. . . then a view from the top of site circa fall 2008, and a shot from the third floor balcony sometime this past March, followed by the view down site taken the morning of the big dig.
The day was perfect: clear, warm, and dry. Just before 8 am. the machines started arriving. There was a giant excavator pulling up the earth with a 4 foot wide hoe, and a bulldozer pushing it up to the top of site to form the parking area. Before too long, a heavy-duty tamper arrived on the scene to pack the driveway soil in place.
Depth surveys were taken as the hole grew deeper. We were looking to dig the hole to about 16'8" below the level of the second floor deck.
The cistern we were preparing to accommodate is a fibreglass drum 8'6" in diameter, and 19'10" long, and is surrounded on all sides by 18" of pea gravel. Given these dimentions, the hole created was a few feet better than 12 x 23. To add extra adrenaline to the process, we knew we were working with a pretty narrow triangular space between water and sewage lines, and looking to duck under the gas line with the inflow pipe.
.. yes, the kid running that giant machine looks very young but he was incredibly talented and deft. It's pretty awesome to watch folks who can maneuver such a huge piece of equipment so precisely and gently.
... a little work by hand to make a nice, smooth, rock-free base ...
... then grading the slope, and lining the excavation with heavy filter cloth in preparation for the tank! In all, an enormous volume of earth was extracted. Much to our pleasure, the somewhat friable site soil behaved wonderfully: there was almost no caving along this deep, straight-sided excavation.
Next ... the tank arrives!!
~ laura
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