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.