The Horseshoe Courtyard project team is putting the final touches on the amazing outdoor space! Recently, they’ve poured the concrete entry wall, completed the brick pad, and began prepping the timber benches.
Smoothing out silicone on seams 
Sealing the gaps with Silicone 
Hammering wood guide for rebar 
Tilting the last formwork wall into place
The pour was made possible by a bucket brigade! 
A couple of weeks ago, the tallest pour the courtyard team has ever done took place! In preparation for the pour, they carefully assembled all the formwork and secured all the bracing. This bracing prevents the formwork from bulging once the concrete is placed into the formwork. An thus, a 9′ x 5′ 10″ wall came to fruition! The team used the same techniques tested with the mock-up for the wall. The only differences from the trial run being the rebar reinforcement and the chamfered edges. The 5th-years, as well as Andrew and Steve, helped by filling ad passing buckets of concrete to the top of the wall formwork. Thanks bucket brigade!
Sitting Surfaces
Stack of the cut timber, each bench will utilize two eight by eight cypress sections for the sitting surface
You may remember from the previous post, talk of benches and installations of the legs. Well, here we’ve got the sitting surfaces. The team is using heavy timbers leftover from the Newbern Town Hall project as the bench surface. In the images above, Caleb and Claudia are cutting the wood to 6 ft length which will be sanded, routed, and sealed. Next, they will attach the timber to the quarter-inch plates that make up the structure of the legs. During this time, they also excavated and poured the footing for the last bench!
The Completed Puzzle!
Folks, it is time to cut a rug on the best dance floor in Greensboro! After many, many days working on the brick pad, all bricks have been cleaned, placed, leveled, and sanded!
After placing all the bricks, the team removed the temporary wooden edging. Next, they installed the quarter-inch, galvanized steel edging. Some of the off-the-shelf pieces needed length modification so the team cut and welded them on-site.
After securing a corner at the right level, the team installed the first 16′ piece of metal edging. They adjusted the following legths to alighn with the first piece. The metal was clamped together and staked in placemet at the corners. Scrap wood was used to keep the edging flush against the bricks until backfilled. After all the edging was in place the bricks along the edge were readjusted.
Once everything was in place, more sand was spread between all the bricks
Construction at the courtyard is coming to a close so make sure to stay updated as it nears completion!