concrete

Bridge Foundation

Steve Hardin2 Comments

Mr Rainman came out over the weekend and we worked on getting the foundation ready to pour. We built the forms out of old wood pieces we saved just for this purpose. We cobbled it together as we could not drive metal spikes into the ground, too rocky. I had to run to town to buy a pallet of Quickcrete (56 bags). We then went to turn on the mixer, our prefill check and it did not work! So I ran over to Home Depot and got another new mixer. It will only do 3.5 cubic feet at a time but it is way cheaper than trying to rent one and it is a super tight location.

So the next day Mr Rainman moved 50 bags of Quickcrete from the trailer back to our work spot and after I emptied and mixed ten bags I let him fill the concrete mixer while I shoveled the mixed concrete and tamped the poured concrete. We were only able to mix two bags at a time. It took us about five hours to mix and pour 50 bags of Quickcrete. We got the first side poured and now have to wait seven days before we can pop the forms off and rebuild them on the other side. I will have to go buy another pallet of Quickcrete to get the other side done.

I was wrecked by the time we got done. I was exhausted, I am getting too old to go out and do ten hours of hard manual labor every day on the weekends. Annmarie tells me the answer to this is to start working out every day so I don’t have to recondition my body every spring. I think after 12 years of me listening to this same speech she may be on to something, maybe. I was trying to finish the dishes so I could go to bed early and knocked over a bottle of olive oil. I had glass and oil everywhere so my bedtime was delayed another 20 minutes. After I moan a few times, while awake just moving around, I am guaranteed to sleep downstairs so I don’t keep the wife awake all night. I even manage to wake myself up when I turn over in bed and start moaning because my shoulders and hips are killing me. I keep telling her that pain is transitory. It has been four days since we did this and I feel way better, no moaning at all. I used to be able to snap back after just one night, now it takes 3-4 before I feel human again and it’s usually just in time for the weekend to start and me to do it all over again!

This may sound insane to some but it keeps me busy. I cannot imagine just sitting around and honestly, I feel better and do better if I am able to stay busy. I don’t do idle well any more. I used to do it a lot better but over the years I have come to appreciate what can be done and I can see the impact I am making on our home and I appreciate it. There will come a time where I won’t be able to do these things and I want to know that I have done what I could while I was able.

Forever Friday 15/42

Steve HardinLeave a comment

Thursday was the day it all came together, literally. Mr Professional came out and we poured concrete into the bridge footings. Nine cubic yards all mixed on site and shoveled into the concrete blocks. I realize this doesn’t sound very impressive but trust me if you were the one shoveling or mixing the concrete you would know that it is a lot of concrete to do at one time.

We did the half closest to the house first. Early on we figured out that we might not have enough concrete mix so we started adding gravel to the mixer to stretch it out, we gained about 30% more concrete which was just enough to finish the entire job. My helper had to go run some errands during the mid day so I took a nap in the pickup after minimart lunch and then slept for another 30 minutes on the hallway floor. The ceramic tile is very cool and if you are overheated it will suck the heat right out of your body. It is a little hard but life is about trade offs and the cool down experience is what I was hoping to accomplish.

We started back up after we moved power, the hose and the mixer to the other side of the spring. We thought about using the tractor again to move the mixer but just ended up manhandling it the 20 feet across the water ditch. I have even decided that I am going to get some sun and set a timer for one hour and went shirtless. My plan is to do that every day I am outside. I don’t want to get burnt but I feel better with more sun. I realize that the long sleeve shirt and scarf and hat are necessary if I want to stay out all day in the sun.

On the uphill side we decided to go with a solid wall as the upper hillside area is putting more pressure on the wall. The bridge is just over five feet wide. My actual bridge that floated off is only four feet wide but since I was the only one who could get the four foot wide tractor over the four foot wide bridge it needs that extra one foot. Once Tex tried to dump the tractor into the spring by missing the bridge it had an extra railroad tie added. That will be even worse now as they will drop down over a concrete wall.

I won’t set the bridge for 3-4 days to let the concrete cure. I will be starting in on the fence next. It will be a joy to try and dig holes in the middle of summer. I see myself starting a bunch of holes and filling them all with water and letting it soak in for a few hours and drilling and water and repeat until I can get deep enough to set a post. I am going to create anchors on each side of the fence by making large rock cribs and then just cow panels down to and over the water. This way during a flood the cow panels can float up wards after the water pushes out the staples. The water will even be able tear out the fence posts next to the spring. This will result in me only losing a single post on each side of the water. This amount of damage is very easy to fix. Redoing the entire fence 30 feet back from the water because the woven wire fence held and it sequentially ripped out every railroad tie attached to that piece of wire, not cool.

I had a very nice surprise as my department staff at work sent me out two bags full for a care package. I have already started eating the candy and jerky and drinking the coffee! It was a very thoughtful gift and I am very appreciative. Even more so that everyone is allowing me the time away from work. That gift is the most needed. Someone offered Annmarie the choice to extend my time off a little longer, she told them that I would be ready on day 43 to return to work!! I am definitely disrupting the routine at home. I love her very much and know very few women who would put up with me. Always marry your betters, the best advice I can ever give to another human being. They will make you a better person.