My Downtown Mall

Day 30 - Here Comes the Granite!!

Construction Weather: Clear, 21^oF - 39^oF

Last night the skies opened up and dropped a few inches of snow on Downtown Charlottesville.  However, work goes on as usual.  Here is a few things to keep your eyes out for:

 The granite for the accent banding and other accent elements is being delivered.  There will be two types of granite: a "white" granite (Mount Airy White), and a "black" granite (Virginia Jet Mist).  The "black" granite is from a quarry outside of Culpeper.

Unlike the masonry pavers, which are sand set, the granite is set in a mortar bed.  This insures that the installation is secure and does not shift, which would likely occur if these large pieces of stone where set in sand.

200 Block East - The granite banding is being installed. The granite banding is an element of the original Lawrence Halprin design which was not installed due to cost.

400 Block East - More pavers.  With the block halfway done, these new pavers going down should bring the central corridor of the block nearly to completion.

500 Block East - The old kiosk in front of Blue Ridge Country Store and Baggby's comes down to make way for a new drinking fountain.

Day 18

Construction Weather: Clear, 26^oF - 46^oF

Construction crews on the mall continue with the initial phases of construction, as January weather continues to be cooperative. Crews have expanded constructions zones on the mall, but pedestrian paths are still easily identifiable due to the temporary signage.

Crews have begun moving cubes of bricks pavers from the 1st Street staging area to the locations on the Mall where they will be laid.

Installation of the new pavers is occurring in several locations.

 

Before laying the brick pavers, the masonry crews need to establish a sand setting bed of approximately 1" in which to set them. The pavers will then be compacted into the sand until the level of the new brick matches what is existing.  The brick at Central Place when finished will be roughly 5,000 square feet.  Some of the bricks have to be cut to precise sizes in order to fit around existing site elements.

Design Electric crews continue to install the new conduit and junction boxes.