The School!
Paulette Elementary
Week 10
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"Tiny" the dozer moves rocks for the smaller equipment.I promise I will get week 9 online. I am waiting for some information from the architects regarding the security of Paulette Elementary. But for now I must report on some major developments at the site. First and foremost to me a seam of rock was encountered near the back of the site. This could have been a major obstacle. However you can see in the video to the left, "Tiny" the big dozer is back on the job. Watch in the video how this monster makes small work of the stone embankment. |
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the footers on the site are nearing completion as are the piers. I came
to the area this week and found myself more surprised at the project
than I ever have been. I got a call from Brian Oaks (Chairman of the
School Board) and he asked me if I could get to the site. He told me
that there was a lot of work going on.Imagine my surprise when I got there and found blocks and walls going up. I didn't know we were even close to this stage and I see it a couple of times a week. But you can also see that there is another bit of work going on. A small trackhoe (about the size of a  small
car) is inside the building area digging trenches. I asked about these
trenches and was told they would be for the underground plumbing and
electrical. While much of the electrical will be overhead, some
underground is needed for certain aspects. In the photo (figure 1) you
can see the large conduit that will carry the main entrance of
electrical wires into the building.So I got a chance to see the schematics for the plumbing and electrical. I thought writing code for online apps was complicated but this was incredible. I guess not being in that industry I never understood the complexities. But long before the building is built the man in the photo (figure 2) and others like him have to calculate the the 100ths of an inch where the wires go. They do this without any aid of a building. Calculating wrong by a few inches places drains in the middle of the floor instead of beneath sinks. I remember in my younger days trying to put together model airplanes. I tried my best, had instructions, photos of the plane and could hold the parts in my hand. Even with these aids my planes often ended up looking like boats or the carnage of a landing strip disaster. These fellows have to figure out how to put a plumbing and electrical system that does not even exist yet. One thing I understood when I decided to do this was I would enjoy watching the big machines work. One thing I never expected was the respect I have garnered for the men in hard hats just by watching them.  Now
I told you that the blocks and walls have been started. You can see one
of the workers stretching a line from one wall to another (figure 3).
What you may also see here is that there are two rows of block instead
of the normal one. I was about to ask about this when they began
pouring concrete between the two line of blocks. These blocks had been
laid a few days before and the concrete between and inside the blocks
was reinforced with rebar that ran several feet down into the footers.
This attaches permanently our building to its footers and thus to the
ground. If I ever get caught in a tornado I'm going to try to get to
the Paulette School.Now all this is fine and dandy, safe and secure. This is far more extreme than any of us put into building our houses. But we rarely think of this when we see a building. Rarely do we look at a building and ask, "How well is it attached to the foundation?" No, we are often more interested in the aesthetics or how the building looks. We build houses like mine out of cedar siding, all the time knowing that brick is a better material. Brick and cedar cost almost the same so why do we do it? We do it in my case because it was what my wife wanted. But we also do it because it is what we like, what we enjoy looking at. So what would our block at the school look like?  I
traveled from the site up to Johnnie Beeler's office building near
Milan Church. Right outside his door is a mock up of what the outside
of the block will look like. You can see this small scale display in
figure 4. At the bottom will be textured masonry block, on top of that
will be brick. The contrast between the gray block and the deep red
brick is striking. If my wife had seen this first I might not have to
treat cedar siding with preservative each year.Drive by the site within the next week and watch what is happening. Yes you may see some of the things I described, but you may miss something else hidden on the back of the lot. I was at one of our local eateries the other morning when a local regular sat down with me. We began talking about the site. He was particularly impressed with the aerial photos we have provided. This makes me feel good to know people are using this site to see what their tax dollars are doing. But it also made me realize just how much you miss just by driving by and looking. This man and myself had been there on the grondbreaking day and walked around the site. We both made a great deal out of the valley that would have to be filled in near the northwest corner. He told me the other day over breakfast that we would never be able to fill in that hole that there just wasn't enough dirt.  I reached down in the folder I had with me and pulled out a copy of the photo you see in figure 5. In this photo we see all that is left of the valley that once was there. It may be hard to see but look just below the two dozers. You find a hole that is about seventy feet by seventy feet, If you look closer in that hole you can see a trackhoe. This trackhoe is over its head in that hole and putting the finishing touches on what is left of the valley. I got to tell my friend that not only was he wrong but the valley was no longer there. It had been replaced with a huge drainage system, pipe, culverts, rock and dirt. We may never see what lies sixty feet below ground when the school is finished but where once was a hole is now a major drainage system. A system working hard at keeping the school property and the property of our neighbors dry and safe. |
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