Work Progresses Despite Unfavorable Weather

Williams, IA

Last week we made a trip to Williams to spend some time taking in the frigid temperatures. After spending a few days working in single digits temperatures, we made our way home to enjoy much warmer temps in the teens.

The containment is doubling as a ice skating rink right now. The hose pulls easy on the ice but keeping your footing is a little difficult.

 

From the top of tank 3 you can see the view to the east. The storm water detention pond is in the north east (upper left) corner. The lighter color soil is the bed for the new rail spur.

 The first truss on the new load out building was set as we were departing last Thursday. At this time, the trusses are set and the bracing is installed. The weather hasn't been very cooperative for pulling the fabric roof. Hopefully mother nature will allow them to pull it over this week.

The 25 hp pumps and stainless steel plumbing has been installed by Two-Guys Mechanical so the new tanks can be utilized.

Stockton, CA

The east and west walls on the Stockton load out building are being poured in this photo.  

Pouring raceway tunnel footings.

 

 

 The east and west wall forms have been stripped. This is the north side (back) of the building. This week the south wall will be poured wrapping up the exterior walls.

 

The raceway tunnel footings are complete. Next week the walls will be poured followed by the concrete decking. All of the concrete will be complete by the second week of February.

 

 

Corporate Office Project - MI

 

 

It's been about a month since I toured the office and lot has changed. Interior walls are being built, drywall is hung, HVAC systems are being installed, along with many other trades working diligently to keep on schedule.

 



Back side of the elevator shaft

 

 

 If the glass was installed, I'd be standing on the outside of the building looking in at the lobby area and upper level.

 In the Ag-Tech Center, the insulation for the heated floor was installed around the perimeter. You can also see the round duct work overhead for cooling the building and supplementing heat.

 The block walls in the hallway leading from the conference area to the open office space on the first floor have been furred out with metal z-channel. The duct work in the picture will be hidden in the drop ceiling. The gas lines running at head level are feeding the temporary heating system. Not to worry, they aren't a permanent fixture.

 The kitchen

 

 Here is the conference room facing the entry doors. This room can be divided into 3 separate rooms to accomodate multiple events at one time.

 

 Here's a good shot of the roof drainage system. The cast iron piping runs througout the building, transporting roof water to the underdrain system which eventually empties into the detention ponds.



The upstairs open office area. The other side of the metal stud wall in the distance is the exercise area and locker rooms.



Many of the windows have been installed on the west side of the building. The 3 large windows on the lower level look into the conference area. The windows on the upper level look into the private offices.

The masons are continuing on the stone work through the winter with the use of visquine to protect them from the elements of nature. As you can see from the previous picture, they are working their way around the building.

The projects are continuing on as the contractors battle with weather. The winter always presents issues but there's a lot of interior work that will keep them busy. From the outside, it looks as if the building has come to a halt, but the inside shows otherwise.

 

Stockton - Temporary Load Out Accommodations

In a recent visit to the Stockton facility, I learned a little bit about some of our newest load out equipment. After spending a day installing and attempting to get the temporary load out up and running, we are very close to being able to ship product from the newest site. With a few minor meter adjustments we should be ready in no time. Unfortunately, it’s still a few months away from a finished product. The majority of the equipment has arrived; we just need a building to put it in. As you can see from the photos, it’s a work in progress.

 

 Our temporary load out office. What a view from the picture window.

 9 tanks are currently set. 9 more will be set after the building is erected. 

 North side (back of the building). As you can see the side walls are formed. They'll be poured on Monday, January 21st.

Raceway tunnel leading from the building to the rail office. Footings are formed set be poured next week. 

For What it's Worth

  

When I paid a visit to Stockton back in April of last year to meet with the building officials, I was told that construction projects are typically a slow, laborious process in California. This was confirmed by many of the contractors and everyone else familiar with the State. Based on the simplicity of our development, I disregarded these comments and figured it was all hearsay. Well, about 10 months later, the California folks have confirmed the information and proved me wrong. 

The project has been a learning experience in regards to expectations. In California, the expectations of progress are much lower than those here in Michigan (I don't think they have the internet in CA, so they probably won't see this). The subcontractors chosen for the project are doing a great job and working as diligently as they can but overzealous permitting and regulations have slowed progress dramatically.

With that said, when the facility is complete, it will be a great benefit to the company increasing market share on the west coast. The AgroLiquid philosophy of 

Responsible Nutrient Management replicates the thought process of those responsible for the environmental regulations in California and other states that share the coast line.  At least we have that in common.

GOODLAND UPDATE

The exterior of the boiler room addition is complete with the exception of the ventilation louvers on the south wall. The double doors are a necessity in order to get the boilers in the room. The exhaust vents protruding through the wall near the roof line of the addition will be removed when the new boilers are installed (in case anyone was wondering).

The interior will be painted this week. After the paint, 4" concrete pads to elevate the boilers will be poured. The boiler installation should take place next week. The Goodland crew won't know what to do with all that hot water.

 

Any ideas what's going on here? This is the first step in preparing the foundation for the fourth 500,000 gallon tank in Goodland. The excavator is removing 12" of soil in the area of the tank; essentially building a shallow pond. Water will be added to the area periodically to increase the moisture content. When the moisture content is considered suitable, the remaining soil will be removed and re-installed in compacted lifts. It kind of reminds me of the way dad used to keep me busy growing up. Dig a hole over there............now fill it back in. 

If you look real close you can see the pink flags marking the east (right side) and north (top) sides of the tank pad. It's a good thing it's not windy today or they'd be making a nice dust storm with the Kansas blow sand.

Favorable Weather in Stockton, CA

The new year has brought nice working weather in Stockton. After a short holiday break, the contractors continued digging trenches, setting tanks, and pouring concrete.You'll see in the photo's below that the re-rod in the walls replicates what went into the floor in previous photo's.

Here is a wall footing prior to pouring concrete. I see why the trades argue over who gets to install their building materials first. I believe the rod-busters drew the short straw this time. For those of you who don't know, the  rod-busters are the lucky guys who get to install the tangled web of re-rod prior to pouring concrete. To be sure the rod-busters don't overlook anything, this is inspected not once, but twice.

 

Here is the same footing........post pour. This guy is troweling the concrete and making sure every last re-rod is accounted for. Is it too late after the concrete is poured?

 

This is the raceway trench leading from the load out building to the rail load out office. The office will be located in the vicinity of the rail car in the photo. The trench is constructed similar to those in the building; concrete floor and walls with a polypropylene liner.

Plywood forms are set in place for the back wall of the building. In the distance, a pump truck is being used to pour footings for the side wall.

Six tanks were set prior to the holidays. Three more were set last Friday. These nine tanks will be plumbed in and used immediately. Temporary accommodations are being made and we will be operating out the site long before the building is complete. 

That's not a tire, it's a roll of 4" rubber hose. The guys are using the services of the crane operator while they have him on site setting tanks.

Here the guys are using the crane to install one of the manifolds. Not a bad way to do it. They are installing all the valves and fittings and then setting them in place. With footings being poured around the entire perimeter, they are unable to drive into the building with equipment at this time. Luckily, it worked out that they had a crane on site.