Arthur's Restaurant on Ten Mile Lake - Page 5

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These photos were submitted by Tom Cox in the fall of 2014

Construction Update as of October 25

Here is Carl on Friday, the 17th, overseeing the backfilling around the foundation. Since our site is mostly clay, the material right against the building must be imported washed sand, for proper drainage. That's Aaron, Jerry Peterson's young son helping out - seriously! - on MEA weekend, and Nolan, a young man from Pine River, down in the excavation shoveling sand.

The foundation is now mostly covered with a Tyvex-like product called Mel Rol, a 60 mil plastic and rubber fabric that waterproofs the foundation.

Kirk Lowe, our electrical sub-contractor, stopped by on Monday, the 20th, to install the permanent electrical cable to which MN Power will connect in due time.

By Monday, also, with the basement plumbing already in place, Carl and his crew laid two-inch thick sheets of Styrofoam on the sand floor.

On top of the Styrofoam, Carl and Jason Snodgrass laid the piping that will carry the in-floor heat for the basement.

Here Carl uses a special stapler to fasten the pipe in place while Jason unrolls and lays out the pipe.

8:30 AM. It's still dark on the lake side of the foundation; that's Shari Peterson and Brad Edwards in the window consulting about preparations for the pouring, while Carl and Jason tie up the loose ends of the in-floor heat piping so that it won't be buried by the concrete when it comes at about 9:00 AM.

8:32 AM. The floor is ready with piping and rebar for the pour. Those holes in the styrofoam will allow the floor concrete to pour down and settle on some under-floor footings that will carry bearing walls.

On Tuesday, the 21st, at about 9:00 AM (the shadows reveal how low the sun still is in the morning sky) the pour began in the southwest corner of the basement. Here the crew uses shovels and a screed to level the concrete as it pours from the conveyor on the BMI truck.

Late that afternoon, at about 5:00 o'clock, Brad Edwards is power trowelling the surface of the new floor to make it perfectly smooth.

Tuesday evening, we had a little rain, and the next morning there was rain water on the floor - not a problem, as it slowed down the setting process and helped make for strong concrete. But Shari and a colleague would come with leaf blowers later in the week to dry up the water and clean the floor to prepare the concrete for sealing.

Meanwhile, two of our six new 3,000 gallon septic tanks had been delivered and unloaded in the south parking lot.

Here is Rick Smith on Wednesday, the 22nd, excavating for the septic tanks. There will be six altogether, in two rows of three each. One will be a grease trap. The "high strength" waste will have ample time and space to settle out before flowing down to the south parking lot, where it will receive additional treatment and "polishing" before being pumped under Highway 371 and up to the new drain field on the east side of the highway.

Meanwhile, the new drainfield - actually four new mounds, each with its own pump, is complete. Hundreds of dump truck loads of sand, sandy loam and black dirt have been hauled up and carefully contoured to provide for proper dispersal of the effluent. Here you see the drain field seeded and covered with straw to prevent erosion and retain moisture for the seed.

Already, curiosity-seekers have been seen driving up into the drain field area. So on Thursday I rigged up this menacing sign to ward them off. Driving SUVs or snowmobiles on the drain field would cause major damage to this expensive installation.

Rick Smith set the septic tanks yesterday. Here is the first one being lifted off of its truck. The tanks come in two parts, which are sealed with a heavy rubber-like compound that is applied to the top rim of the bottom half of the tank before the top half is lowered on to it. Each tank weighs about 20,000 pounds, or ten tons!

And while the tanks were being set, Ed Swanson, Greg Anderson and Larry Overcash were hauling the fill from the foundation excavation off of the site and over to our property on the east side of 371 where they disposed of it at the south end of our property. As soon as that task is complete, I'll seed the area to prevent erosion. That's Ed Swanson driving the backhoe, and Greg Anderson at the wheel of his dump truck.

And here is Larry Overcash, waiting for his truck to be refilled.

About 8:45 yesterday morning Rick, Jack and Vern were preparing the spot where the bottom of the first tank will be set.

By about noon yesterday, Rick and his crew were lowering the bottom half of tank No. 4 into position.

Next on the agenda: setting the floor joists in the building. Their delivery is about a week overdue.