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.

The activity that required the most amount of time was the relocating of the string elevations. We did not have a line level, so Monica Cifuentes and Jessica Wolfe went to Russell Building Supply to purchase the needed materials.

Overall, the first day was not as efficient as it should have been. This was partially due to mismanagement of labor and insufficient amounts of tools. We can avoid these set backs in the future by taking precautions such as allocating people to specific tasks, making the schedule more specific, and having a list of tools needed on site each day.

Our work ethic, attention to detail, and excellent teamwork made for a productive first day. Tomorrow, we hope to install the interior formwork with the keyway joints.
.