On Saturday, April 25th, a crew of fresh recruits came up to help build the foundations. They began by chopping out massive roots in the holes dug by the backhoe. In all, we were 22 workers. While some filled the holes with 6" of stone and then 4" of stone dust, tamping all the while, Jay led others in building the forms in which to pour the concrete. Lastly, Norm went around with a transet and staked the centre of the footings. By the end of the day, one cabin was ready to start pouring cement.
The next day, with a crew of only 5 men—four of whom were non-camp staff, they completed another foundation and poured the cement into both. Kudos to Tom, Jad, Justin & Norm! Justin is only 17 but is a very accomplished carpenter. Jad came up to help his friend, and stayed the week. He is a Cement Finisher by trade and arrived right when needed most. Norm is a Jack-of-all-Trades and invaluable to us in his expertise.
Monday was 30 degrees and sweltering, and we only had 2 guys in the morning; so only one site was prepped for concrete by the end of the day. By Tuesday night, one more foundation was completed and both then poured with cement. Shoveling tons of stone and stone dust by hand is grueling work; so by Wednesday, we rented a Bobcat, which made light work in filling the holes on top of the hill. Thursday was spent constructing piers of concrete blocks on the footings in Maple Grove, the girls' side. The first one had to be anchored to the footings with anchor bolts and filled with mortar. More were then stacked upon each other until a level height was reached for all 11 footings beneath each cabin. They were also filled with mortar and rebar, capped with a wood plate, and anchored in place with more anchor bolts. By evening, the girls' side was ready to begin cabin construction. As well, the first cabin on Oak Ridge, the boys' side, was filled and poured with cement.
Friday brought fresh recruits, including 2 teams of carpenters and help to cook. My job of chief cook and bottle washer was finally over! Thanks go to another non-camp staffer, Dave's sister Cheryl from Toronto who came up to be Head Cook for the weekend. Foundations were complete on the girls' side, filling had begun on the boys' side, and one cabin was already poured. All in all, it was a very successful and satisfying week.
Praise God!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment