A very exciting day and not for any reason to do with the new building but rather because today, 12 July, the ODEC family was able to gather together again in worship albeit in, to use the in vogue phrase, “the new norm.” That is almost news enough for my blog but there have been one or two things happening on the construction site so let me bring you up to date. You may recall me writing in the past about the impact rain and standing water has on the site, it brings everything to a halt and even when it stops raining everyone must hang fire* whilst the ground dries out and, as it turns out, drying ground is just a small part of the problem. As you will know since the start of construction back in March a great deal of time and effort has been spent on building the new storm water management system and it’s still on going. There’s a mantra site construction workers’ use when building a water management system, “start at the lowest point and work back up the gradient.” Applying this simple rule means as work progresses water will run out of the new system even as it’s been built rather than pool in the system or worse still flood the building site. Last week Higgerson, our site contractor, excavated and constructed the first, of what will eventually be three, Bio Retention Tanks (aka storm water tanks). It sits underground between Tucker Hall and the curb, it’s big, it’s filled with those plastic milk crates, it’s complete, it’s working and here’s the thing; storm water runs into the tank just as it’s supposed to but there’s no flooding or pooling because the new tank is already connected to the new drainage system so storm water is already flowing to the Chesapeake Bay. The logic of laying storm water drains makes sense….work from the lowest elevation back so although the system is only partially completed water will drain from the site and help prevent future flooding. Now in the great order of things, the next Bio Retention Tank should be built about where the old herb (or for your ears "‘erb") garden used to be but that will create a problem. It must be possible to get heavy machinery (the good old yellow kit) onto the site and that tank would be exactly where the heavy machinery needs to go but the tank would not be able to support such a heavy loads. So Higgerson is moving on to excavate the tank opposite the entrance to Sentara car park. “Foul” I hear you cry, “having just given us all that guff* about lowest elevation working back then how will this tank empty if the storm water drain continuity is broken? How will water get from this new tank to the one completed by Tucker Hall if the bit in between is missing??” Fear not, there is a cunning plan. At the back end of last week Higgerson was laying temporary pipes to connect the next tank to the one by Tucker Hall so storm water will flow from this new tank through the temporary pipes to the Tucker Hall tank and from there via the new storm water drain on in to the Chesapeake Bay. Once the Great Hall is built the temporary pipes will be removed and the third Bio Retention Tank will be constructed and connected to complete our storm water management system. To end with a few words about the rear wing. The water and sewer lines have been laid under the sand pad and have passed inspection so in the coming week the concrete floor will be poured and then the building’s metal framework will be erected. Stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach. *Hang fire: British Army slang for “wait” or “waiting” * Guff: Details (often a bit tedious)
1 Comment
Mal Higgins
7/21/2020 04:22:13 am
This description of connecting the storm water system, including the Bio Retention Tanks, “start at the lowest point and work back up the gradient.” sounds like the old saying that the toe bone is connected to the ankle bone; the ankle bone is connected to the leg bone and on up!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDavid Beach is our Building Project Manager, and has been an active part of our parish family for more than a decade. He is retired from NATO and the British Army and is a joy and blessing to all of us. Archives
July 2021
|