Progress on Re-Digging the Footers

After a long weather delay, they got back to work on Friday, March 2. They started re-digging the footers and pumping the water out of them. The geotextile fabric and loads of gravel were delivered.

What is the fabric?

The fabric is Thrace-Linq® 125EX. I read it off the label.

Thrace-Linq® 125 EX is a nonwoven geotextile fabric manufactured from Polypropylene staple fiber. The fibers are randomly oriented and form a cohesive / stabilized needle punched fabric for use in many applications including, for our purposes, filtration.

Thrace-Linq® 125 EX  Filtration: Restrains soil or other particles subjected to hydrodynamic forces while allowing the passage of fluids into or across a geotextile.

Thrace-Linq® 125 EX is resistant to commonly encountered chemicals, mildew and insects found in soil.

It is a version of the same material silt fences are made from and landfills are lined with.

They worked until it got dark Friday, then worked all day Saturday. The sky was still blue.

They dug out the footers, digging until they hit bedrock.

The walls kept caving in. The footers were getting wider and wider and the piles of dirt were getting taller and taller. They had to move the dirt from one place to another to get it out of the way as they worked.

As an area was done, men started laying out the fabric, dumping in gravel and folding the fabric back over it.

They use these pins to hold the fabric up as they pour in the gravel.

They pounded the gravel down and measured to be sure it was the right height.

After the gravel is in, the fabric is folded over it.

Where the footers got too wide because the walls kept caving in, they had to put another piece of fabric to make the pieces meet.

We went back out on Sunday, but at least when we were there, nothing was going on. A lot was done, but there was a lot still to get done. Before it rains and ruins it all.

Next: More Progress on the Engineered Footers >