Progress Everywhere!

Good afternoon everyone,

I don't have a particular theme this week, but there is a lot going on at the construction site since last week. It was tough deciding which photos to put in here. I selected these ones to show the progress in different areas of the complex. The photo above shows the swirl pool form work since last week when we poured the base. You can start to see the shape and size of the swirl pool now. When I took this picture I was standing where the Sauna and steam room will be.

This photo is a close up of one area of the lazy river that will give you an idea of how complex the plumbing is and how much of it you never see, and this is only a small part of it! I can hardly wait to try this one out!

Now we go upstairs to the fitness area and the offices and program areas. The heating and ventillation guys are hard at work installing the ducting and heaters. This photo shows the ducting going into the offices and program areas. What you can't see is that the windows are also in and the electricians have started to work on the wiring.

This picture shows the base of the slide tower where the stairs are being fabricated and installed. the base for the tower was poured just last friday!

I hope you have enjoyed this update and will come back and look for more. Until then, have a good day!

Jan 23/08 - Swirl Pool

Good Afternoon!
Wow, does the sun ever feel good today. Well, that's a good excuse to go outside and soak up some rays and check on progress at the new facility.

And, that's just what I did! I think everyone is working here today, there are tradesmen everywhere in the facility, some up high working on steel walls and waterlines, some at floor level working on plumbing and forms, and more outside working on windows.

I have been watching the progress on the Swirl Pool and I thought that this would be a good theme for today. The First photo was taken on Jan 14 when work started on building up with insulation to provide a base for the plumbing. Here you can see the main drains piped in and the blocks building up around them.



In the next photo, taken Jan 17, you will notice that the blocks have all been installed and the reinforcing bar is being put in for the concrete. There is still some plumbing to do first though.



In this last photo taken today you can see that there is more plumbing and reinforcing as they prepare for the concrete. You'll also notice the expansion joint being placed around the perimeter. We're almost ready for the concrete. Which we hope to do later this week.


Until next time, enjoy the sunshine while it's here.

Moving the Air Handling Units

Well, today was the day to transfer the air handling units from outside of the pool to inside and up on the second floor of the mechanical area of the facility.

This work involved two cranes, one to move the units from outside to inside the facility and a second to move from the main floor (pool deck) to the second story (which was placed inside the building in advance of the air handling units being moved it.

I showed up at the pool around 12noon, at that point they had transitioned the first air handling unit to the main pool deck from outside. Over the course of the next three hours this unit then made its way, through excellent communication from all those in attendance and a steady hand on the crane controls to the second story.

This is another area that we will continue to post updates on as the air handling system slowly comes to life over the upcoming months.

Enjoy your Saturday!

The Pool Guy.

Air Handling units

Good Morning folks,

This weeks focus is on the two large air handling units that will be moved from their present location outside the facility (above photo) to their destination on the second floor of the mechanical room. You can see how big these units are if you look at the truck parked in front of them.

These two units will be lifted by crane using a specialy made frame through this doorway (photo above) It's just wide enough I think!. Then, Turn right 90 degrees and up to the second floor (photo below) where that tempoary wooden railing is.

Then once they are through that space they have to put them on these pads (photo below). It will be a tight squeeze and will require light fingers on the part of the crane operator!

That's it for now. Keep your goggles clear and have a good day!

Jan 9/08 - Working on the Roof

Hi Folks,

I'm back from my Festive holiday break and catching up with developments on the pool site. Today I thought that I would take a look at the roofing situation.

Right now, when it rains outside, it pours inside! And of course if it is raining the roofers can't work! As you can imagine everyone on site is happy to see the roofers hard at work sealing the roof in between the rain and snow. The sooner that they finish, the easier it gets for everyone to do their work inside. In reverse order (top to bottom) you will see the process of roofing at the pool.

The first and second photos show the crew sealing the roof. They are working over the upper offices and fitness room in these photos.

The third photo shows the hot tar being pumped up to the roof.

And the fourth photo shows one of the three (3!) B trains that delivered roofing material today and the huge crane that was brought in to lift it all onto the roof. Today is a good day, the weather has cooperated. We'll cross our fingers for tomorrow.

Twas The Night Before Christmas...

And I thought I would take a couple of minutes and throw up some of the last photos for 2007, sort of a tour around the facility to see where it stands presently. Anyhow, here you go!

Taken from the deep end of the main pool - looking towards the shallow end.

Taken from where the run out lanes for the water slide - looking across the pool deck and the wave pool towards the shallow end.

Main Entrance to the facility

Rear of the facility - Air Handling units on the ground waiting to be installed in he facility.

Looking for more recent photos? Take a peek online at www.flickr.com/photos/cowichanaquatics

Thanks and have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and enjoy the time with your friends and family!

Deck work on the Competition Pool

Hi Folks,

There's lots of activity on the construction site today. One of the highlights so far is the big cement boom truck that came in and poured cement for the decks around the competition pool.

The cement truck lines up behind the pumper truck and connects to the pump and the pumper reaches over and through the window slot to direct the cement to the deck area. The crew then spreads, smoothes and levels the cement to form the deck around the competition pool. After they finished that job the pumper and truck moved over and poured the foundations for the two big Air handling units.

The two air handling units will be lifted into place through the opening in the wall and onto the platform. I'll have more pictures of this when we start to put the Air Handling units in place.

That's all for this week. The best of the holidays to you and your families from all of us at North Cowichan.

Nuts&Bolts