Block Solid... Building a Brick Wall

A sample wall has been constructed on site. The masonry contractor (Gates Construction) has built this wall to demonstrate the appearance and technique of the block and brick walls.
The type of brick we are using is called "utility brick". It is larger in size than normal home brick. Because of the scale and size of our buildings we are using bricks which are 3 5/8” X 3 5/8” X 11 5/8”. A standard home brick is 3 5/8” X 2 1/4” X 8”.
Our brick color is a warm red oxide with some blocks "flashed" or "glazed" to produce the darker bricks
These side views show features of the construction of the walls. The foooter supports the masonry block. Rebar uprights are within the blocks. Then two inches of insulation and a two inch air trap. Hangers lock the brick face into the masonry block.
Moisture barrier and mortar net are within the wall construction as well as flashing and weep holes to allow ventillation. (Flashing will be trimmed).
Our building will also have Split Concrete Masonry Block in some areas as well as stone surface work. When examples of these elements are available this blog will share those features.

Floors and more!

According to the latest CM report (from Construction Manager Mike Kesterson) our project is now at 15% complete!

Now that the roof is on Area 3 we now have floors! In an earlier post you saw images of the corrugated steel floor decking. Easily spotted in the underside of the floors in this photo below.

To the steel decking the next phase of construction added rebar, steel mesh or grate, and the plumbing and electrical runs. Forms were placed on the edge of the floors and concrete was pumped up to the third floor first and then the second.
The floors look great! These areas will be in the classrooms and will be covered with some type of floor covering.
The area in the hall way down the center of the wing has not been poured yet. That will be poured as stained (colored) concrete which will be polished to a final finish.
One other exciting development can be seen as a result of the roof and floors being in place. What would that be and why is it exciting? Answer at the end of this post....

The driveway has reached final grade. The efforts of the Board members Lowell Younce and Deborah Miller and our commissioners who were determined to reach a safe all-season degree of slope have paid off.

We have a good grade making a graceful "S" curve as it leads into the front of our school.

We have progressed from here in February .........

http://whs2010.blogspot.com/2008/02/entrance-reached-at-old-421.html

to becoming ready for base gravel in just a few months.

Answer to question above: Electrical conduits and connection boxes are beginning to be put in place! That leads to dreaming of good lighting, enough power, technology, and safety we have never had in our old school!

And that is, well, "ELECTRIFYING".

Drilling Has Begun

Drilling began last week for the geothermal wells. These photos show the test drills that were made to determine the substrata in the area we will put our well field. There is plenty of rock in that area... and in this case, that is a good thing.

These are not "water" wells. In fact, each well is encased and dry. The well will be a shaft that holds a double loop of water filled pipe which will be heated by the earth and circulated throughout our hvac system.
Watch for an in depth posting on this process soon!

Covered in Area 3

In an earlier post we saw the roof frame going up. Now we have a deck on Area 3. This image shows the corrugated roof decking.

The crew is installing decking on Area 2 this week.
You can see that the roof will be single pitched on these wings. On top of this will be water treatment, insulation, and a metal raised ridge surface.
A lone worker shooting "nails" into the steel. The slam and hammer of this powerful gun shoots rivet like nails through the metals anchoring the deck to the beams and girders.
All day long bang, BANG, BANG!!!!

Beneath the Surface

Whats going on over on the stadium field?

Beneath the fields there are tremendous water retention systems. Some systems are linear and are large corrugated pipes that carry stormwater to drains. These are approximately 6' in diameter. They branch out in parallel pattern to some holding tanks which store a large amount of water during over fill.
You will recall from earlier posts that the field was nearly to grade. Each of these areas get excavated several times in the process. This photo shows the dig and the gravel base that is being prepared to take the next set of pipes for the water systems at the stadium.
Then everything is filled back in and covered over raising it back up to the level of the fields. Finishing work on the actual surface will be much later, closer to 2010. The main stadium will have a turfed football and soccer field and track.

So beneath surface of much of this entire campus there are mazes of water systems, plumbing and electrical runs, and soon to come, wells for our geothermal water system.

SW reply: A question was asked if this was where we would store our water for reuse. No, these are runoff and surface water retention systems. Our cisterns for water saving will be in between the wings. Under the courtyards there will be six, 10 thousand gallon storage tanks catching roof water collection. This "Gray" water will be used for flushing toilets and irrigation purposes. One of the sustainable and environmental attributes in this new building design. :-)

Observation Panorama

This is a pieced together (stitched) panorama of the site. These three images are panned around (hence panorama) from the apple tree on hilltop. It is still the best place to view the project.
Progress is being made in the foreground (baseball and softball) and on the right side where the main building is being constructed. Base gravel is on much of the parking lot helping somewhat with dust control.

All of the small storage trailers you see on site are the contractors sheds. They contain supplies and equipment for the various crews that are now on site.

At this time we have these crews at work:
Steel, Plumbing, Electrical, Masonry, Roofers, Concrete finishers, and soon, our Stud and Drywall crew will move on site.