March 23 2003
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The pictures of south end of the driveway are a bit belated.  We were out on March 8th to put in the riprap - all 108 bags - 6480 pounds!  We picked up the first load at 7:30am and finished after dark at 8:00pm.  We tried to stagger the joints and every three layers we pounded in 3/8 inch rebar to hold everything together. we would have loved to stopped after we were half way through on the east side, but the concrete would have hardened so that we could not pound in more rebar. We met with Barry from Florida Land improvement Co. about roller chopping. He liked the work the loggers did and will send us a proposal to do the chopping.  We will have him come out as soon as the ground is dry enough so that he does not cause ruts in the wet spots.

Entrance looking N2.JPG (1301442 bytes) The drive is looking nice.
Entrance looking N.JPG (1207396 bytes) The level is just a bit below the road and drains on to our land.
Drive Riprap E2.JPG (1367557 bytes) On the east side we were working in about 6" of water so there is a bit of a dip.  This is the side we finished in the dark.
Drive Riprap W.JPG (1428988 bytes) The west side looks better.  The water was lower, we were not as tired, and it is smaller than the other side.
Permit on gate.JPG (1162719 bytes) The permit waiting to be signed off
Ditch to W end.JPG (1282906 bytes) We were having a problem with water being impounded to the west of the driveway at the power line.  We used the front loader to dig out a trench for the culvert. We ran in to a piece of wood on the east end that was a bit large for the front loader to pull out. Luckily it was down farther than we were going. The HDPE culvert floats - so we used a large piece of the logging slash to hold the center of the pip down while Cindy held one end down.  We covered one end and the center with fill and then did the other. Here is Cindy on the completed install. Another long day!
W end.JPG (1290947 bytes) As soon as we opened it up a torrent of water went through the pipe.  The level dropped over 4 inches. We found the water restricted by a narrow berm of silt at the county's ditch to nowhere. We took our shovel and in a few minutes had it opened it up so that it would flow again. After we receive a load of fill from Joel we will dress the ends and install riprap if needed. If you look closely you can see the rain drops.  This has been one of the wettest winters that I can remember.
Culvert installed.JPG (1262932 bytes) The dirt covering the culvert is rather thin and still fairly soft - so we used a couple of 2x12 10 foot long to temporarily spread the load to allow us to drive across. The 10 foot of ditch on the left side connecting with the existing ditch was also dug with the loader.
Drive looking S.JPG (1280151 bytes) The drive is really starting to look nice.  There are still two spots that can use a bit more fill. After the roller chopping is done we will clean out the swales on each side to get rid of the logging slash and brush that is blocking them.