July 13

This is the major event so far. The Pour! Basically, 18+ hours of hard, backbreaking work lifting, pouring, and pumping thousands of pounds of cement.

People started arriving at 700, we got started a couple hours late when everything was set up, and finished around 230 the next morning.

Rolf wanted to pour the entire cistern in one pour, eliminating cold joints and making the cistern stronger and less likely to crack. To do this, we had two portable batch plants, one large crane, and two forklifts.

Inside each batch plant were four compartments, one for water, one for sand, one for gravel, and one for cement dust. The operator could change the ratio of each material and how fast to mix the cement. The cement was poured into a pump, which pumped the cement through a 2 inch hose into the forms.

Starting with the walls, Brandon started in one corner and slowly worked his way around the forms, adding a little cement with each pass. Each pass he added six to eight inches. The floor of the cistern was last.