Building Expansion

Our dig may not be as big as the one in Boston, but it sure looks big to us. I saw a caterpillar in our new foundation area completely below the ground level. We are well under way and on schedule.

The earthmovers have removed the unstable “gumbo” for our future foundation pour. “Gumbo” has a tendency to shrink and cause slab cracking so the builder is removing the “gumbo” and replacing it with construction sand. Much of the removed dirt will be used to build up the parking lot across Beacon. We need to raise the parking lot about 10 inches to allow the drain line to move the rainwater to our detention pond. The parking lot will be covered with asphalt after the fill is stabilized.

The next activities you will see out there will involve the pad preparation. The builder will be leveling the sand, installing the underground plumbing and electrical connections and installing the rebar before the pour. We will also soon see the drain line installed from the far side of the new parking lot, under Beacon to connect to our detention pond in the area of the basketball court. The drain will end in the ditch on the Church side of Beacon and connect to the pond via the ditch.

We have removed all three trailers. One went back to the company we were leasing from, and the other two have become offices in West Columbia for an electrical contractor. The trailer you see on our lot now is the contractor’s trailer for our building superintendent Garrett Henning.

Thanks to all who helped us move the contents of the trailer to our storage facility. We had to work in the rain. Special thanks to Debra Bly for letting us use her moving van and Ivar Larsen for arranging for the storage and the move.