It has been a rollercoaster, but the end is here! The Horseshoe Courtyard team is departing and is officially handing over the beautiful, outdoor space to Project Horseshoe Farm!
Caleb steadily broom-finishing the concrete
Shortly after finishing spreading slate
The last two weeks of site work were a mad dash to wrap up all things. During this time the team poured the concrete for the final sidewalk, spread the last four tons of slate, finished the brick pad, completed electrical, installed the flashing for the porch, and finally cleaned up the site. Whew!
Caleb, Claudia, and Dr. John Dorsey on the last day of site work
New group of Project Horseshoe Farm Fellows enjoying the calm space!
Due to hardware delays caused by COVID, the gate will be installed at a later date.
Designing the lighting was one of the final and most important tasks for the Horseshoe Courtyard. Lighting in the courtyard increases the useable hours for the space. To further the flexibility, a dimmer was added to adjust the lighting conditions according to the users’ needs.
Bon Voyage!
Fin
“The team is incredibly thankful for the opportunity to have worked on this amazing project and for all the help and support that it received from the university, the Studio, our friends from the other teams, the community, and the client over the last year to finish!” ─ Caleb & Claudia
As the finish line for the Courtyard nears, the team has checked off many things on the to-do list, scroll down to see what they have been up to!
Capping the Wall
After many drill bits and muscle power, the team successfully attached the galvanized channel to the concrete wall! Thanks, Horseshoe Farm Fellow, Mary for your assistance! This channel not only makes the top of the wall look finished, it serves as a connection to the soon-to-be-installed gate. The gate will be anchored and grouted to the concrete foundation below ground, and then bolted to the channel at the top.
This channel, like many details in the project, has a reveal between the brick wall and itself
View from gate threshold, looking up
For a visually cleaner connection, the team decided to use countersunk concrete anchors that fastened the channel to the wall.
Wrapping the porch
Meanwhile, the gypsum board went up on the south porch and was shortly treated to a fresh coat of paint.
It’s Been Said That “Slate is Great”
Riley spreading “trail mix” by tall screens
Caleb putting slate in two-inch gap around concrete
Shot of all the different ground materials, shortly after slate was spread
The ground surfaces on the south end of the site were finished one early morning in June. Thanks to the help of the whole studio and some Horseshoe Farm Fellows, both the “trail mix,” meaning the bottom layer of the slate; and the “mini-chips,” the top layer were spread and tamped down by 9:00 a.m.!
Electrical in the ground and on walls and screens
Before the final layer of slate could go down, some electrical work needed to be finished. The team roughed in all conduit work in the ground and poured concrete columns along the west wall. These concrete columns held junction boxes in place for lights and kept the cover above ground to avoid water issues down the road. The ground work also included running conduit to two of the benches for electrical outlets, as well as attaching junction boxes to the screens for the lights that will light the active space.
The outlets were lifted off the ground enough to remain above the finished grade
From the junction boxes seen in the image above, EMT conduit ran parallel to the screens, and onto channels that cantilever from the screens and hold lights in place. While the team laid all the conduit work in place, they worked with a licensed electrician for the wiring of the lights and outlets.
The team also fastened the lights and EMT conduit to the masonry wall, following the five-foot grid.
Finishing the Benches
Once the metal legs for the benches were grouted, the sanded, routed, and sealed eight-inch square heavy timber pieces were secured to the legs.
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!
Who said there is such a thing as, “too much concrete”? Definitely not the Horseshoe Courtyard Project team! In the last two weeks, Caleb, Claudia, and the 5th year and Graduate Student helpers poured concrete for the sidewalk extension, wall footing, and the wall mock-up. Oh, the wall? It’s made of concrete. Let’s see how they do it!
Team making formwork
Pre-pour, with wheelbarrow bridge
concrete control jointer used to finish concrete
Caleb broom finishing concrete
Footing for concrete wall
In one action-packed afternoon, the team poured the concrete sidewalk extension and the footing for the 9′ concrete entry wall. Both are located at the north end of the courtyard site. Special formwork was made to help keep the footing rebar in place. This rebar extends out of the footing and will be cast inside the wall. Special attention was also paid to the sidewalk extension by giving it a broom finish.
Mock-up # 13: The Concrete Wall
Next up, the thirteenth mock-up. This mock-up tested the finished quality of the concrete for the 9′ wall. The team experimented with how much the concrete needed to be vibrated to create a smooth surface and where to locate seams. It was also important to practice the overall process of making out-of-ground formwork and pouring into it.
Mary and Caleb assembling forms
Due to the dimensions of a single melamine sheet, a wood composite board with a plastic coating, no single sheet will cover the whole face of the concrete wall. Therefore a couple of options were tested using two, 2′ x 2′ panels. Each panel face tested a different option; single sheet, horizontal seam, vertical seam, and a combination of the two. Silicon sealed the joints and corners and liquid nails connected the different segments of the melamine board together. Once the concrete cured and the forms removed, the team decided horizontal seam would be best.
Only the Corner Left
After removing the formwork for the recent sidewalk extension, the last flat screen on the east side was ready for filling. Caleb, Claudia, and TMBV team members planted three more vines, weaved the rope through, and fastened the corresponding steel cables. The corner screen will be finished, once the concrete sidewalk is fully extended, to avoid trampling the plants in the process.
Spring is Upon Us
In the last couple of weeks, the courtyard has seen new colors pop up! The Carolina Jessamine or Gelsemium sempervirens, one of the two vines planted have started to bud. This week, almost all twenty of the Jessamines have bloomed or have buds that will bloom in the coming days. This beautiful vine blooms twice a year, in the fall and spring; and complements the fragrant white blooms of the Confederate Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), which will make their appearance in a few weeks!
Benches Coming Together
During Neckdown Week, the team and helpers dug and poured two of the concrete footings for the benches. And last week, the corresponding metal legs for the benches were installed. The team hammer-drilled into the concrete and epoxied the threaded rods into place. The base of the benches will be grouted to the concrete at the correct level once the third bench footing has been poured and hammer-drilled. The benches’ sitting surface consists of two eight-inch square heavy timber cypress, leftover from the Newbern Town Hall project, which will provide durability as well as comfort for the user.
Walkway Capped
Finally, the end of the walkway is complete! A new quarter-inch plate was installed into the masonry wall to support the northernmost railing. The process for the installation of the plate was the same as the plates which support the walkway. The main difference being the middle two anchors that extended past the wall plate and attached to the railing aligned with the other railing frame connection point. The corner piece, while singular in its function, follows the same language and rhythm as the rest of the metal. And maintains the two-inch gap in both its connection to the last railing and to the existing ones.
Once the last set of steel cables were installed on the railing, Greensboro could be seen from a different perspective.
The Horseshoe Courtyard Project Team is bringing even more concrete to a blog near you! The team started to dig the footing for the concrete wall at the North end of the site. And, without fail, they ran into more old, buried brick and concrete foundations. Of course they also found dead metal pipes.
These foundations are from the old structures that used to occupy the site. Nevertheless, that did not stop the team from digging the footing to the right depth. They smashed the foundation remnants while carefully avoiding breaking the waterlines.
Snow in Hale?
As much of the country experienced frigid temperatures last week, so did Greensboro, AL. Last Tuesday night, the site was blanketed with a thin layer of snow! Thankfully there was no damage to the project. Just these snowy pictures of the Horseshoe Courtyard.
Snowflakes on the cable hardware
One Corner Left!
The end of the bricklaying is approaching! The team only has the northwest corner of the brick pad to finish. At the moment, the bricks on the west side reach past the grinder pump, once some plumbing work gets squared away, the remaining bricks can be placed and sanded. After that, all that’s left for the pad is the metal edging, which is already on-site, ready to be installed!
A Continuous Railing
For most of the elevated walkway, there are metal frames that serve as railings, with cables spaced out every two inches. However, on the south end of the walkway, the team perforated the back half of the metal screens, to allow the screens to double as railings. The cables span the same length as a railing, meaning one set of cables covers two of the screens.
Caleb fastening horizontal cable hardware to south-end screen/handrails.
When installing the cable in the southernmost point, the team used special masonry anchors that attach to the brick wall. In order to make sure the holes for these anchors were drilled in the correct spot and equidistant, the team used a metal jig. To hold the plate jig in the correct spot while drilling, the team screwed some blocking pieces into the masonry wall. Once the perforation holes were cleared of debris, the anchors were tapped into the wall and the hardware piece that holds the cable in place could be attached. And lastly, after cutting the cables to length, they were tensioned with the fastener that attached to the screens.
Oftentimes the cables visually disappear, but here their shadows can be seen.
close-up of spacer and cables in the two-inch gap between screens.
Images of cable connection from the Masonry wall to the closest screen.
The metal corner piece (connects the existing railing to the railing that will cap the walkway) has bolted into place. Check out the next post to see the last railing piece installed and how it connects to the wall.
Out of sight, Out of Mind
If you’ve been keeping up with the blog for a while, this infamous grinder pump cover has come up for months now. And you are probably curious as to what all the fuss is about. Well, here you have it!
In the last post, the metal frame was seen installed in place. Most recently, the “tabs” that are held up by the threaded rods were attached, and the cover lifted into place. In the images above the process of this installation is seen.
First, the metal plate tabs were placed at the correct height and held in place with a nut and washer, while tack welded in place. Second, the washer and nut were removed, and the excess threaded rod ground off, and the plate fully welded to fill the gap. Third, the surface of the plate was ground smooth and clean. Fourth, the remaining debris was cleaned off and the welds covered with spray paint. Last but not least, the team and friends placed the cover once the paint has dried!
Dr. Dorsey helping the team and Riley move cover to its home
