20170713 Finish Pouring our Driveway

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Construction workers start their day before I do. By the time I was up and moving, 10:37, they had poured the driveway along the side of the house.

And were taking a break.

At 11:13 an 11-yard truck had arrived and the driver is up by the chute opening plastic packages and pouring in an additive.

They will pull the rebar up a little when they pour the concrete on it.

11:39 The 11 yards of concrete got the driveway close to the sidewalk.

The truck is being cleaned out while the finish work continues.

I don't see this type of truck that often, and certainly not this close, so I took quite a few pictures. The sign at the bottom of the engine compartment says it is poured by natural gas. Captive fleet trucks are a good candidate for natural gas. Ozinga can install a fueling station at each of its mixing plants.

Different phases of  concrete finishing need to be done at different stages of stiffness.

I saw a worker poke his finger in the concrete earlier to test hardness, and it was a while before he worked on that area for the final troweling.

11:52 The truck is clean. I asked a driver one time which mixing plant did he hauled from, and he said Lemont.

12:27 A regular 9-yard truck has arrived. They don't need the wheelbarrows because they can now reach the driveway and sidewalk with the chute. The guy in the middle of the driveway with the long poll is working on the groove that goes down the middle of the driveway. You can also one of the grooves that goes across the driveway. The grove is about an inch deep with rounded edges. The purpose of the grooves is to "attract" the cracks. There will be cracks in the driveway. But they should happen at the grooves so that they are not visible.

The chute has all of the extensions that the truck carries.

A lot of shots because digital is cheap and there is a lot of action.

12:42

12:42 In the meantime, the area that was poked a while ago is stiff enough for the final finishing.

We could walk on the driveway the next day, It was strong enough for cars a week later. But we had to hose down the driveway at least once a day because the initial curing process needs water. After 28 days, it was strong enough for the trucks.

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