Heavy rains the weekend of June 18-20 were followed by another powerful series of summer storms June 25 and 26. Nearly 5″ of rain fell the second weekend, from Friday into Saturday morning. Fortunately the first large section of foundation wall (west side) had already been poured. But the heavy rains have impacted the schedule in two ways.
First, there are days when safe work conditions demand that work stop. During this stage of construction, with workers high on potentially slippery wooden walkways, there are no acceptable work conditions. Fortunately we have only missed two days so far this month. Long hours on other days has made up some of this time. Second, the very wet second half of June has saturated the construction site. This causes the excavated walls to slump, bringing sandy soils down to the footings and base of the foundation walls. So even on a dry sunny day, time must be spent re-excavating and cleaning the concrete footings.
Bottom line, we were slightly ahead of schedule in mid June, so with some good luck from the meteorologists, we should still be in good shape schedule-wise at the end of June.
A temporary dewatering device (sump pump) has been installed on the basement floor so that hoses can pump water out of the excavation site as needed. Also, protective crushed (1″-3″) concrete was added around the soil banks just above the footings and walls that are yet to be completed.
Rain the weekend of June 18-20 temporarily fills the site with rain water.
The footings are still visible, but surrounded by rain water.
A second rain storm caused the walls to slump in on the foundation.
Additional excavation is required to keep the footings clear of mud and water.
Hoses run from the excavation site out to the storm drains in the parking lot.
Silt washes down the ramp and covers the concrete footings.
A combination of mechanical excavator and hand digging clears the footings.
The wooden forms, now anchored in mud, can still be removed to reveal the walls.
Crushed concrete is added outside the footings to reduce washouts.
The “window” in the foundation wall is actually a passage for HVAC ducts.
And at the same time wood forms are installed along the south wall.
Steel rebar lattice is already being installed along the east sanctuary wall.
