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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Piling Work is Finishing, Work on North and South Lots Expands

I took my family to the tabernacle this morning.  Oh, such a beautiful day!
The first thing I did was study the rocket launcher on the east side.  Two blog readers believe this is the base for a crane.  Once they said that, it sure seems obvious. 
I'm thinking this is going to be a very solid base.  I can't wait.
The crane will be able to lift supplies all over the north lot, and likely into the tabernacle, too.
The north lot is clearly being excavated down another story.  Mr. Track Hoe was filling the dump truck.
I was a little distracted pointing out four track hoes to my grandchildren, and as a result I didn't notice the grout wall until I got home.  But I believe that wall is now visible.
I'll keep watching this.
I zoomed in on the north retaining wall.  It is definitely being extended down.  I cannot explain the horizontal pipes extending from the I-beams.
This is a closer look of one of the pipes, and also a view of what might be a well.  My engineer-husband and visiting son, also an engineer, studied this picture but couldn't offer much help.  This is very specialized work.
While taking pictures of the track hoes in the garage lot, I noticed the wall along the west side.
I wish I understood it more.
I could not find the drilling machine in the basement today, just this green machine.
I saw this row of micropiles and noticed a similarity between them and the larger piers which were drilled months ago. 
I am guessing the micropiles are filled with rebar for added support. 
I took this picture from the west side, still looking in vain for the drilling machine.  I think that part of the work might be complete.
There is some interesting action happening on the south lot.
There was a circus of dump trucks removing dirt from the garage lot.
The trucks leave at the entrance on Second South, but it was obvious the south lot is being cleared.
Even the mobile office pods were being taken off the lot.
I overheard a discussion that indicated the south lot will be excavated. 
Now that the snow is gone, this will certainly be a better working environment.
Between the tabernacle construction and the NuSkin expansion, there was a lot to see today.
My grandson had a wonderful time.  His father and grandfather both have engineering degrees from BYU.  His great-grandfather and his great-great-grandfather received their engineering educations at the University of Utah.  Is it an omen that this sweet child fixed two broken toys from my play closet this morning?
This is a picture from his camera of the remains of the garage lot and part of the NuSkin construction.

What's important is that he loves track hoes as much as I do.  

1 comment:

Scottfunkel said...

I will venture a guess regarding the pipes coming out of the I beams. I can't remember what they are called (Geotech wasn't my forte in college) but they are used to reinforce the retaining wall to the surrounding soil. Those pipes are drilled deep into the ground then filled with grout to give the retaining wall extra strength. They used these a lot when they expanded the highway in Provo Canyon.