Earthship construction: Day 5
We were greeted this morning at the site by two teams of oxen pulling wagons. We have been using a back hoe to generate dirt from a nearby site, but we needed a more efficient way to get the dirt to the Earthship rather than having the back hoe trundle down with a scoop at a time. So we hired the ox teams.
They worked non stop all day, bringing load after load to the site to back bury the building. It was fun to watch the well trained beasts maneuver about and then wait patiently while the guys shoveled the dirt off.
Working in the bottle factory is a little removed from where the real action is, but at least we get shade and an occasional trip to the beach to collect materials. We (and when I say we, I mean all the Nica kids who stop by - ages 2 on up to my right hand man, Faustino, who is 62) have been manufacturing bottle bricks from discarded plastic and glass bottles found on the beach, the streets and trash cans. We cut off the tops and join the bottoms to create colorful mini windows which, when laid in a concrete wall, give the appearance of a stained glass window of sorts.
Every time I deliver another basket of completed bottle bricks to the site, I’m amazed at the progress. Mike finished his bottle wall in the living room hut and together with Rory, Tom and their local helpers, managed not only to form the bond beam today, but also to pour it.
Photo courtesy of MyBootsnMe taken on-site.
Chris is heading up the team in charge of the bottle walls in the bedroom. It’s looking like she should be able to finish the walls on Monday. Ted and Demian, working with Frederico, have completed the framework of the rebar birdcage to go on the big hut. They’ve begun wiring the mesh onto the frame that will help maintain the shape of the dome throughout the first coats of plaster.
Inside the living room hut, Phil and Seth have got their wooden tower far enough along to erect the first two spokes of the inner dome. These connect the inside of the bond beam to the lower part of the skylight unit in the living room. It’s a tedious job, getting the angles just right, but they hope to have them all up on Monday.
And Justin started assembling trusses today that will support the greenhouse roof. After carefully figuring out the first, he was able to crank out five more.
Besides the major milestones noted here, countless other tasks are simultaneously being performed: finishing the tire work, packing out the tire work, shuttling concrete, shoveling dirt and back burying the building, cleaning the ends of bottle bricks, mixing cement, mixing cement, mixing cement, shuttling to town to retrieve sand, gravel and other supplies, and Dave, quietly coordinating deliveries and store runs with a smile on his face, despite the frustrations.
Photo courtesy of MyBootsnMe taken on-site.
And then there is Jo and Lydia, behind the scenes cooking for all of us - one in the morning for lunch and the other in the afternoon for dinner. I haven’t had a bad meal yet. Good grub. Thank you!
(Post contributed by Amy - Bottle brick factory worker)
Technorati Tags: Earthship, green, green building, green movement, green real estate, Nicaragua, sustainable construction, sustainable housing
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December 9th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
[...] You can follow the ship’s progress here. We’re currently on day 5 of 16. [...]