Yesterday, we met the city’s masonry crew out on site to pour the slab for our pavilion at Stephen Washington park. We watched them adjust the consistency of the concrete mix, maneuver the truck, and pour the concrete.
From there, the crew spread the concrete out and around the rebar and helped to flatten it. After that, we used the screed board to level it and begin the smoothing process. With one pass of the screed board the slab is aligned to the top edge of the formwork, then the crew passed over at again pushing it back and forth to smooth the surface. Those of us at the site were able to try out the screed board, which gave us an appreciation for how heavy the concrete is!
The crew worked in essentially four zones around the slab. Once there was concrete filled into the entire area, they continued to level and brush off any excess. After this was complete, they used their special finishing tools, first a heavier metal float on a long stick which can extend to the center. This helped to remove any roughness on the surface and continue flattening the slab. After this was complete, they used a finer metal float which further smoothed the surface and did not move around as much material. Throughout the day they just continued to monitor the water on the slab to ensure any further finishing needed was done in a timely matter. The goal is to do a smooth finish across the whole slab, which will soon be solid for us to start putting up the form work for our second pour of the concrete piers!
