Ashley - LAST POST OF 2010

This will be the last post of the year.  You can see the progress as they put more sheets of fabric on.  This is going well and the weather has cooperated in getting the snow out of the building.  They stopped today because there was lightning.  Hoping to start back up yet today if it quits.  I don't imagine that a lightning strike on one of those trusses would be a good thing to work around.  Thanks to Dale and Bob Baxter for the pictures.  I am somewhere much warmer this week but still happy to see that the building is still making progress.



ASHLEY 12/20/10

Lots happening up to Ashley last week and this week.  Trusses are all up, lots of excavation work, hopefully fabric being pulled this week.

 This is the last of the straw and seeding for the large detention area out front.

 Here it is.  You can see that it dwarfs the 30,000 gal tanks in the background.  Also note the 50 foot flagpole has been installed.

 There are lots of cables and support perlins to install.

 Much of the swale ditch is final shaped and seeded.  Who knew you could do so much excavation work and plant grass in this weather.

 Swale Ditch

 Added stone right up to rail with boulders to keep truck traffic out.  Will clean up this area and eliminate mowing right along the tracks.

 Looks nice and clean.

 Remember, they are still working, loading railcars and moving materials up here.  There is more storage now in Ashley than there is in St. Johns.

 View looking to the south.

View looking to the south.  Swale ditch on right.  Scales and flagpole in the middle. 

 Again - a little bigger than the tanks.

 These guys spend a lot of time way up in the air.

 Inside the building.

 Looking up.

 I hope they are not trying to fill those pails with the pump.

 Put some temoprary rock along the rail where we were unable to get the cement completed.  This will keep the guys out of the mud until we can get cement in next spring.

 Another view.

Notice that he has a LIQUID hat on.  I am going to have to give more of these out if it makes guys happy working 60 feet off the ground in 20 degree temperatures.

ASHLEY UPDATE 12/14/10

Below are some pictures of them putting up the 4th truss. There are 2 cranes and 3 manlifts to get this done.  There are a lot of pieces to go together here.

 2000 AMP Master Electrical disconnect.  It is setting on the tower pad.  It has it's own temperature control system.  Lots of power.

Ashley Update 12/8/10

It has been a busy couple of weeks with the weather changing.  You will be able to stay tuned and see the building go up in the next couple of weeks.  There has been a lot of last minute things to get done as it is now frozen and the frost is starting to go down.  It would be nice to have a few inches of snow to delay the frost.

 The scale has been delivered and sets there in a big pile.  Installation of the scale should happen in December or January.

 This is the last pour of cement that was done.  It is covered in blankets to keep it warm and toasty.  It is south of the scales.

 This is a view of the swale that will take care of all of the storm runoff and is valved to prevent fertilizer spill contaminations.  Miller's will be putting down topsoil, straw, and grass seed yet this month.  I am pretty sure the grass will wait for spring to come up.

 The new sign has been installed.  It will get a planter put around it once grade is finished up here.

This is a view from the front of the site.  There is a lot of top dirt to go in yet here but it is very cleaned up and looking good.  You can catch a vision for what the site will look like to drive up to if you can imagine the building and replace the white snow with green grass.

 This wall is about 60 feet long and filled with electrical components.  They are working right along to get electrical roughed in here.  They have temporary 110V power hooked up and are beginning to get the power distribution panels in place.  We have covered up the water line that comes in to keep it from freezing.  Any cement grouting work that has to be done must be covered up going forward to keep the cement from freezing while it cures.

 They have assembled 4 of the half trusses.  They will be put together in halves and assembled complete before they are stood up.  There is only 36 more half trusses to assemble.  You can see the straw bales in the back and the tarps along the building covering up more cement that got poured late.  The warm November was very helpful.

 The area behind the building is about half covered with trusses and parts.  I am sure glad we got all of the crushed cement hauled to the farm.

There are 9 pallets here of bolts and fastners.  There is a lot of work to be done but Al still promises to have it standing and covered by Christmas.