2004

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February is not an opportune time for certain kinds of work......

To continue with the wall forms, the columns needed to be brought into the basement prior to the closing off of the ramp by the concrete form.
All eighteen of the columns had to be down and stored on the floor prior to enclosing the floor with the concrete forms.
After the forms were up, there would be no way except by a very large crane to lower the columns into the basement.

Here are the columns in the previous year's bean field
David Weilbacher had brought them to the farm on his bulldozer float.
As he turned the corner on the final approach into the yard, the load shifted and everything rolled off the trailer and into the cypress swamp.
David fetched his backhoe and he and Dean extracted them from the morass.
They stacked them in the adjacent field; having no means to get them back on the bulldozer float.

Weighing about 3000 pounds each, it was necessary to jack them up with a 15-ton rail car jack.
Then the ends were cribbed with oak four-by-fours high enough to back the lip of Dean's trailer under the end.

Dean would then attach a lever hoist and slowly slide the beast onto the trailer until the center of gravity was in front of the front axle.

Then they were hauled to the hole. Notice the column is longer than the sixteen foot trailer.
These were the first floor columns.

Then they would have to be backed around the windmill tower, past all the obstacles and then down the bulldozer ramp.
Note the site manager in the foreground.

After agonizing contortions (in reverse mind you), the trailer was backed down the ramp and the column dragged off the trailer.
Once on the concrete floor, it was raised and under it were placed two steel-wheeled carts.
Then a final chain hoist would drag in the carts to a parking place.

The three-ton chain hoist was mounted atop the doubled scaffolding.

Then each column would be slowly and deliberitely lifted into place and bolted to the floor.\
Oh great- another snow storm. No rest for the wicked.

View from the sidewalk looking east. Notice the juniper tree lying on its side in the basement.
Prior to this, torrential rains had wreaked havoc with the excavation walls.
Finally, large portions of the walls collapsed into the hole.
This was not limited to Dean. Excavators all around had the same problems that wet season.
The six base columns have been erected with chain hoist and towers of scaffolding.
They were bought down the ramp by loading them singly out in the field where they were stored onto the tandem trailer.
Then with much difficulty the trailer was backed down the earthen ramp used to drive out the bulldozer and dirt.
These weigh about 3000 pounds each and are very thick cast-iron.

The six columns lying here now are the columns for the first storey; the basement columns already having been installed.
The next storeys could not be installed until the concrete foundation wall was poured.
This was because it was necessary to swing a conctrete pumper boom and vertical columns would obstruct it.
Look at the column end in the lower right-hand corner and notice the size of the opening.
Compare that with the outer wall thickness and it is possible to understand how thick the walls are and hence how heavy these pieces are.

Here it is possible to see and understand that the scaffolding was double-ranked to increase its carrying capacity.
Standard Patent scaffolding has a carrying capacity of 6000 lbs. per frame. That's 12,000 lbs per square.
Doubling them up gave an effective rating of 24,000 lbs. capacity. OSHA requires 500% overage for overhead loads.
So for 3,000 lbs, Dean was well within the safe range.
The other consideration was that if one leg failed, the entire scaffold would fall over with only one leg per corner.
With two legs per corner that risk was eliminated. That would provide much easier breathing when the tower reach fifty feet tall.
The columns were fourteen feet in the basement, sixteen feet on the first floor and fourteen feet on the second floor.
That totals forty-four feet; hence the need for a fifty foot tower.
At the top of the tower was the three-ton chain hoist with a hundred foot of chain fall.
That was overkill, but everyone would exclaim how heavy and how impossible it must be to lift those.
Consequently, Dean had his five year-old daughter hoist one up.
It's all about preparation and mechanical advantage. Dean was able to set one column per day.
It took six days to set the six showing. A crane would take a day, but would cost $800.
Eight hundred dollars is a good week's wages, so it was a wash and was in keeping with the principles of hand-construction.
The third and fourth floors would be H-beam and I-beam construction.
In the original building the third and higher storeys were 16" x 16" long leaf yellow pine timber beams.
These lack some fireproof capabilities which was a concern.
Note the old dumptruck holding up the maple tree from falling in the hole- a very grave risk given the rains.

Here is the initial starting format for the wall forms. Here are three columns being formed out.
When they are finished, the area in between will be paneled with laminated 4x4's.
Inside the forms are vertical, horizontal and diagonal 5/8's inch reinforcing bar. About ten thousand pounds total.

Here can be seen the initial installation of the laminated 4x4's on the exterior wall of the form.
Note the dog guarding the ladder.

Here is the opposite corner where the access to the ramp is about to be closed up.
Note there is beginning to be some aerial storage. The red items are the floor joists for the upper floors.

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