SMARTSCOPE News Flash: Monday July 29, 2002

Operation Backfill

Serge showed up at the site before 10 this morning just as I was finishing pumping out the pit. So he started hauling dirt for the backfilling. Al arrived a little later and between the two of us using shovels, we almost managed to keep up with Serge's backhoe. There is A LOT of manual labour needed to pile the dirt carefully around the sonotubes, and level it for the insulation.

So, it is just as well the concrete guy was unavailable tonight. With a little luck, Serge (and Al, and Hugh) will have enough backfilling done tomorrow that the concrete can be poured. I would suggest that to be really safe we plan to pour on Wednesday after 3PM.

The photo shows Al weighting down the slabs of insulation to keep them from blowing away if we get a thunderstorm tonight.

This page last modified: July 29, 2002