Matt731
Registered: May 2009
City/Town/Province: Chula Vista
Posts: 1
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The following two sections were written before the project:
Section 1: Plans
I will be building a retaining wall around the border of a strip of dirt that is located next to a building at the First United Methodist Church of Chula Vista. The wall will be constructed from 16”x11”x6” keystone concrete blocks. Because the area is on a slope, the wall will begin as one block high at the more elevated end. Then, as we get about halfway towards the opposite end, a second layer will start at the side of the building and curve out to go on top of the first layer.
There are also two water outlets in the side of the building that will be behind the wall. We will be placing gravel and small/medium rocks under these outlets to guide water flow and reduce mudflow/erosion.
Presently, there are plants (Day Lilies) that will need to be removed to create the wall. After the wall has been completed, these plants will be replaced as they are now. This is a kind of plant that may be separated into multiple plants, and it is possible that we may use this option to increase the space covered by the vegetation.
Section 2: Benefits
Whenever it rains, the dirt in this area erodes and washes out onto the adjacent sidewalk. This makes the church campus look messy and unpleasant-looking. It also causes the church to lose money in the replacement of the washed-out dirt. Afterward, any dirt that has been removed flows down into the storm drains. With it come any insecticides and/or fertilizers that have been added/sprayed to the area, polluting its destination. There are many plants that are dependent on the dirt staying in its preferred location. When the soil is eroded away, the plants’ lower portions (i.e. the roots) are exposed, making it harder for the plants to survive. Also, when the sprinklers are ran in order to water the plants, the water runs out of the area, defeating the purpose of watering the plants. This wall (and rock gutters) will help to retain the dirt, making the campus more attractive, saving money, reducing pollution and preserving the plant-life, as well as contain any water in the dirt area.
Previous to the project, the church has been scheduled to be tented and fumigated for termites. The plants are in an area that they may be damaged/destroyed during this event. We will be removing these plants prior to the tenting, so as to save plant-life and any money that would have been spent to replaced any potentially damaged plants.
This final section was written after the project’s completion:
Section 3: Description of events/changes
At 8 a.m. on Saturday, we arrived at the project location and, after unloading blocks, I instructed the group on where to dig. Initially, I had hoped to use wheelbarrows for the movement of dirt to and from the dirt area and the tarps. I was unable to find anyone to donate a wheelbarrow, so five gallon painter’s buckets were used instead.
In the process of digging the area to lay the foundation for the bricks, old irrigation pipes were broken in two places, which caused leaking in the system. One of these breaks was soon easily repaired, but the other seemed a more complicated beyond our experience. As the crew was unable to repair this on their own, a professional landscaper donated his time and materials to make the repairs. This was finished in a brief amount of time, and, consequently, it did not slow down the schedule to any great extent.
I was originally planning on cutting the blocks that would go in the area adjacent to the pink control boxes, but realized that we could unbury the boxes and move them instead. At first I did not expect to be able to move them far enough, and thought that we would still have to cut some of the blocks. When we finally moved the boxes, we realized that we would not have to cut the blocks, and that there was enough room to place them in front of the boxes.
Around 10 a.m., I directed some of the workers to begin laying gravel for a foundation. This was kept at a constant two inches below the surface of the concrete.
I initially was planning on digging don six inches below the concrete surface, and had done so. Then, as we started laying gravel for the foundation, it did not seem that we had enough gravel for the whole length to have the blocks at the desired height, so we replaced some of the dirt, raising it to about four to five inches below the surface, depending on the location.
In relation to the previous change, some section of the gravel became as shallow as 2 inches. Because of this change, we had enough gravel to finish the job, as well as fill in spaces between the blocks for the sake of a more visually attractive look. I originally was going to use stakes and string for the leveling of the gravel, but one of the crew members instead made and donated a scrim which was used.
Around 1 p.m., I sent a group to begin retrieving the remaining blocks while I continued to supervise the project. These blocks were laid out for their placement to be planned.
As it approached 3 p.m., I instructed the workers to begin laying sand over the gravel, then smoothing it out again with the scrim. Once this process had made good progress, the blocks began being set in place under my supervision.
On Sunday, we arrived at the site at 1 p.m., deposited another load of blocks, and continued laying gravel, then sand, then blocks along the perimeter. Once the foundation was completed and the present blocks were used up, two workers went to get the last load of blocks. These were set in place, and the group began to put the dirt back behind the blocks as I instructed. We had enough soil already in place that we did not need to purchase any topsoil. The area was cleaned, the final touches made, and the project was finished.
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