Last Projects Post of 2012

STOCKTON

 While visiting Stockton this week, I was able to witness the pouring of the tank pad. If ever you are in need of a bomb shelter, the tunnels under the pad should suffice. This is a 14" pad of concrete with so much re-rod, your foot won't fit between the bars (I'm not kidding).

 What a glorious day. After laying horizontal for the last 5 months, the tanks are finally vertical.

 

WILLIAMS

We three tanks of orient are...................not bearing fertilizer quite yet, but they are water tight, ready and willing. With any luck, they'll be put into service shortly after the first of the year.

 The load out building is ready for trusses and fabric. This is scheduled to begin on January 7th. As you can see from the tanks in the building already, we're anxiously waiting.

 The new containment is ready to go.

 CORPORATE OFFICE

 The wind made life difficult on the contractors last night. As you can see from the picture, some of the visquine blew off. Not to worry, they replaced some of it with OSB and tonight it will be nice and warm inside once again.

 The metal stud framing is starting to give the interior of the building an identity. I'm standing in the conference room in this photo.

 Corridor outside the conference room leading to the cafeteria.

 Here is the open office area on the first floor. Behind the open space along the back wall are private offices.

 In the Ag-Tech Center, the burnished block has been installed on the back wall behind the laminated columns and beams.



Upstairs in the open office, the new ceiling fan has been installed. Whoever sits under it better have a good paper weight.

 





Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

DO WE EVER STOP ADDING PROJECTS?

 

The answer is no. Things were pretty well wrapped up in Goodland but then we needed to add some space for the new boilers.

 

Here we have a 14'x40' addition for the new boilers. For those who can't tell which side of the building you're looking at, this is the front (road side), and those aren't windows. They will be 4'x4' vents for the boiler system.

And if you're wondering why we need such a large addition for the new boilers, this is why. To give you a sense of size, these are sitting in the west load bay in the building. The overhead door opening you're looking at is 12' wide.

 

 

Now, back to Stockton

This is the yard truck left behind by the previous site owners. This 1960 something Ford is coming back to Michigan where I'm sure it won't have to much trouble finding a home. I wonder if that was the lumber companies delivery truck. How long have they been out of business?

 

Ron Andrews and Randy Harris made a trip to Stockton to install the liner in the underground trench. This will have a concrete floor  suspended over the top of it (where you see the re-rod) and will be the raceway for our rubber hoses.

 

Here you're seeing a 20'x100' truck load pad capable of containing 5,750 gallons. This gives us the added capability to transload from rail to truck or a third load bay once the site is running at full capacity.

 

The new rail stops are in place and ready to take a bump from a rail car. As you can see from the vegetation in the rail bed, things are just now starting to turn green again in Stockton.

 

This photo was either taken as the photographer was falling down or the camera was turned on a 45 degree angle. It gives you a good idea of what it would be like if the fault line under California finally gave way. Anyway, this is the liner after installation . The re-rod you see will be bent over into the concrete floor.

BUTTONING UP FOR THE WINTER

CORPORATE OFFICE

As you'll notice from the following pictures, the exterior of the building is taking on a different look than the original plans showed. Not as much glass and way more visquine. Whether it be with the use of visquine, wood or masonry, the building is nearly closed in for the winter.

Front Elevation

It's amazing what they can do with a few 2x4's and a little visquine.

 

Rear Elevation

This is a view from the partially constructed walking path that wraps around the exterior of the grounds.

 

View of the temporary wall frame work from the interior. Nice work for a temporary application. We may want to consider leaving this for the final product.

 

Looking to the west toward the private office area. Some of the interior walls are being constructed so it's much easier to get a sense of the building layout.

 

Looking to the south from the general vicinity of the board room. The space to the left up toward the ceiling will be glass. This will bring in lots of natural light.

Wet concrete! The concrete patio outside the board room was just poured today. The recessed floor in the photo will house electrical and data lines under the finish floor. This concept is being used in a number of areas throughout the building.



The flat roof system on the west side has been installed. This will have a green roof system planted over the top of it. By green roof I mean plants and such.



 



The guys are working on closing in the south side. This is one of the final areas to close in. Once that's complete, we can fire up the winter heat.

And here is one of the winter heating units.

 

STOCKTON

 

The walls have been poured and the underground conduit has been installed. This week they will back fill the walls followed by pouring the concrete mats for the tanks. We have plenty of conduit for future expansion.

 

 



Concrete secondary containment trough for the rail manifold.

California winter

I'll take a Michigan winter over this any day. This is evidence that our storm water system keeps all run-off water on site. I wonder if that's considered run-on.

Get the pump. Fortunately, we have 2 large detention basins on site to hold the water.

 

WILLIAMS

 

As long as the weather cooperates, the concrete work will procede. Fortunately, they're nearly complete. Some odds and ends will need to be wrapped up in the spring.

 

68x192 Containment

Containment is nearly complete. As you can see from the strips between the pads, the walkways are the only part that needs to be finished.

60x100 Load out building

Pouring the floor in the load out building.

Tank 3

One more ring to go on the exterior shell and then the roof.

New rock driveway between the new facility and the existing.

Putting the finishing touches on the load out building floor. The only thing left is a handprint and date.

 



 

BRIEF STOCKTON UPDATE

As you can see from the pictures below, we are making progress on the Stockton development. The landscaping crew worked the day after Thanksgiving to give the road frontage a facelift. The office is actually visible now.  

 

 

Before

After

There's the office (behind the vehicles) with it's new paint job.

 

Forms for the pit walls are set and ready to pour the following morning.

 

 

The dense fog didn't deter the concrete contractor from pouring the walls.

 

 

Once again, you can see the additional re-inforcement in the concrete due to the California seismic loads. This will be a concrete trough that will act as a secondary containment for the manifold. There is no reason to drive heavy machinery on it, but if we have to, we can (and yes, that is sarcasm).

 

As of today, the pits and raceways in the building are poured. Next, the concrete crew will be working on the concrete aprons for the (18) 30,000 gallon tanks on the interior of the building. Because of time constraints, the building is being constructed from the inside out. We will set the tanks prior to the walls and roof being erected. We're hopeful that this strategy will keep us on schedule.



Jerry Stole my Office Pictures

While navigating the LIQUID website recently I found out Dr. Jerry stole my thunder. Our NCRS blogger was seen snapping photo's at the corporate office the other day. Don't be surprised if you see me wandering around in a field somewhere taking photo's of crops and stuff. What comes around goes around.

Anyway, I have a few photo's of the Corporate office to share. I don't think these are duplicates, so enjoy.

 Looking up from the back of the building at what will be the exercise room and open office area.

 I've taken a photo from this same location numerous times now. I think this is a pretty cool shot. The photo doesn't do it justice.

 Lobby area prepped for concrete. The elevator shaft is the block structure to the right.

 

 Lobby area from the opposite direction. Here you can see the opening for the elevator doors.

 Entrance from the lobby into the Ag-Tech Center.

 

 This is the warehouse. We can fit a lot of office trailers in here. About 3000 sq. ft. worth.

 

 Private offices. The contractors have been working hard to get this closed in by the end of the month.

And the front elevation.

 

 

Now it's time to take a look at the progress in Stockton.

 

 

 

The office got a paint job. Looks kind of dark in the photo, but it's the signature LIQUID green. Now for the trim.

 3/4" plywood used for wall forms. Walls were poured today (11/21/12). Hope everything went well.

 
 Excavators prepping for the concrete containment along the rail spur. The rail manifold will be fastened to this concrete pad. The pad will serve as the secondary containment as well as a walkway.

Getting closer. These walls will be the raceway pits on the interior of the building. The building foundation is being constructed from the inside out so we can set tanks sooner. I think er... I hope it's a good strategy.


That's all for now. Happy Thanksgiving!