Contractor Complete

Saturday at 7:15 AM a crew of 6 with Bob-Cat and pile of crushed rock began the final stage.  In the area between the barn and the retaining wall, the Bob-Cat angled the grade away from the barn, and meanwhile the rest of the crew laid landscape fabric behind the wall and covered it with dirt.  The fabric will keep the dirt from infiltrating the rock behind the wall, allowing drainage from the slope on the west side.  Here the crew continues behind the barn (south side):

The grade takes water from the roof away from the barn, around the back, and into the existing drainage swale.  (This swale drains into West Kiowa Creek, which drains into the South Platte River, which eventually drains into the Missouri -- as contrasted with any property a couple hundred yards south and the other side of Palmer Divide, so rainwater drains into the Arkansas River.)

Next step: cover the grade with 3-4" crushed rock (1-1/2" Colorado White).  The Bob-Cat skillfully distributes the rock & the crew rakes it to the edges.

Going around the corner from west side to south side (rear) of the barn.

By 11 AM they were finished!  West side:

South side:

Now we must continue along the east side with more rock.  The grade is already acceptable, and there is more room for we amateurs to work.  Today I brought in 8 more tons crushed rock and have about half of it spread.  With Carl's tractor I can get a very lumpy preliminary distribution, but at my skill level I must finish by hand.

In front of the barn (north side), things are somewhat torn up from trucks  & skid-steers running about, loads of material dumped & then pushed about, etc.  We'll used some crushed rock in front of the man door, and redo the road base in front of the main barn door (18' wide x 10' high).  The space just completed between the east side & the retaining wall is about 10' wide, so we could park something there if we needed to; the area in front of the main door will be graded & covered with one or another gravel so that we can turn around there.

Cap blocks on the Wall

Friday 12 Sep we had an early-AM dusting of snow, and it stayed cold all day, 30-35 degrees.  But the caps finally arrived, and the crew expertly placed & glued them, using a 10" diamond saw to fit around the corners.  It remains to grade the area between the barn & the wall so it will drain, & cover it with gravel.  However, as you can see, it's too muddy to work on (and their grader is in the shop with a severe hydraulic leak).

This coming week is forecast to be much warmer & drier, and we hope to see them finish the whole job.

A little Cleanup

Carl, thank you for letting me use your tractor!  The dirt which was cleared to build the retaining wall was piled on the east side of the barn, and I wanted to get it away from there before the next rain.  I need lots of practice with the front-end bucket;  I got the pile moved, but the area left beside the barn is pretty lumpy.

Laboring on Labor Day

Monday, 6:54 AM: the crew is laying out the wall foundation, and the skid-steer is warming up.

After some initial sculpting, the boss shoots a level.

The skid-steer establishes the basic grade and space behind the wall; then the backhoe digs a shallow trench for the foundation.

Even in clay, tamping is required.  The trench is filled with pulverized concrete.  The skid-steer cannot position itself at a right-angle in the narrow space alongside the barn, so the wheelbarrows are the final step.

These men are quite precise.

As each course is laid, they gravel-fill the spaces between blocks and the hollow cores, as well as behind the wall.

Flexible perforated pipe is laid out to drain behind the wall, to handle the water coming down the slope to the west of the barn.

Webbing at the final course will hold the perforated drainpipe in place.

By the end of the day (4:30 PM), all blocks are laid & back-filled with gravel.  Yet to come are capstones, then laying down landscape fabric over the gravel and covering it with dirt.  Laying gravel on the ground between the wall and the side of the barn will come in a couple of weeks.