Having moved the caravan to the farm on Tuesday, it was down to serious digging on Wednesday. We purchased the 60m of pipe needed for the pipe run and returned to the chapel to begin. Nick is using the mini digger just like an extension of him, he is so skilled at using it and knowing the exact moved on the levers to make in order to power lift large rocks, granite blocks or just the right jiggle factor to separate soil from stone. It is both fascinating and amazing to see how the arm does its thing and a level trench begins to appear. Nick was able to reveal but not break or crack the 3 clay surface water drains that crossed the pipe run although that did make the progress slower over that section and the next morning free from those restrictions he finished the rest of the pipe run in record time. We were using another amazing piece of kit in the form of a laser level. This, once set up to the right level, allowed us to check the fall on the trench by just lowering a measuring rod into the trench every few metres and wait for the buzzer to sound. If it was a steady beep it was bang on the right level and if it was intermittent, looking at the display panel showed an arrow to tell you if it was too low or too high and allow you to adjust accordingly. The soil was just right not too wet and not too dry so the trench did not fall back in on itself or slump into a watery mush. It is mostly grey blue clay with slate chips in and the occasional granite boulder. The area in front of the chapel has a layer of brown coloured top soil in contrast to the grey and must be the original field level. We spent the afternoon joining pipework and adding shingle to create a pipe bed layer which protects the pipe from sharp objects and will help to equalise the pressures around the pipe when the trench is filled in. So by the end of the day we had pipes in the ground all connected up to inspection chambers ready for Building Control to check the following morning. It is amazing how the ground seems to be capable of looking like it runs both up and down at the same time in some places! So if all is good tomorrow we will have drains ready to be connected up to the main sewer in a fortnight. Then we just need to add some bathrooms on the other end and we will be a fully connected home with water, drains, electricity, telephone and internet!
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AuthorJan and Pete, retiring Headteachers with a dream. Archives
November 2018
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