Time Lapse Videos of Concrete Work

Here are two videos showing several hours of concrete work in a minute or less...

11am to 5pm December 12th

(weather rolls in)

10pm to 7:30am December 13th

(the lights go out several times ...)

Concrete placed, much Water needed

Monday afternoon - Watering to help concrete gain strength

Well, done with making and placing concrete, now it is time to help it get as strong as it can get - this means water, a lot of water, and constantly needing application, and over the next several days. 

This is what remains from 10,600 bags of cement

  So after our long pour over the weekend, we needed to jump right into watering, which of course is no easy thing here in the DR. All you need is electricity and water, right? 

Water Boy (one of many)

 No water (canals are dry) and no electricity (its out all of the time, and it also happens to be on the wrong side of the project relative to the well). So this morning was spent trying to get a generator running and then getting it connected to the well and small water pumps (requiring different voltage), then getting the pipe from the well connected and adapting the other pumps to the cistern, then trying to connect over 800' of water hoses, get water trucks scheduled and delivering water, and dealing with a mess of mud.

Standing in the canal after setting up the pump -
BUT this was Saturday, NO WATER TODAY.

  
But, it all worked out, I'm worn out after multiple hardware store trips, getting the electrician to reconfigure setups to finally get a solution, very wet and muddy feet, and wondering if my truck will ever be clean inside and out again.  

  The concrete company "Lora" is disassembling the batch plants so they can start a job near Santo Domingo, they started this morning and will be at our site late tonight making a second trip. 
  I have to mention Lora, JG Lora, who is the owner of the concrete company. What a great person to work with, he was on the job for the entire time, often running our skid steer. We are completely blessed to have had him do this work, and it was an another amazing "Godincidence" (my interpretation of an exceptional coincidence) that led us to this company. I will write about this in my next post.
  About 64 hours of continuous work, everyone involved is a bit worn out, but we are happy it was successful with no injuries or major issues. 

It was a little muddy and wet Sunday night!

Water, water, water, and enjoy Christmas and New Years.   Looking forward to an amazing 2016 - a building will arise and many great adventures will take place.

DONE - Sunday morning 8am

We are done, 198 trucks of concrete.

Pablo, JG Lora (company owner)

 with Frank.

Whats next? Rest (Christmas holiday and New Years), Kings Day, then we will lay 2 courses of block that will define all of the walls.

Clinic Update Saturday 10am

Dawn December 11, 2015

Moving on.

Good progress early this morning!




Here is a quick video update:

Saturday AM or really Friday Night ... 2am anyway

Both Batch Plants have been operating throughout the day today since about 9am. Of course there are always bumps in the road, and we have had our fair share. An overcast afternoon helped slow the curing of the concrete providing a better bonding between older and newer concrete - as we pour in strips. Joe Miller and Fred Genhiemer will be happy to know we have been keeping the completed areas "wetted down".

  As of this hour we are 53% done. Production has increased this afternoon so hopefully we will be done late Saturday night or early Sunday morning if things stay on track.
  Here is a short time lapse from yesterday:

   

    

Below is a 5 minute video showing the Batch Plant Process (video shot last night):

Update 4:30am - Concrete continues, truck explodes

Still Pumping Concrete
Working away, a little on the slow side but but overcoming issues like forklift breakdowns, Concrete trucks with a full load of concrete that stop turning the drum, a batch plant out of order, oh ... and a concrete truck that exploded.

 Yes, not quite as dramatic as it sounds, but it did get everyone's attention! The first of the concrete was being pumped on the backside of the platea when a loud BANG was heard, I looked over toward the trucks parked along the front of the jobsite and there goes a part off of one of the trucks rising into the air. Everyone instantly paused, and waited to see if something else might happen or someone might cry out for help or some other issue. Thankfully no one was injured and no real damage was done to the truck, apparently a pressure regulator failed on the air pressure system ... but it sure sounds interesting huh?

Here is what was happening at 4:30am:

CONCRETE!

After an initial false alarm that things were to be off and running at 10am, concrete work started at 4:30pm on December 10th. 

Here is a short video of that moment: