Finishing Ground Floor Column Forms | Our Big Italian Adventure

Finally a sunny day in Le Marche as work continues apace on the ground floor columns.

Yesterday they started erecting the steel rebar frameworks of the columns and began building the forms around these frameworks for the concrete to be poured. Today saw this project nearing completion.

We got some good pictures today, and one in particular caught my eye. It’s a closeup of the base of the steel rebar framework of one of the columns. You can see how solidly built the columns will be, given this framework will be encased in concrete. This is an example of the construction practices they are using to strengthen the house against earthquakes.

Close up of reinforced concrete column base — A Close Look at a Column
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Once they had erected the columns and put the forms around them, we had an impressive grid. Kevin dubbed it, “Stonehenge.”

Stonehenge in Italy — Our Own Henge
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Addendum

One other issue arose today. Anne noted that the slope above the house is fairly steep. She asked about protection from flooding as water cascades down the slope in a heavy rain. (This problem would also affect the pool, as there is a similar slope above it.)

Kevin responded:

We’re very early in the plan execution…so the earth around the project is chopped up and not at its best.
The earth will be moved as per the agreed-to plan for levels, etc.
There will be some hard landscaping that achieves drainage and in the actual landscape plan any particular drainage issues will be addressed.

So we’ve identified the issue and need to be sure it’s addressed appropriately. We certainly don’t want water pouring through the front door, much less front windows!

Here is the complete photo album from today’s work.