The Week of December 9, 2019 — More Mud, Excavation, Great Concrete Beams, and the Construction Crew Christmas Party
This week’s featured photo is of the north yard on which I was about to traverse after having forded several mud puddles and sloshed through the mud.
We will never complain about rain in Southern California; however, when it arrives, we don’t know what to do with the water. We had rain on Thanksgiving day, and then came the mud (see the previous post). The second round — an atmospheric river — arrived late Tuesday and most of Wednesday of last week. We then experienced scattered showers over this last weekend, producing more mud. Yesterday, December 9, southern California, was a glorious Chamber of Commerce day. This morning was bathed with sunshine but soon gave way to clouds.
Despite the rain, mud, cold weather (low 60s), and cloudy skies, work must go on at the corner of Barton Road and Anderson Street. And so, 21 days left in 2019, I made my entrance to the site at the Anderson street gate, where Jack, the gatekeeper, greeted me with a blunt “where you been?” After explaining my absence during the last few days, he allowed me to pass with a two-word instruction: “be careful.” As I made my way to the north yard where the work on the galleria and main entrance continues, Jack’s admonition “be careful” bounced around under my hardhat. The mud and mud puddles were just around the corner.
Zooming the lens closer to where the action was in around the trenches. From this image, it appears that this area appears to be mud-free, however, there were many areas where I had to watch my step as evidenced in the lower right.Standing on the edge of the trenches on the north side of the Adult Hospital tower, I suddenly had another “methinks I’ve seen this before” moment. Sure enough, after a quick search of my photo files, I found the image taken halfway around the world, five-years previously. The only thing lacking is the Terracotta Warriors in the trenches on the Loma Linda University Health Campus Transformation construction site.The construction crew begins to assemble for the Christmas barbecue. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Davidson.From this tower view, I wondered why the strips of wood were being laid out over the trenches. From this angle, I thought perhaps they were walkways to bridge the trenches. I was about to learn their purpose.A view of the trenches from the future east entrance of the hospital. From this angle, all I was able to see were some random pieces of wood.From the Schuman Pavilion pedestrian bridge, the lumber appeared to be laid out in some organized way. I needed to get down there a take a closer look. The colored lines that run up the image are reflections off of the glass on the bridge.As I neared the location, the lumber (4X4s) was strewn out in some sort of organized fashion. My suspicion was confirmed. The 4X4s served as frames to determine the top-dead-center (TDC) above the caissons. I inserted the yellow lines — north/south and east/west — to illustrate how the lines will be stretched over the caissons. It is important that the TDC be determined so that the embeds are properly seated inside the caissons.
After graduate school Dennis accepted a position at Loma Linda University. He worked there for 42 years in the areas of administration and financial management, also teaching accounting and management to dietetic students at the School of Public Health. Through the years Dennis has chronicled the growth of the campus, including the construction of the Drayson Center and the Centennial Complex and the razing of Gentry Gym. He is the author of "The Mound City Chronicles: A Pictorial History of Loma Linda University, A Health Sciences Institution 1905 - 2005." dEp 09.30.2016 🔨
