Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Concrete floor laid
The concrete arrived today after lunch. The workers did a quick bit of preparation work, shuttering for the doors and finish tacking up the DPC to the wall, before starting to pour. I was quite relieved because mine and Ian's electrical work got a thumbs up.
It was fascinating watching them all work as a team. The concrete mixer driver (CMD) in the grey overalls had a small box which radio controlled the conveyor belt. It was unfolded from alongside the lorry to stretch into the barn opening, twisting and bending as it went, all remotely controlled, until it was fully extented and the conveyor belt was taught. His box also controlled the speed of delivery of the concrete.
The two guys in the stripey top and blue overalls raked and levelled whilst the third chap holding the delivery tube moved the concrete around the floor. The CMD manipulated the arm to follow his movements.
It was quite a joy to watch, real teamwork. There was no shouting, or calling left a bit, right a bit, they all just worked together sliently and efficiently as a team. Real professionals. I suspect this is a spinoff of the French system of having lots of separate 'expert' trades. There are not jack-of-all-trade builders over here, just artisans that stick to a specific job, and do it very well.
In order to get the whole floor flat and level they used a laser level. The leveller was a rotating laser beam that cast an invisible horizontal disc within the barn. Attached to a tee stick (the cross of the tee at the bottom) was the laser receiver that beeped when aligned. When the bottom of the tee was touching the concrete and it beeped, the operator smoothed out a small patch of concrete with a trowel and drew a circle around it. This marked a point. As they worked serveral points were marked about 3m or 4m apart and then they just joined up the known level points with a 3m straight edge. No little sticks pointing out the ground, or bits of string, just a laser. Dead clever and very fast. It also helped that the concrete was poured to almost the perfect level to start with so they did have tons of it to move about.
Anyway, if your still with me, the floor took two mixer loads (30 tonnes?) and was finished before tea time. Now we move onto windows and door openings.
| 9:28:07 PM
Concrete floor laid
