White boxes seen on picture above are made of airboard - the purpose of them is after pouring of concrete they will be taken off and to be drilled holes from water side up to 31 metres underground,reinforced with special steel lines,poured with concrete by injection as well.It will hold the wall against falling to the water. Total weight one of them will be 80 tonns     

 

 Steel fixing during progress.Grey plastic pipes will use the drilling service to be drilled from the boat at angle through those pipes.

 

Piling service in action.They were unable to finish up piling due to geological structure problems underground.We've got about 6 weeks of delay until another piling machinery had arrived. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

2009 - 2010

Entire frosty winter that year I spent working mainly at inside finishing of my new home due to lack of job opportunities caused by low temperatures in my highlands area.To be unemployed winter time it's the one of the worst things as I know.Only 3 weeks in January I worked in my joinery workshop at furniture production of solid oak.It was furnitures for local court - counters,tables,desks,seats & chairs for judges made of stained solid oak and varnished with spray.

Assembling of roof on veranda

Fitting of timber floor - spruce boards with tongue and groove. 

Fitting of sheeting on the walls - sheeting comes in to the groove in string of stairs

View from bottom.

Arch over the door from corridor to dining room - made of stained pine timber,varnished with BONDEX Satin Finish.I think that it is one of the best varnishes for woodwork available in shops.

Arch & wall completed.Stairs will be assembled as last,to avoid scratches.

Attic conversion - it will be 2 rooms for kids.

View on partition made of 4 x 2 inches timber-one side already slabbed with plasterboard.

Arch door done myself to living room made of best quality spruce timber.

Radiator cover.

I

Partition behind the chimney - it will be some kind of wardrobe or store to use the free space.

Ceiling prepared for fitting of sheating

Start of fitting.

Partition for wardrobe to use free space over the stairs

------------------------------------------

In October 2009 I had to refuse the contract in Amsterdam at underground railway (formwork) as my dad was fatally sick (cancer) and I was the only person who was able to look after him until his death in 13th February 2010.As worse to be prepared for that job properly,I spent some money for VCA Cerificate (Dutch Safety Training Certificate valid until 2019) and other essential things as doctors examination for underground work,etc.

I tryed to delay start the job in there but unfortunately that job has gone.They rang to me 1st of April to ask me whether I am ready to start job underground or not.It was 2 days before Easter ,1st of April 2010 (joke?)- I answered them that I'll be ready to go next week.Past a couple days I got message from Amsterdam - no job for me.

In 7th of April I started work on site as winter had gone.But first days winter returned again for about week in mid of April.

My job in there was finishing up soffets made of spruce timber sheating,build up some partitions for slabbing on the attic,fitting window boards and window seals as well.

2009

In April of 2009,I and 3 of my friends started serious job on famous Annaholty Bogs,about 15km from Limerick at new motorway N7 site in progress with COFFEY CONSTRUCTION Ltd.
  This is the view seen when I first time arrived
 
Concrete piles made of steel & concrete seen above was piled into peat-bog average from 30 up to 45 meters deep until met solid rock under bog.
If over 45 m of deepness wasn't solid rock underneath,so was made big concrete beam covering sometimes dozens of piles.
  Set up of steel cages on tops of piles.
  Setting up of shutters-was 4 sizes of pile caps: 105/105 cm,135/135 cm,155/155 cm and 185/185 cm (we hated them most as shutters was very heavy to carrying through the swamp-the MANITOU teleporter had not access to lift them everywhere)
  Ready shutters for pouring of concrete
   Jack finishing pile cap shutter Rolling heavy cages
  Cutting of piles with consaw-dusty job
  Concrete pump-necessary for pouring

 

At the end of June I got bad news from my family home in Poland - my father was very sick,nearly unable to any move.I resigned then of employment in Ireland and I returned to Poland to look after him as my dad required 24 hour of care.

 

 

------------------------------------------

2008

When I returned after Christmas holiday to Ireland from Poland,I and my friend Lucas took the job in Schull,Co.Cork as self-employed.
It was finishing of interiors in private house belonged to my former manager from COFFEY Ltd.(see 2007 year jobs).

 

Front view of that house-cladding was fitted of high quality Canadian pine with very narrow wood grain

We screwed all plasterboards,done all taping & jointing before in December 07 before Christmas,painted with rollers to cream colour in February 2008

After that tiled all ground floors & bathrooms with big size tiles 300 mm by 600 mm.

After that I fitted all woodwork including doors,skirtings,architraves,window boards and kitchen units as well.

Unit for oven & hob fitted

When our job inside was nearly finished,we've done all external jobs as : fencing & walls of blocks rendered

 

Front & rear deck of timber boards including balustrades with usual square spindles-also rear balcony on 1st floor.

Setting up to level bottom beams

Front decking

Jack paints top and bottom rails

Ceiling was made of high quality pine sheeting and painted on cream colour.

Boiler house in rear garden built of blocks roofed with plywood covered with felt using gas torch,separately I shuttered 2 stages for water & heating oil tanks.
------------------------------------
On February 2008 I was employed again after winter break with ICDS (Irish Construction Development Services) where I worked already until mid of September 2007.The first my job with them was at Kinsale Harbour,Co.Cork with Coffey Construction Ltd as carpenter.We built Master of Harbour House

Timber slats fitted with express nails for waterproof plywood screwed after

Partitions of 4 by 2 inches done for slabbing on the top floor-at present there is a Master of Kinsale Harbour Office

Roofing made of timber trusses

Edge of roof during progress

Top of roof

Jack at pouring of concrete & finishing

View on Kinsale Harbour

---------------------------------------------

My next job at the end of March 2008  was on building site in Carrigtohill-about 15 km from Cork.

ICDS sent me with other carpenters to help for one of the biggest & known construction company SISK & Sons Construction Ltd. - nearly finished factory unit for FOURNIER Ltd. - pharmaceutical company,one of many other pharmaceutical companies located in County Cork.We were working in there only 3 weeks.

 

The factory view from car park

 

Our job in there was making footpaths arround factory units - shutter and pouring of concrete with concrete finishing as well

Also,we had to move plywood fencing to other side of site and erect it again.

 

After finish of that job,I had to leave ICDS because was very quiet then-lack of job opportunities caused by downturn of buildings.

----------------------------------------

On April 2008,I got new employer - O'Neill & Brennan Recruitment,Little Island,Co.Cork-they sent us to the new job with MURPHY INTERNATIONAL LTD. on East Cork Gas Pipeline as shuttering carpenter-beside Aghada Power Plant in County Cork,Ireland.
Our task was to make concrete bases for pump station with 450mm pipes diameter from start to finish.
You can see below begining-put plastic and steel fixing
 
The stage seen below is a first one.Further you can see the Power Generation Station of Aghada.   
   Shutters seen below are with special pockets for pipes installation  And after striking shutters  Big stage for kiosk-ready for pouring     Pouring of concrete. My next job got from O'Neill & Brennan Recruitment on June 2008 was in Cork City with RIDGE Ltd. - shuttering of overhead beams on site of 24 houses for disabled people financed by Irish Government.
   View on full size of beam.Inside these walls will be small shops or other services (barber,manicure,shoe-repair etc.)  Steel fixing details  Set up of shutters  Ready for pouring of concrete  Jack in action-drilling with SDS power drill  Pouring of concrete with KATO crane  Striking of shutters.

1. A deck system for building a bridge superstructure, the deck system having a plurality of support beams extending longitudinally along the length of the bridge, and erected at predetermined spaced locations across the width of the bridge to define a separation, the support beams each having a plurality of beam anchors secured to the support beams; screed adjustors provided in pairs for disposing on opposed lateral edges of the support beams; precast concrete slabs having a width for spanning said separation between the support beams, and being disposed end to end in abutting relationship, the slabs having a plurality of slab reinforcement bars disposed within the slabs at spaced intervals along the lengths of the slabs, the slab reinforcement bars having free extremities which protrude from the slabs on opposite lateral sides thereof to lie over said support beams, and a selected number of said slab reinforcement bars additionally having portions which extend upwardly above an operatively upper surface of the slabs at regular spaced intervals to define slab anchors for securing a concrete topping to be poured onto the precast concrete slabs; deck reinforcement bars for coupling the precast concrete slabs to the beam anchors; and ties for securing the deck reinforcement bars to the beam anchors and to free extremities of the slab reinforcement bars. 

2. A deck system according to claim 1 having a plurality of precast concrete slabs each having rectangular upper and lower faces defining a pair of long sides and a pair of short sides, the short sides being somewhat recessed to define a chamfer on forward and trailing edges extending between the support beams for the precast concrete slabs to abut one another when placed end to end and provide a flush upper surface to support a concrete topping. 

3. A deck system according to claim 1 having a plurality of precast concrete slabs each having parallel lateral edges, and forward and trailing edges for abutting on adjacent precast concrete slabs, a selected number of slabs having a forward edge which is inclined relative to a respective trailing edge and a selected number of slabs having a trailing edge which is inclined relative to a respective forward edge. 

4. A deck for a bridge superstructure having a plurality of support beams extending longitudinally along the length of the bridge, and erected at predetermined spaced locations across the width of the bridge to define a separation, the support beams each having a plurality of beam anchors secured to the support beams and screed adjustors disposed in pairs on opposed lateral edges of the support beams, the deck having: a plurality of precast concrete slabs disposed end to end with forward and trailing edges abutting one another along the length of the associated support beams, the precast concrete slabs having a width for spanning said separation between the support beams, the slabs having a plurality of slab reinforcement bars disposed within the slabs at spaced intervals along the lengths of the slabs, the slab reinforcement bars having free extremities which protrude from the slabs on opposite lateral sides thereof to lie over said support beams, and a selected number of said slab reinforcement bars additionally having portions which extend upwardly above an operatively upper surface of the slabs at regular spaced intervals to define slab anchors for securing a concrete topping formed in situ on the precast concrete slabs; deck reinforcement bars coupling the precast concrete slabs to the beam anchors; ties securing the deck reinforcement bars to the beam anchors and to free extremities of the slab reinforcement bars; and a concrete topping formed in situ on the precast concrete slabs. 

5. A deck according to claim 4 in which the precast concrete slabs have parallel lateral edges, a selected number of slabs having a forward edge which is inclined relative to a respective trailing edge and a selected number of slabs having a trailing edge which is inclined relative to a respective forward edge. 

Foundation Systems

Raft slabs are as the name suggests foundations that cover the whole surface area of the building in one continuous piece. They are often joined when the area is too large for a single pour, but the rebar though the construction joints keeps the slab working as a whole.

In general they work well with flat sites. When the land has a slope to it the formwork and the fill at the lower end can get a bit of a handful and so at some stage a decision has to be made between using a raft slab or a strip footing on a sloping site.

Raft slabs are very quick and easy to build and they can be completed with a minimum amount of disturbance to the site and when completed the site is clean and accessible for loading up materials for the next stage of the work.

The sketch above shows a section through a typical edge beam. A requirement of the building code where I live states that all habitable rooms must have their floor levels a minimum of 150mm above natural ground level. Further, the code states that rooms like bathrooms that contain a floor waste should have a floor level that is a minimum of 250mm above NGL. So in practice the slabs are nearly always 250 or higher than the highest part of the adjacent land.

At the same time the structural engineer likes to see the beams going into the ground a minimum amount so it can be seen that raft foundations can get very expensive in terms of the concrete quantities used.

Foundation Systems

PIER FOUNDATION
            similar to a deck built several feet above the ground. It is supported by pillars and posts or pilings.

PILE FOUNDATION
      may be: cast in place-concrete poured into ground
      cased- steel pipe in ground then filled
      uncased- cased concrete 'plug' placed & case removed
       micropiles- small diameter drilled & reinforced

Although those of us in the ready mix business would love nothing better than to sell more concrete, when it comes to pervious concrete we want to make sure that it is the proper material of choice and if so, how much of a job should use it.  Question number one should always be, what is the underlying soils percolation rate?  If it is at least ½ of rain per hour then pervious concrete is an ideal candidate.  If the perc rate is not quite what we would like it to be, chances are we can address that by creating a deeper recharge bed, in other words, build a deeper holding tank under the pavement.  If there is any concern about the ability of the soils to take the rain storm that the pavement is designed for, then a good belt and suspenders approach would be to run a perforated pipe halfway in the recharge bed to allow the system to take all of the rain it can and if need be, have an extra outlet rather than have the rain back up into the pervious pavement sections.  Studies have shown that even clay soils can now be used under properly designed pervious concrete pavements and with recent mix design improvements pervious concrete is now being used not only for parking lots and sidewalks but for alleyways and residential streets.

When designing a pervious pavement concrete can be very competitive with traditional asphalt designs, especially when we use regular concrete drive lanes and pervious concrete parking stalls.  If as a designer you can remove or reduce the number of catch basins, perimeter drains and other underground work, many times a pervious concrete system will be the most economical way to build not only an environmentally friendly but also a safer parking lot.

Bob Banka is President of Concrete Management Solutions and has been involved with the development of pervious concrete for over twenty years.   To learn more visit: