Things got pretty quiet at 67 Boardwalk after we broke ground. After a few days though, activity began in earnest. This week I got to watch the retaining wall take shape! Although this stuff is exciting to me, you may want to take this opportunity to read a book or take a nap. But if you’re still with me, here are some pictures of the process…

Michael Belcher is our contractor for the wall and the eventual piers that our house will sit on. He needed to drill piers for the wall too so the first step is to move some dirt and make trenches.

Although most of the dirt moving and digging was done by a back hoe, some man-power was required to make corners and straight sides.

He said he digs his job!

The back right corner of our lot had some utility lines crossing the wall location, so all of this had to be hand dug! This was a hard day for the guys with the shovel, but they did a great job and no lines were cut.

Gas or cable-I can’t remember which

These black foam mats were delivered to go in the bottom of the trench before the concrete is poured.

When the trench is complete, Michael came to drill the piers for the wall. It needed fourteen. Somehow I didn’t get a picture of this, but there will be plenty of these once the house gets started.  Then he puts the rebar in and concrete is poured in the hole.

Fun to watch.

Two more concrete trucks idle at the end of the block to finish the job.

This is what it looked like at the end of the day. The concrete has to dry some before they begin stacking the cinder blocks.

Lovely!

Stay tuned for the next installment of…ADVENTURES IN DIRT! It’s currently my favorite program and playing in living color from my front porch. 🙂