Report and photos by Dennis CasebierToday was the fullest day around the construction site we've had in quite awhile.
The concrete man Craig Merriam, his deputy Jody, and his wife Terry, spent the night at Goffs in anticipation of arrival of a concrete truck by 5:00 AM.
The concrete truck arrived on time. Craig & Co. soon had it lined up with the loading dock forms alongside the Freight House and began dumping from the nine yard load. Even prepared as we were for this special load, it it was surprising to see brown-colored concrete coming down the chute!
Soon the sun was up and the temperature was rising. Also there was a dry breeze blowing out of the north. That meant it was a race against time for the concrete crew to get the material laid down, smoothed out, and finished. This was particularly challenging today because once smoothed out, the crew went back over the entire surface with a special stamping form that left the imprint of wood texture.
This involved hard work pounding the form into the hardening surface. A real race against time as the concrete was setting up due to the increasing air temperature and lowering humidity. But the crew was equal to the task and finished their imprinting with a little time to spare. But, it was very hard work.
There followed the cleaning up. Then, just before departing, they removed all the hardware that held the forms in place revealing the loading dock in its final form. It looks great!Meanwhile, the electrician arrived mid-morning and did some rewiring of control boxes by the air conditioning units on the west side of the building.
