Atrium as of May 25

This is a view of a section of the atrium standing in the office door of the admissions office and looking accross the atrium between the two far columns where the future fireplace will be located.

This view of the atrium is standing in the front window corner of the fireplace looking accross the atrium towards the future entrance to the ELC.

This is a wider view of the atrium from the fireplace corner viewing accross to the future cafe, and Spirit store locations.

More updates on the site on May 17

Our future stairwell from the atrium that leads
down into the Fine Arts department as well as
a route to the lobby of the Performing Arts Center.


Here below where the brown panels are
located at the back of the picture is the futre entrance
of our school atrium. This picture is taken from the top of the
stairwell that leads down to the Fine Arts or up to the Middle
School commons area on the second floor.


This picture is taken between classroom 2 and 6
in the Elementary hallway looking east toward the
Atrium and Elementary Library area.

Follow up photo of the earth anchors, the top row

of earth anchors have been completely secured with

the tension discs which keeps tension on each

of the four cables not three as previously thought.

These cables extend into the ground

some 12 - 15 meters with a solid concrete grouter that

was pumped in the hole after the cables were in place. The purpose

was to surround all four cables with concrete and establish

this anchor system that will retain the soil and allow workers to

safely build our Gymnasium, Activity Center and Administration

offices.

Also as you can see the area on the beams where the

H beam supports were previously attached at an

angle to provide the support for the soil, have been removed,

this will allow a wall to be poured without extruding pieces of metal that

could defeat the moisture prevention efforts in the future stage of

construction.

This is the retaining wall being put in place in order

for the construction company to

safely build the stairwell to the future Sports complex /

Administraion building.

Around the site on May 17 for an update

The picture below is the office space and the entire
book shelf space of the future Elemetary Library.
This picture was taken from the doorway of the
office which exits to a stairwell and a northern
exterior door.
Drawings of the PAC layout are below and
you can see the fixed seating is located fully
between section K and N
-------------------------------------------K------------N

This is an updated picutre of the entire campus
from the orchard site taken on May 14


This is the east side cafeteria after the top of the
piles have been cut off. The digging machine is
covering the drainlines that will prevent the
potential for hydrostatic pressure in this area in
the future. The next step will be to apply the light
layer of concrete referred to as puhding which will
be the base for the rebar work to set on for the
preperation for the 1 meter thick concrete mat
that will follow to form the floor of this cafteteria.

This is a picture of the future PAC fixed seating

slope located between the red letters "L" and

"N" painted on the earthen wall. This will be the area for

the fixed theater seats. The blue lines indicate the line for

the seating to be aligned with and it is just a means to

ensure that the surveyed area is matched correctly with the

drawings. The next step is the rebar work and 1 meter

thick concrete mat.

Miscelaneous pictures with explanations - May 12

Here is what happens to the top of concrete piles that extend farther out of the earth than need be after being pounded in the ground until they hit bedrock. They are sawed off and set aside for reprocessing.



Well it looks like the excavation in the PAC area is finally completed and the drainage pipes and gravel are going in this week, which is a hallelujah chorus because the next step will be a light coat of concrete referred to as puhding, followed by rebar work and then the famous 1 meter thick concrete mat that will establish our sloped Performing Art Center floor which will be the floor that will recieve many concrete anchors later that will secure all of our fixed seating system that will be a fund raising opportunity for any and all of us in the near future.

This is a picture from the kitchen area looking down into the future bakery area where all the cakes, muffins, various breads, pies, and pizza etc... will be made.

Here where the rebar is extruding from the concrete slab is rebar that will be extended to complete the sidewalk outside the Elementry classrooms on the south side. To the right is a portion of some Elementry classrooms. The blue tarp at the end of the side walk at the back of the picture is the future entrance into the east side of the atrium.

What is an earth anchor and what is it's purpose?

The picture below is a sporting a drill that is being used to create earth anchors in the gymnasium area. Here is a view below of three strands of cable called earth anchors, and as you can see they are extending out of the various drilled holes for a later purpose. The entire span of the wall, when this process is complete will have a second layer of earth anchors at a lower level. The next step in this process is to remove the soil that is covering the fork shaped H support beams in order to drill a second row of earth anchors which will be in an effort to complete the safety requirements of a properly installed retaining wall that can support the soil in this area of work. When all the earth anchors have been inserted into the ground behind the H beams and wood retaining walls to a depth of 12-15 meters and coupled with concrete grouter that is pumped into each hole until it overflows from each hole, then the anchors will be ready to be clamped off in front of the the wood beams and tension can then be applied to secure the wall. The concrete grouter requires 5 days of drying before pressure can be applied. The tension when applied to the cables will allow provisions to the support needed for the H beams spanning the length of the wall. There are also fork shaped H beams coming out of the ground that are currently welded to the large H beam stretching the entire wall length. These forks are going to be either removed or enclosed with concrete and will recieve the same insulation treatment that all below ground walls will recieve in order to avoid moisture transfer in to any basement level areas.

Here is a better view of the entire length of the northern gymnasium wall and the corner of the west wall where the earth anchors are being installed to solve the soil support problem. We have experienced some unstable soil in the gymnasium area up till now. The west wall in it's full length will require two levels of earth anchors installed as well. The first top row of earth anchors on both walls is complete and the next step is excavation of the soil that is covering the forked shaped H beams and the same process will be repeated at the lower level. Once the installation of all the earth anchors are completed successfully then the final excavation in this area will begin and the final concrete piles will be drilled into the ground in the necessary locations in order to provide adequate foundation for our gymnasium building.

Here in this picture below is a man completing the drilling process of an earth in preperation for the insertion of the 13 meter triple strand of steel cables to the appropriate depth and the next step would be to pump concrete grouter in the hole until it is overflowing on the ground and wait for it to dry.

Here is the same man at the next step inserting the triple strand 13 meter cable into the hole he drilled above which is one of sixty six anchors that will secure the gymansium area on the north, west, and south walls in order to safely retain exterior soil below grade while laborers work in this area to build our future gymnasium.

The status of the new school cafeterias as of May 11

A view to the eastside cafeteria from inside the
future kitchen area.

Looking at the east side cafeteria from the top
of the stairs coming up from the dorm basement area.

This picture below is the east side cafeteria

recieving the rebar prep for the 1 meter thick

concrete mat that will follow to form the floor

of this cafeteria.

Looking west out of the future kitchen accross

the future west side cafeteria where the concrete

piles are sticking out of the ground. These piles

are 10 - 15 meters in length depending on their

need to hit bedrock beneath the ground in order

have a strong foundation for the building.
These piles will be cut off later when the rebar

and concrete mat are made.

Updates from May 6

This is a picture of the Academic building's first floor
which is just a portion of the future Elementry
classroom area

The heavy roller for packing the ground in this
picture is stationed in lobby area of the future
cafeteria

This is the future Performing Art Center (PAC)
and the digger is still working on the slope for the
fixed seating area of the PAC


This is an access road down to the work area
down to the future PAC, and the blue netted
area to the left is the end of the Fine Arts area
which will be below grade or underground


This is the wall in the basement of the Academic
building that is the begining of the mechanical
area of the school