The Setting

We had a beautiful evening last week when we were working at the site, and it occurred to me that some people may be unaware of the beauty of the setting for the monument. The monument will be located at a roadside rest area on one of Utah's most beautiful scenic highways (and I am completely un-predjudiced). It sits within Huntington City limits at the base of Huntington Canyon. The monument will face the Huntington Cemetery which is an absolutely lovely setting. These photos were taken last week.

Removing forms

It is such a relief to have the pedestal, planter and sidewalks poured. Now the scouts can get on to their projects, electrical, irrigation, landscaping, retaining wall, planting and sod. The foundry asked for a template of the pedestal top so that they can fit the rough cast bronze of the monument to it. It seems easy enough, but yet another difficulty arose. The complex design combined with the concave front of the monument made form removal extremely difficult. Dan tried to hurry things along and pry it off so that the other disciplines could get started, but the concrete had not cured sufficiently. The exterior corners of the concrete must be strong before the forms are removed, or there will be a lot of difficult repair work to be done. It was painful, but the decision was made to leave the forms for another 24 hours. It took a joint effort; Dan, Julie, Doug and the boy scouts, but FINALLY the forms were off and we could begin to see the colors and shape of the final monument. A short burst of the "Hallelujah Chorus" was heard in all our hearts!

The Concrete Pour

The big day has arrived at last! It has been such a long time coming. There were some last-minute decisions to be worked through--the Geneva Rock Concrete does not carry the same colorants here in Carbon/Emery Counties as they do in Orem. We had selected a liquid colorant, but all they use here is powder. Even if we had gotten the colorant and brought it down for them, they are not set up to use liquid. So. The color and formula had to be reconsidered. Another twist that had to be worked through was a retaining wall. My original plans had contained a gentle slope starting from the sidewalk, but that design was altered to include a retaining wall. Time constraints and costs required that it be built of block, but the colors of block available in Price, Utah are not consistent with color of the monument. I cannot change the color of the monument so that it coordinates with a paver. A compromise was reached with masonary paint--but even that has to wait until the concrete is poured and the landscape set. Dan Whittle, Dan Allen and his brothers, and some eagle scouts were the workers of the day.
One last minute kerfluffle required bringing the engineers back on the site. The coordinates for the sidewalk, etc. had been drawn from the back of the monument rather than the front, so some last-minute tweaking was required to get the forms and the monument to work together. The engineers came immediately and everything worked out.

Preparing for concrete

The next step in the process has been extremely complex. Dan Whittle, my excellent concrete specialist, (along with son, Ryan and grandson, Jacob) has been spending days and days building the inverse form of the pedestal shape that I want. The design continues to evolve even at this date, with improvements created and weaknesses discovered. It has been a LONG process because everything must be calculated and the final form is "backwards" or "inside-out" from what the finished pedestal will be. There has been a bit of angst regarding timing, the date for the unveiling has been set, invitations have been sent out, and we are all working to get our jobs done. It is a bit of choreography, trying to get each project, ie, sidewalks, electricity, irrigation, landscaping and a flagpole, all done around the monument. But there is no way to rush the form-building. It has to be right, or the rest is out of kilter. Dan Allen is working with one of the EagleScouts to lay the sidewalks,

Movers and Shakers

When the term "Movers and Shakers" was invented, they MUSt have had Huntington City Councilwoman Julie Jones in mind. This is one hard working woman! As the council person in charge of parks and cemetery, Julie has taken it upon herself to improve the rest of the site as an appropriate setting for the Crandall Canyon Miners' Memorial. She knows everyone and has a strength of purpose that is not easily dissuaded. Working with city employees, utilities, local business, the football team, the boy scouts and Eagle Scouts, local volunteers and local draftees, she is getting the job done. The pictures show some before and after, but they do not tell you how blisteringly hot it has been nor how many hours and hours and hours of Julie's time and muscle it has taken to accomplish these things. She is a marvel, and the site is going to be beautiful.

Building forms

Dan and Ryan at work on forms for concrete pedestall

Preparing the Park

Time is growing short and there is still much to be done. :) These photos show the flurry of activity that has been going on at the site. The top photo shows both concrete specialists, Dan Whittle who is doing the pedestal, and Dan Allen who is doing the sidewalks; Utah Power placing a meter so that the park can have electricity, the engineers taking readings so that they can lay out the sidewalks.
Another photo shows the boyscouts digging the trench for the irrigation which will need to be laid to the planter in front of hte monument,
The third photo shows the layout of the site from the flagpole to the information booth