevents bubbles.
I was delighted to see a conveyor belt moving gravel into the lowest level of the tabernacle.  The gravel will get a slab on top of it at some point.
This front end loader kept the hopper full.
My camera spied into the lowest level.  Word is that flooding from Saturday's unusual storm and runoff from surrounding areas dumped quite a bit of water in the basement.  The pumps and drains went right to work so the gravel schedule was unaffected.
As long as I was looking inside, I thought I'd see how the cinder block is progressing on the north wall.  Mr. Red Ladder photo-bombed this shot.
I had to kneel to capture this photo.  Along the top you can see the catwalk which is in the interstitial space between Lower Level 1 and the ground floor.  The catwalk can't fill up an entire level because the grand staircase will go from Lower Level 1 to the top floor.  If you think you are seeing two women looking into the baptistry area, you would be correct.  One is a Church historian and the other is the site senior sister.  They keep everyone on their toes.
The southeast tower has a new slab at its base.  If you aren't tired of seeing micropiles, three are visible.
The west lot looks nice with its new walls.  
I couldn't help notice the many layers in the slab.
The west wall of this lot is not one solid pour.  If you look carefully, you can see rebar between the concrete sections of the wall.  In front of these openings is rebar for columns.  I asked about this and was told this design had the ceiling slab placement in mind.
It was a lovely morning.  The tabernacle turned pink with excitement for a minute, too!

4 comments:

Esperanza said...

LOVE the picture of the layers in the west lot. And I find it almost unbelievable that those columns are going to hold up all that they are intended to hold up.

Julie Markham said...

I agree -- for sure this will be a learning experience for us to watch.

dSquared said...

I was anxious to see to todays post for evidence of rain. I didn't notice any, so I don't understand the tag . Did all the site slabing naturally or unintentionally run to the basement? Was there actually 4 feet sitting somewhere when someone manually turned on the pumps or was that just a calc based upon some sump activity?

Julie Markham said...

Saturday night's construction cam shows evidence of rain. The rain was horizontal and filled with hail at my end of town and I know of several homes which flooded from water rising so fast in their yards that it poured into the basements before it could drain into the streets. I assume because the building is open that this very large building collected a lot of rain. The senior elder told me about the 4 feet in the basement. I suspect someone saw the water, perhaps the security company who checks often.