PARKING LOT OPEN TOMORROW, SATURDAY, 11/22

The lot will be open tomorrow! Please be courteous to the construction workers that are still here finishing up.

Winter Months

Just a reminder: THE LOT IS NOT 100% COMPLETE! There are several things throughout the lot that will not remain in the end, but are allowing the lot to be opened tomorrow. The permanent light poles have not arrived, so there are two temporary light poles currently installed. The sign poles (2-Hour Parking, Handicap, etc) are also not here yet. The silver poles currently up will be replaced by decorative poles. The dumpster enclosure fence is not complete.

Also, landscaping will be done in the spring. There are 13 more trees plus much much more yet to come in all the planter areas!

Permeable Brick Pavement

While walking through our new parking lot, you may notice a difference between the sidewalk brick and the pavement brick. There are numerous differences, both that you can and can't see:

1) The pavement (vehicular) brick is 1/2" thicker than the sidewalk brick. Just as asphalt or concrete pavement is thicker than concrete sidewalk, we do the same here to create a stronger material for cars to drive on.

2) The pavement brick has a subbase made entirely of stone. There is 1' of stone that is 1" to 3" in size, which is capped by stone that is up to 3/4" in size, which is then capped by an even smaller chip. Then the brick goes on top of this. The sidewalk bricks are placed on a 5" concrete underlayement. I'll explain the stone subbase in a moment.

3) The sidewalk bricks are closer together than the pavement bricks. This is due to the size of the "nubs" that are on the sides of the bricks.

4) The sidewalk bricks are filled in with sand. The pavement bricks are filled in with a colored granite chip.

The reason for all these differences is that the pavement brick pavement system is permeable (aka, water can drain through). The larger voids between each brick allow for water to trickle through the granite chips and then into the stone subbase. There are several hundred feet of underdrains throughout the parking lot which drain the water into the structures and on to the storm sewer system.

More brick photos

Brick Installation Has Begun!

Concrete Underlayement

The concrete contractor is hard at work installing all the concrete that goes below the sidewalk brick. There is a 5" layer of concrete, on which goes 1" of sand, followed by the brick pavers. The brick subcontractor should be on site within the next couple of days to begin setting brick. Check back by the end of the week for some pictures!

Schedule Update

The General Contractor is site grading the parking lot. What that means is that they are cutting the dirt down to subgrade, or the level below what makes up the parking lot. The parking lot will be paved with bricks, but beneath those bricks is 18" of stone.

The Concrete Contractor is now on site placing all the curb that goes throughout the parking lot. That's going to be about 1000 Feet of curb! They're moving pretty quickly, though, and should knock most of it out this week and next.

The Electrical Contractor is constantly in and out of the site, placing conduit and wiring wherever available.

Dumpster Enclosure

These brick workers really work fast! None of those bricks were there this morning, and two hours later they have another 4 rows in place! This is the back side (Palmer Ct Side) of the new Dumpster Enclosure. Access to the dumpsters will be through a small gated door on the Palmer Ct side and from the front/parking lot side, which is entirely opened, save for a rolling gate.

Seat Wall Precast Panels Installation

LOCUST STREET CLOSURE

Please be advised that Locust Street will be closed between 2^nd and 3^rd Streets the week of September 21. There will be access to the NB&T parking lot, and 2^nd and 3^rd Streets will NOT be blocked or closed in anyway.

Construction Progress

The concrete contractor has completed all foundation walls. They are currently working on the curb along Locust Street. Now that the foundation walls are complete, the general contractor will begin grading the site. It will appear that more work is going on now, because everything that has been done so far is underground! Storm sewer, foundation walls, stone, etc. all takes a significant amount of time to install.

Concrete Foundation Walls

The concrete subcontractor has been working on the foundation walls for the seat wall along Locust, the retaining wall in Palmer Court and the dumpster enclosure wall. Once this work is done, masonry installation will begin for these three structures.

Site grading should begin within the next week or two.

Construction Progress

The contractor has installed new curb along 2nd Street. An asphalt patch still needs to be done in front of the curb and will be done soon, but in the meantime, the spots on the East side of 2nd ARE open. HOWEVER, since the spots are slightly narrower, please be conscious of the back end of your car sticking into the lane of traffic. Park at your own risk.

The next items on the list of work include the foundations for the dumpster enclosure and the retaining wall along Palmer Ct. Work is proceeding forward according to schedule!

Storm Sewer Installation - More Pictures

Storm Sewer Installation

Elliott & Wood began storm sewer installation earlier this week. This operation should take us through to the end of next week.

The entire parking lot is made of permeable pavers. That means that it's going to be brick that drains water. Underneath the bricks is a layer of stone that the water can drain through. 4" pipe underdrains will be placed sporadically through out the parking lot to drain all the water permeating through the pavement to the structures and to the storm sewer main. It's a very interesting process. So instead of water pooling on the surface, it drains right through. You can see an example video on www.perviouspavement.org, then click on "NEW Video & TV News Reports on Pervious Concrete".

2nd Street Closed to Vehicles Today

2nd Street will be closed today until early afternoon to all vehicles. The contractor is installing a water service across the street (the main is on the west side of 2nd). Pedestrians are still able to use the sidewalk. The road will be reopened by the end of the work day.

Done with the unexpected...hopefully

Well, after a wonderful week in Spain, I came back to find out that there were more basement foundation walls than expected. As of yesterday (Wednesday), we've removed all that needs to be removed. What we did was cut down the walls to a foot below subgrade (subgrade = the bottom of everything new that is being put in).

Now that all of that is done, the contractor is going to continue with storm sewer removal and relocating the existing fire hydrant. Storm sewer installation will start soon and once that is complete, site grading will begin.

One Week Look Ahead

The contractor has continued removing the pavement from the parking lot. This has turned out to be quite the task! Those concrete walls that were about 3' high lining Palmer Court had a foundation 4' x 4'!!! There are some big holes in the lot now. Plus we found the basement walls of the old building that used to be around. It's been quite interesting.

The contractor will continue pavement removal and then start leveling out the lot. Storm sewer removal and installation will follow soon after that.

I will be out of the country next week, so Robert Hallock will be filling in for me. He'll be in the field office if you need him.

Pavement Removal Has Begun

The contractor began removing the asphalt pavement in the parking lot today.

Progress

The light poles were removed today and the exterior fence was installed. It's really starting to look like a construction site now!

I have a field office phone number now: 815-756-2319 However, I don't have an answering machine yet, so if you call and I don't answer, I'm most likely outside. Try back later.

Tree Removal and Week Schedule

In case you haven't been by the site yet today, tree removal has begun! All the trees (less three along Palmer Ct near 2nd Street) will be removed. But don't worry, there are just as many trees be planted once the lot is complete!

The current schedule (weather permitting...please remember, any schedule is ALWAYS weather permitting in this line of work) is to remove light poles tomorrow and continue with removing the lot by the end of this week.

The ground breaking ceremony was this morning and went very well! Thanks to all who came; we had a great turnout!

Temporary Bike Rack

We are currently in the works to place a temporary bike rack on the site to accommodate for removing two existing racks. Until the temp rack is placed, and for during construction, there are bike racks located on 3rd at Locust and on 2nd between Locust and Lincoln Hwy. Once the temporary bike rack is placed, I will be sure to post that location.

And they're off!

The contractor started on site today removing items such as trash cans and benches. By tomorrow or Monday, removal of street lights and trees should begin.

The Baxter & Woodman field office is located at 213 Locust Street. Phone lines have not been connected yet, but we're close. I will post that number once we get it and please feel free to contact me there with any questions.

REMINDER: Lot 4 will officially be closed to the public starting Monday, June 30.