Update: April 10th

Tuesday was day one of the concrete pour. The concrete truck arrived at 2:00, and we finished pouring the first section at 2:45. We then called for the second truck, and poured the next section at 3:15. The concrete truck driver was extremely easy to work with, and gave us pointers on how to be more efficient with screeding the concrete.

Delivery ticket from concrete company.

The entire day went smoothly, and each student had an opportunity to do every job involved in the pour; this included screeding, floating, troweling, brooming, and edging. Superintendents Branden Reagin and Michael Stroecker did a wonderful job delegating the work and remaining composed under pressure. They helped teach those with less experience how to work with the concrete. It was a very successful day. We will be pouring our last section tomorrow, April 11th.

Update: April 8th

Today, we managed to get several people to come out and work, even though it is Easter Sunday. We were able to finish preparing the site for the pour. We needed to finish leveling the center section of our slab elevation and build the last two rebar cages above the ground as an experiment. We placed the rebar on top of some paint buckets we had laying around. Tying rebar closer to waist height improves efficiency and ergonomics. It worked well, and gave our backs a break since we weren't bending over the entire time. The real test will come when we move the cages into the formwork later this week.

Week 1 Wrap-Up

Site Status as of Friday, April 6th:

Substantial progress was made this week. Despite variable weather conditions, BSCI Construction Company managed to grade the site, build and place the formwork and keyways, and lay out the majority of the rebar cages.

Due to more thunderstorms, work yesterday and today was cancelled. We will reconvene on Sunday afternoon to finish up the two-rebar cages and the middle section of the sub grade.

We accomplished the goals we had set for the week. If things work out accordingly, our first pour day is scheduled for the afternoon of Tuesday, April 10^th. 

The site before work commenced on Monday, April 2nd. 

The site five days later, on Friday, April 6th.

Day 2

Day 2 commenced with a brief meeting with Steve Williams, our company president. He confirmed and approved the 50’ length of the slab diagonal, and helped us figure out the logistics for efficiently using as many people as we could on site.

The majority of the day was spent moving sand and dirt to bring the location of the slab to grade. After figuring out where the high spots and low spots were, we moved the sand with a shovel and wheelbarrow. Our goal was to avoid moving sand more than necessary; although we leveled the sub base, we still have about ½” to take off to satisfy the specified 4” slab.

Once the 3-10’ wide strips were screeded, we worked on the interior formwork. The key component for the interior formwork was the keyway. Superintendent Branden Reagin and his assistants glued and nailed the quarter rounds onto a 2x4 and then set them.

A main difficulty here was the fact that we lacked a drill to fasten the form-stakes to the forms. We had to attach 5-100’ extension cords together to bring power out to the site so that we could operate a corded drill. The team only got this line of forms completed today.

Overall, today was much more efficient than yesterday. We assigned each person to either grade the slab or help with the formwork; this allocation of jobs kept work running proficiently at all times. The only reason we did not get more done was the sudden afternoon thunderstorm.

 Weather permitting, we will continue this process tomorrow. We will also begin putting the rebar in the slab.

Breaking Ground: First Official Workday

Today was the first formal workday for the AU Outdoor Demo Lab. There were about ten students on site at different times throughout the day. We focused on building the perimeter formwork, stalking the boards in, using a string to make a consistent elevation, and splicing the boards when necessary.

First, we set the elevations at the corners with string lines.  Then, to build the perimeter formwork, we cut 2x4s into the correct lengths for each side of the exterior forms. The 40' sides were made of 3-12' boards, plus a 4'3" board on each side. The 30' sides were made of 10' boards; this will give the concrete truck ample room to be in the interior section on the day of the pour.

Pre-Construction Activities

Presentation to the Owners

March 23, 2012

Dry Cut Test

On Wednesday, March 28, graduate student Dan O'Hara built a form for two concrete samples. He then mixed a small batch of concrete and poured it into his forms.

After letting the concrete set for 12 hours, Terry Bryan did his first dry cut test using a circular saw with a diamond blade. The concrete was still fairly green, so the cut did not come out very smooth. After the concrete has had a full 24 hours to set, we will attempt another cut.