BRIDGE
is FINISHED!!
September 14 - Finally, after more than 1 month of hard work,
lots of frustration and many nights of being sore, we have completed
the bridge.
It
is 24 feet wide and 15 feet high above the creek. The actual 'tube'
that carries the water from one side to the next is 5 feet in
diameter 24 feet wide and made of a new PVC material. It is apparently
stronger than the traditional concrete tubes and is obviously
lighter. It took 2 people to lift it and put it in place - versus
the use of a crane!
We
mixed and poured over 200 bags of concrete to create a 6 x 1.5
foot foundation on both sides and then layed over 300 blocks to
form a dirt retaining wall. All of this reinforced with lots of
steel bars and more concrete within the blocks.
Once
the bridge was finished, the bulldozer pushed in several tons
of dirt from a hill above to fill up to the top.
"Does
it work?" was the next question on our minds! Well last week
the bridge passed the two most important tests. We have begun
bringing in the river rock (gravel) for the road and the multi
ton MAC trucks have been driving over it without any problems.
We also had an earthquake (4.6, but enough to shake things a bit)
and have not found any cracks or structural issues.
Our
many thanks to Nacho, Martin, Felipe and Vicente for all their
hard work and help! Maya and Emmanuelle were there for moral support
- which was also well apreciated.
We
can finally and safely drive to the top. Now all we need is to
finish the gravel process - but THAT is another story!
