The boat is used to hold the barge against the rock face.
Concrete Mix
As form work was completed it was necessary to think about concrete. Originally
it was hoped that
pre-mixed concrete could be pumped up to the site. Unfortunately it was found that the only barge large
enough to carry the truck(s) and the pump was on-loan to a movie company for the
next three weeks. On
checking the tides (an important issue on Passage Island) and the availability of help Stephen
decided to move cement over to the Island in two days time. The following morning the
contacts were made and the cement
delivered to the dock at Horseshoe Bay at noon, the same day. This was about the time the rain started.
The following day everyone was up at 4:30 am, with the barge arriving at about 7:00 - together with the day's rain! The barge brought 10 palettes of cement, each with 56 bags, and each one of these weighing 55 lbs. (One bag makes a minimum of 4.2 cubic feet of cement.) The barge was able to put 2 palettes of cement (112 bags 6,160 lb) onto the landing area at a time. Stephen's hoist will take 1,000 lb. Soon after the barge unloaded the first load 16 bags started their way up the 80 feet to the site. Unfortunately, the winch mechanism failed at the start of the 12th load, and although it was repaired, it was soon found the repair was not adequate. This meant that all the cement still on the beach area would have to be moved before high tide.
The tides for the day were as follows:
2:40 am low tide 10.8 feet
7:05 am high tide 13.1 feet
2:20 pm low tide 1.6 feet
9:55 pm high tide 15.7 feet
As you see the high and low tides vary considerably!
By 7:00 pm all the cement had been moved above the high tide mark - and all 30,800 lb had been handled using 5 people. They were all completely exhausted at the end of the day, but with the satisfaction that they had survived the rain which continued all day, and had moved all the concrete to safety. The following day everyone took a day to relax!
The boat is used to hold the barge against the rock face.
The barge has its own crane. It is powered by a diesel engine mounted below deck.
The weight of two palettes of concrete is almost enough to sink one corner of the barge.
The first 16 bags of concrete makes its way up the 80 feet to the building site.
Close-up of concrete on hoist.
At the end of June 6, about 35% of the concrete was at the building site 80 feet up, and the balance was somewhere between the high tide line and the level of the lower A-frame of the hoist. During the period June 8 (yes, everyone had a day off after the June 6 - 30,800lb move day!) and June 20 (two days before the first concrete pouring) the balance of the concrete was moved up with the hoist to the building site. Everyone took turns at this, but Chris was the one who did most of the hard work. Even after the hoist it is necessary to get the concrete to the actual building site - up the last 10 to 20 feet depending on where the concrete was stored.
Chris moving one of the last bags of concrete to a position at the building site.
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