Friday, March 31, 2006

Masons Finish Foundation



The masons lay the brick facing on the foundation. This completes this phase. Starting Monday the electrician and plumber will install the under-slab conduit and piping so that the building slab can be poured.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Unsuitable Soil Problem Costly

The unsuitable soils problem discussed earlier has been resolved, but at a price. Almost 3000 cubic yards of soil were removed, replaced, and compacted to achieve stable soil for the new building and the expansion to the parking lot. This was in addition to the fill required to achieve the grade levels specified in the site plan. The problem came about due to the fact that the old parking lot covered a large portion of the construction area. It was not possible to know exactly what lay beneath it. We knew that our old septic system was there, but it turned out that there were two septic system tanks and drain fields located under the footprint of the new building. The potential for the septic system creating a problem was identified by soil borings conducted by Froehling & Robertson, the soil engineering firm that Shiloh engaged prior to the start of grading. The problems were confirmed once the asphalt was removed and actual conditions could be observed.

The borings also identified a potential problem area in the southwest portion of the future parking lot. This turned out to be the larger problem and the most expensive to correct. The area contained a large quantity of old fill consisting of organic matter, asphalt, concrete, and building materials. It appears that at some time in the past this area was used as a dump of some sort. A lot of soil had to be replaced to achieve stable conditions.

The F&R soil engineer supervised all of the unsuitable soil corrective efforts and achieved satisfactory compaction test results in the affected areas.

The final cost to Shiloh for this unsuitable soil effort is right at $50,000. This cost is not part of the $1,310,000 construction contract with J H Batten. Fortunately the church voted to give the New Building Committee a budget of $40,000 to cover any costs that are not included in the construction contract - so the cost of the project has not increased by the full $50,000 - but it has increased.

Other costs to the church at present include a $1,000 increase to the soil erosion barrier and a $2,000 change to the electrical plan - both required by King George County. The county has also mentioned that they may require that the roof be constructed with fire-retardant plywood. This change would also result in additional cost. As soon as all of the additional cost factors are fully identified, the New Building Committee will come to the church for guidance.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Tree Spared!


VDOT has agreed to the re-design of the left turn lane. This change will save the tree whose branches are shown in the top right of the photo.

Block Work Continues


The masons are nearly finished with the foundation and the outline of the new building can clearly be seen.










Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Friday, March 24, 2006

Ready for Final Pour


Concrete workers install last of the rebar in preparation for the last pour of concrete for the building footers.










Here the completed footers can be seen








The mason will begin to lay the block (shown in background) starting Monday

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Foundation Started


The pouring of the concrete building footers has begun and will continue this week as weather permits. The mason is scheduled to start next Monday (27 March) to lay the block on top of the footings that will be the building foundation.

Sunday, March 19, 2006

At Last!


Digging of the footings has started! The block has been delivered and concrete is planned to arrive this Monday (3/20/06). This week will mark the transition from site preparation to actual construction.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Ready to Dig Footings


The exterior and interior walls are now shown in orange paint in preparation for the excavation of the footings.




Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Building Permit Issued!

We now have our building permit and the site grading is complete. The storm drain culvert for the new parking lot is being installed today. The concrete contractor has commenced mobilization to our site and will pour the footings as soon as they are excavated. That excavation work should commence tomorrow. We expect the mason to begin laying block on the footings next week. We plan to meet with VDOT in two weeks to address the modifications to the left turn lane needed to spare our oak tree.