Clean-Up

Today, project managers Jessica Wolfe and Andrew Brown went out to the site to clean it all up. They cut the formwork and broke up the last chunk of concrete, and disposed of it properly. Now that this is done, BSCI Construction Company hopes to receive our Certificat of Substantial Completion from the owners.

We would like to give a special thanks to Stewart Construction Company for donating concrete rakes and metal stakes. This helped enormously in our slab pour. We are very grateful for their contribution.

Concrete Cylinder Break

Alex Gandy & Jordan Littlepage filled the concrete test cylinders on the first pour day, April 10th, 2012. The cylinders were placed in a curing tank of water where they rested for 7 days until the first break. The next and final break will be at 14 days. The cylinder partially out of the water was the actual cylinder that Carmichael Construction Testing broke.

The Break Card below shows the date received and age of the break, the slump of the mixture prior to adding water on site, the psi of the concrete made, and what the concrete was used for.

The concrete cylinder took 4,754 psi to break the cylinder into a type three break. This is the most common break with the type of concrete we used.







Cutting the Control Joints

Today, we cut the control joints in the slab. Cutting the control joints was not as hard as some might have suspected. The blade went through the concrete fairly easily; we just had to take our time and not try to force the blade through the concrete, but rather let the blade do the work. We cut each part of the slab 24 hours after the concrete was placed. We measured for our lines and then used a chalk line on make a straight line and then set our blade to be 1 inch deep in the slab and utilized a laser on the saw to stay on the line. The biggest problem that we encountered was that since the surface is not truly level in spots, we would hit small little bumps or small rocks that would throw us slightly off line if we were not careful. 

We cut 170 feet total and went through three blades. It helped to change out the blades when they started wearing down; once the blade starting wearing down, it made it very difficult to get a clean cut. The first blade we used cost $30 and lasted about twice as long as the one that cost $15. In cutting the control joints, we learned that you get what you pay for out of a blade. Both were comparable as far as cost and performance goes; it just depends on if you want to buy several blades or just one blade. 

Update: April 11th

Today we finished pouring the center strip of the slab. It went pretty smoothly after getting some practice from the first pour. The center strip did prove to be difficult due to its position, and we had to take precautions to keep from staining and scarring the other two previously poured sections.We also sprayed the cure and seal compound on the origional pour sections. Later that evening, several of us went back to cut the control joints in the outer two sections from the first pour. We cut the joints using a skill saw with a diamond blade.

Tomorrow, April 12th, we will go back out to finish cutting the rest of the control joints in the middle section.

Suggestions from President Williams

Today President Williams gave us suggestions about pouring the middle concrete slab section:

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.