Concrete is flowing out of the chute, 4 of us are frantically shoveling concrete to various areas of the trenches that we dug out, and 2 of us are leveling the concrete with a screed. Suddenly we hear “We aren’t going to have enough.” Everybody looks at the man who has walked out the truck pouring the concrete. Immediately the already frantic mood at our site in West Ashley turns slightly panicked. Apparently the amount that we had dug out of the ground to pour the concrete slab of our pavilion foundation was deeper than expected. This means that the concrete that we ordered was not going to be sufficient to finish the slab.
The main problem was that we somehow had to find a way to stop the concrete at a point in the trench where we could then add the rest of the slab at a later date. We managed to salvage the situation, but it wasn’t exactly an easy task. Orders were barked out that had to be followed immediately and it was imperative that everyone was constantly alert and paying attention to what needed to be done. It was really only a period of maybe 15 – 30 minutes of figuring out the solution (which essentially was to create a “keyway” or joint between the slab we had just poured and the one we would now pour later), but for that time period it all seemed up in the air about whether or not everything would work out, and to what degree of quality.
However, due to some fancy footwork by Studio V and our affiliates we managed to get through the setback. But in the end it was really an informative and essential experience. In terms of how to deal with spontaneous errors, this was some first class experience. It was also invaluable experience of how to work with others as seamlessly as possible in order to work to a solution as fast as possible. It was also an almost literal crash course in what steps need to be taken to prevent concrete from shifting and what causes it to crack or be uneven.
