On Saturday 14 July 2012 we placed a further 3.5m^3 of concrete into the inspection pits within the rail vehicle shed at Maymorn.
During June and the first part of July reinforcing has been placed into the second length of inspection pit wall, taking the length to 19 metres - just another 5 metres of wall to go. All rail-carrying columns have been located in place, holes drilled into the supporting concrete beam and studs epoxied into place.
Peter, Steve and John placing back-fill behind pit wall on Saturday 30 June 2012. Formwork was already in place for a second pit wall pour.
Hard fill has also been compacted into place behind the first length of inspection pit wall. Compaction was a challenging task at times, with reinforcing protruding into the area from both the shed and pit walls as well as the portal pods. Quite a depth has had to be filled, thankfully a good amount had been stock-piled from the original excavation. After an exhausting day's work we had the first upper floor slab foundation completed.
A week later on Saturday 7 July we put the final reinforcing steel into position and completed the formwork ready for building inspection.
Fast-forward to 14 July after placing the concrete. The first top-level floor is to the left of the image, the second length of inspection pit wall in middle distance, paralleled by the rail-carrying columns. Photos: Hugh McCracken.
By the end of August we plan to have completed the inspection pit walls and made substantial progress with the upper floor area. The upper floor will permit same-level access through the rail vehicle shed, which should prove handy when moving heavy equipment from job to job.
The Trust is indebted to the Rimutaka Trust for funding construction materials used for the inspection pits, as well as earlier grants towards the main shed build.