Double Height

Today we attempted to cast the tall columns - 3.5m in height. Each tall column uses three sections of shutterboard which makes it harder to set up. An additional issue is that the concrete vibrator does not reach the bottom of the structure when it is set up to its full height so the pouring of concrete also has to be done in stages i.e. set up section, pour and vibrate concrete, set up next section, pour and vibrate concrete. This raises issues of cold joints, misalignment of sections, or sections out of plumb and was again something we had not done before.

Our intention was to cast two columns today but before we could do that, we needed extra pipe clamps. The corner unit seems to swallow up all of our pipe clamps and we were effectively increasing it's height by a further 50%, which meant 50% more pipe clamps. In total we now have 70 pipe clamps on site. Also, to brace a tall column, we needed another tall column alongside it. This compelled us to set up and work two adjacent columns simultaneously which is what we managed to successfully complete today. And as a result, the site was a hive of activity.


The above gives an idea of today's progress. We were mixing concrete, cleaning and treating stripped sections of shutterboard for re-use, threading pipe for the additional pipe clamps, making new column shutterboard sections, preparing the stem wall for the rammed earth (to start on Monday) and erecting the top sections of the shutterboard - and of course pouring and vibrating concrete at each stage.

It was another very satisfying day. Tomorrow we hope to complete three more columns, Thursday another two and Friday the final two. Monday will see us begin the rammed earth part of the project. Hopefully Tuesday when we remove the shutterboard, will be a fantastic psychedelic trip induced by perfectly formed rammed earth walls freshly exposed to life. But we're getting ahead of ourselves again.