It’s 23 June at 0635 and it’s a veritable “bee-hive” of activity on the rear wing building site with concrete trucks, concrete pumps and concrete contractors laying the building’s “footings!” and your correspondent was there to capture he moments. First a brief re-cap, over the past two days trenches were dug into the sand pad and then rebars (steel bars) were laid in the trench. The purpose of the rebar is to reinforce the concrete that will be poured into the trench to form the base of the building’s foundation and to “tie” concrete blocks to the concrete base (to the layperson the rebars sticking up from the concrete base help make a strong bond between the base and the concrete blocks). Now I have to say for someone who likes the big yellow equipment this morning was a joy to behold although a little noisy for a peaceful neighborhood that’s just stirring for their first coffee of the day. At the very edge of the sand pad, with its stabilizers spread wide like some giant insect complete with its colossal proboscis hovering over the site, sits the concrete pump truck. To feed the pump truck’s insatiable appetite there’s a convoy of cement mixer trucks (you know the ones with the rotating barrels to keep the mix fresh) and in the trenches there’s a band of construction workers taking care of the fine details. A concrete mixer, with warning alarms blaring, carefully backs up to the rear of the pump truck and connects the feed. Barrels churn and pumps rumble as they take up the strain and suddenly the proboscis is disgorging concrete into the trench in response to remote control delivery instructions. The chaps in the trench leap to work with crowbars and shovels to make sure the spread is consistent; the smallest gaps are filled and there are no air pockets. It takes about 20 minutes to deliver and lay the concrete load and as the now empty cement mixer makes its way back to base for a refill another takes its place and the “concrete dance” goes on! By the end of the day the concrete will be ready for the bricklayers to start their work and from our sand pile the rear wing shall start to rise!! Stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach.
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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
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