Winter Weather

The winter weather has shut the workers down until at least Monday. They were prepared to pour a portion of the gym floor today but the rain has washed mud in on the underlayment. It will have to be pulled back out and prepared again before they can pour the slab.

Math and Science Wing

The underlayment is in place on the math and science wing and the footers are poured. The next step is to pour the concerte for the slab in the classroom section on the south end of the building and the math and science wing. The first picture shows the underlayment being installed in the gymnasium/physical education section.The second picture shows the underlayment and footers in the math and science section and the last picture shows the post-tension cables that extend from one side of the building in the slabs and footers to the other side.

Parking Lot and Road Finished

The workers have finished the asphalt and curbs on the main parking lot in front of the building. They have also completed the road on the west side of the parking lot. They will not finish the road out to Airport Road until the building is complete. They don't want the heavy loads on the new asphalt. Work continues on the slabs on the classrooms north of the agri building section of the building. Pictures are of the roads and parking lot.

Slab on Business Section

The workers are pouring the slab on the business/technology classroom section today. The plumbers are on the site working in the classroom section in the math and science wing. The weather is cooperating and they have plans to work the remainder of the week. Also, the asphalt crew will continue work on the roads today. They finished the section yesterday on the road that leads out by the Bad Boy/Boeing plant.

Good Weather Again

The weather has finally cleared and allowed the workers to continue. The tension cables have been pulled in the floor on the agriculture building and the floor is ready to pour on the business/technolgy classrooms. Also, the asphlat has been installed completely on the parking lot. The asphalt crew is starting on the roads today and should complete them before the end of the week. The contractors will not put down asphalt on the main entrance until the building is completed in order to keep the heavy loads off the asphalt. The workers plan to continue to work through the holidays to take advantage of the good weather. Pictures are of the agriculture floor and adjoining business classrooms.

Slow Progress

The rain has again slowed progress down to a crawl but Brown Construction has been able to work on a limited time frame to continue the work on tieing the steel for the footing on the classroom section of the building. It is expected that it may be next week before work can begin at a regular pace.

Footings in Classrooms

The ground has finally dried enough that Brown Construction can continue on the steel to be placed in the footings on the classroom phase of the building. With good luck, they will dig the footings this afternoon and be ready to pour before the end of the week.

More Rain

It is very uncommon to receive this much rain this time of year but each time the ground dries up from the previous rain, we have another one. In spite of the rain, the workers are close to the predicted schedule. I have been impressed with the contractor, GAG Construction and Mike Caine, the project superintendent, and all the sub-contractors. I think they have done an excellent job of staying on schedule with all things considered and I think they are giving us a quality building. If you have any specific questions about the building or process, don't hesitate to email us at melbourneschooldistrict@hotmail.com or geraldc@katz.ncsc.k12.ar.us.

Agriculture Building Floor

Brown Construction poured the footing and slab today for the agriculture building. There are 215 cubic yards of concrete in just the agri part alone. Also, the cable tension system was installed before the concrete was poured. The tension system consists of special 1/2 inch cables placed in a grid pattern every four feet apart from two sides of the floor to the other two sides. This ties all the building together when the cables have tension pulled on them in 7 days from today. The first picture is samples of the concrete that will be sent to a lab and pressure applied to them to see if they meet the required tensile strength. The second picture is the concrete pump and workers as they screed the floor with a laser leveled screed.