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Report and photos by Dennis Casebier
Today was a very busy day for the Goffs Cultural Center with all activities centering around construction of the new Library/Depot.
Craig Merriam's concrete crew came on to the property at 6:00 AM. The four concrete trucks from Mohave Valley began arriving a little before 7:00 AM, staggered at about fifteen minute intervals. This was in addition to the three trucks that poured the footings Friday.
The five men comprising the concrete crew worked frantically handling that amount of mud. But in not much more than a hour and a half the footprint of the slab was filled in and the four trucks had come and gone.
The crew spent much of the rest of the day finishing it off. The result is a really fine-looking slab upon which the Library/Depot will be based.
At mid-afternoon, a huge lumber delivery truck arrived with a heavy load from Palm Springs. The contractors had all left. They had indicated to us where they'd like the lumber placed, so it fell to the Goffs crew to direct the placement of the lumber and assist the driver in the actual unloading.
That required nearly three hours - it was getting dark and a cold breeze had come up before that work was done.
So now there's a massive assortment of lumber out there ready to be made into a building and we understand the contractor will be back tomorrow morning and begin nailing boards together! This is pretty exciting stuff for us MDHCA members at Goffs.
For our part, the following people were present and helping out as they could throughout the day: Gus and Stella Lind, Ron Shepard, John Harrington, Hugh & Carol Brown, Morris & Judy Swain, Jan Sears, Jerry Sears, and Dennis & Jo Ann Casebier.
Report by Dennis Casebier
Jerry Sears is out there continuing his burro bush whapping. He'll soon have all the burro bushes removed in between the creosotes from the Library/Depot site to the caboose, thereby diminishing the threat by wildfire. He's done a lot of work on it and Jan has helped.
The concrete crew constructs the form for the stem wall.
Report and photo by Dennis Casebier
The concrete crew - four strong - started work a little after six this morning. They are leveling out the ground by hand and have also brought a trailer load of "steel" (various kinds of reinforcing steel). They are determined to be ready for inspection on Wednesday.
At 7:30 AM the temperature was 34 degrees and a bit of a breeze.
A little before noon Jo Ann and I were out at the work site. Craig was talking about trying to get concrete lined up from Rinker of Mohave Valley. He has hopes of getting some delivered later this week.
Jerry and Jan Sears, with assistance from Gus on the tractor, have been working for a week now clearing burro brushes from in between the creosote bushes between the west side of the Library/Depot construction site and the caboose. This is a precaution in case of wildfire from the west.
Craig Merriam's concrete crew begins digging trenchs for the footings.Report and photo by Dennis Casebier
Things are hopping at Goffs. The contractors began arriving from Twentynine Palms at 6:30 am.
Presently the graders (whose job is essentially done), concrete man, and trenchers, and General Contractor Dan Cordova are on the ground. Must be ten people out there. I've been out there continuously since 6:45 am. The weather doesn't get nicer.
With Chris on the phone so I could verify my logic, I approved the exact siting of the building. The building is now marked out on the ground and the trencher is going to dig for the footings.
The cement man is expecting a pretty thorough inspection a week from today. The way seems clear for a quick inspection. The concrete man, Craig Merriam, can begin to pour when and if they pass inspection next Wednesday. He plans to pour the entire thing before Christmas. It'll take two pouring days and will be dependent upon weather. Craig has three people here besides himself.
Electrical is being done by Fred of CWS electrical. A/C is in the hands of High Desert Air. The trenching man is Bruce Pendergrass.
New workampers, Jerry and Jan Sears, worked hard whapping burro bushes out west of the Library/Depot site. This effort is designed to expand the perimeter of our fire breaks around our beautiful new building.
By the end of the day, all of the trenching for footings was completed. John Marnell checked the trenches on the ground with John Harrington's model of the Depot and has certified they are correct. The weather is beautiful but I'm hearing there may be heavy weather moving in by this coming weekend.
Report and photos by Dennis Casebier
The five men comprising the concrete crew worked frantically handling that amount of mud. But in not much more than a hour and a half the footprint of the slab was filled in and the four trucks had come and gone.
The crew spent much of the rest of the day finishing it off. The result is a really fine-looking slab upon which the Library/Depot will be based.
At mid-afternoon, a huge lumber delivery truck arrived with a heavy load from Palm Springs. The contractors had all left. They had indicated to us where they'd like the lumber placed, so it fell to the Goffs crew to direct the placement of the lumber and assist the driver in the actual unloading.
That required nearly three hours - it was getting dark and a cold breeze had come up before that work was done.
So now there's a massive assortment of lumber out there ready to be made into a building and we understand the contractor will be back tomorrow morning and begin nailing boards together! This is pretty exciting stuff for us MDHCA members at Goffs.
