July 7
For those allergic to the dust this isn’t the place to be right now. This fine silty dust makes great base when it’s wet but when it’s dry it’s everywhere.
Sometimes you just have to revert to old tried and true techniques like divining or water witching. Watch the two copper rods cross as Bob crosses the water line we were looking for.
Many people don’t believe in this but we used it a few times today with great success. We have rods that you can all try sometime when you are here. Some people can and some people can’t.
.png)
July 21
We are milling some Fircrest lumber for finishes in the wash house and for the beams for the cottages.
There have been fewer pictures recently as they would all look the same…open trench with pipe going in. Here is a pic of what are called yard hydrants which is the tap you will connect to. The base of these are buried 6 feet deep to prevent frost. We place the base of this on a bed of gravel because when you turn this hydrant off it automatically drains. The piece beside it is a curb stop which you will see similar to the one on our driveway. This is simply a valve to turn off the water supply to the hydrant so if we need to fix a hydrant or a leak we can isolate the site it is on. We dig the trench to 6’ 6” and down 6’ of sand and lay the pipe. We place and attach the yard hydrant and curb stop, plug the end and fill the pipes with water. We add compressed air to the line to build pressure and then let it sit for minimum 15 minutes to see if we have any leaks. The we drain the pipes, cover with sand and fill, pack it, more fill, pack again, more fill and pack until we are back to grade. We fill in our trenches every day for safety.
.png)
July 19
We've lost a number of staff to fire evacuations and today our largest piece of equipment was required to go fight fires. Smokey day.
.png)
July 18
We were finally able to make time this weekend to take down the old recycle shack…sure opens up the view from the main common area! In it’s place we have a new road going down to the lakefront lots and are now able to move the current upper road over for more room in the common area.
We’re happy to have some new staff coming on board this week to help speed things up as staff are hard to come by around here even though we pay an average of $10 more per hour. We also will have an announcement coming soon about a new general manager. Lots of exciting things happening and we are making progress albeit slower than everyone, including us, had hoped. Thanks for all words of encouragement and support!
.png)
.png)
July 15
First off our thoughts are with a number of our crew who had to leave today to prepare for evacuation as they live in an area where there is an evacuation alert. Even 100 Mile House is on alert for evacuation. Highway 97 is closed south of 100 Mile and it appears that Hwy 24 may be in jeopardy of closing which means north is the only way to go. Pray for rain!
All three power shacks are now in place and ready for the electrician to install panels which leads to an electrical inspection which leads to approval from BC Hydro to charge them with power. These shacks will provide power to 12 sites and the cottages.
12 lots prepped for water soon to be followed by sewer.
July 13
After all our challenges working near old services we are now as far away from the wash house as possible and gaining momentum. We dug the water trench for 12 sites and will soon have pipe in the ground.
.png)
For anyone visiting the site please not the Zero Access area. This area is closed 24/7 until further notice. Also, the common area marked is not accessible during the day and only after hours. Access in the wash house or garbage requires a safety vest.
July 8
It’s always a bog day when BC Hydro shows up. Today they added a new pole and transformer power up the lakefront. They also upgraded the transformer at the exit provide power to the back row and a portion of the centre lots. We’re days away from having this power delivered to these sites.
.png)
July 7
For those allergic to the dust this isn’t the place to be right now. This fine silty dust makes great base when it’s wet but when it’s dry it’s everywhere.
Sometimes you just have to revert to old tried and true techniques like divining or water witching. Watch the two copper rods cross as Bob crosses the water line we were looking for.
Many people don’t believe in this but we used it a few times today with great success. We have rods that you can all try sometime when you are here. Some people can and some people can’t.
We’ll be done the waterfront with the exception of 3 sites by the weekend. Finally we can move on to sites with no wires, lines or pipes.
July 5
After an extra long weekend for the crew that deserved time away from over 50 degree trench temperatures we needed to pump our leak test water out. With forest fires currently within 50 km we purchased this pump for fire prevention and suppression as well.
All is good. Things are speeding up as we're away from existing services. Long trench done today for Septic.
