Tuesday, June 06, 2006
The world didn't end today (thank goodness) despite speculation about today's date, and the drilling of the 80 auger cast pilings started! Here's the process: Hutton Construction marked each of the 80 locations of the pilings and then a 6 inch piece of rebar is hammered into the ground to mark the spot. The crane then moves the drill over each spot and drills a hole to the depth that Terracon has determined is needed to support the building at that location (from 35-60 feet deep). After the drill gets to the desired depth, it is lowly raised up out of the hole. As the drill is moving up, concrete is pumped through the center of the drill into the hole, filling it completely. Then a 20' piece of 1.5 inch rebar is lowered into the cement, along with a rebar form. They are tied off with wire to a 2x4 above the hole, to keep them suspended at the top of the cement until it hardens. They completed 23 holes today - only 57 more!
