Behold.

Bluestone Bobcats near beautiful Bowbells, ND.

DOZE'nt This Look Fun

 Gravel is being hauled and dumped on site [StoneBridge Farms development, Minot].

 G

These pictures were taken shortly before the first snow storm of the season hit Minot. We are still working towards our goal of finishing the road preparation by the first of December, and we are well on our way!

October Storm

Bluestone began work on a a development on Minot's north hill today, despite a chilly, wet fall day.



Impressive weather for this time of year in North Dakota!

Apartment Parking Lot

Photos: Bluestone in southeast Minot grading a parking lot for some new apartment buildings.

Great Grading

Another project we were working on this week involved site work for some mini storage units in Minot.

Burnin' the Midnight Oil... Errr... Light Plant

Sometimes, there is just not time enough in the day.

Enter light plants.

Problem solved.

Kevin is working away at a foundation for a new house in Minot. 

Survivor

Last week we worked on a home in northwest Minot that survived the flood.

The basement, however, did not fare so well.

Housemovers lifted the house off it's bowed and cracked foundation walls and placed it aside to let Bluestone do some necessary work.

First, we tore out all of the walls with the excavator.

Next, we stacked ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) walls and poured concrete.

It was a tight spot, but as you can see; the concrete pump is shown here pumping concrete into the forms.

Next the home will be placed back on it's new foundation and we have a situation that is much improved: a foundation much better and stronger than before.

Big and Bigger

There is all kinds of power on site for digging a foundation near Minot today.

Pictured below is a culvert for a detention pond for our project at the US/Canadian Port near Antler, ND.

Fall is in the air; and we are glad to be wrapping up several projects.

Man Down!

And by "man" I mean "excavator."

I am proud to report that the operator is fine, the excavator is up and running, and we are all better because of the experience.

Sneaky Sunday Snapshots

Sneaky. Because I [Bluestone's blogger] "snuck" on site. With the help of my favorite Bluestone flagger, Joyce.

Sunday. Because it's Sunday. And for now, getting dressed for Sunday is more likely to involve a hardhat and some ANSI safety lime green than nice slacks and a dress shirt.

The levees in Minot are disappearing. In the snapshot below, you see just one of many trucks circulating through to be loaded up with clay near Minot's North broadway Subway.

Happy Sunday!

Loadin', Haulin', & Cleanin'

The men at Bluestone Construction have been rising early and working long days and into the nights; eating lunch on the fly and working right on through the weekends.

We estimate that we have removed approximately 1000 truck loads of clay from the huge levees in and around Ward County. This amounts to about 12,000 yards of clay. This being only day 8 of the project-- we are moving a lot of dirt!

In the photograph below, Bluestone operator Dustin Vogel is working hard to keep trucks running.

It is a nice feeling to see the streets in our community restored.

A water truck cleans off the dirty street. When we are done, the streets look as good as new... something that was hard to imagine just a month ago.



Minot, Tear Down These Levees!

Bluestone was has been hard at it since we were given the go-ahead last Friday to start taking down levees in Minot, Burlington, and Sawyer.

Crews worked right on through the weekend; additional staff and equipment has been brought on to help accomodate the workload.

Photo: Dustin operating the excavator while Austin works in the Bobcat skidder.

Building into a Hillside

A project we are working on in Minot involves cutting away part of a hillside and building a shop foundation for the resident.

The resident's lot dictated that the shop needed to be built into the hillside, making a traditional wood foundation unsuitable. Insulating concrete forms are the perfect solution for a case like this.

The photos below show Bluestone employees David and Austin slaving away at what will be the shop's footings.



Day One: Ward County Dike Removal

[photo: Leif Anderson approaches his bulldozer at the disposal site in Burlington, ND. Dustin Vogel ran the wheel loader at the levee removal site loading trucks throughout the day.]

Bluestone Construction, Inc. is the lead subcontractor for Ceres Environmental on a large emergency levee removal project for the US Army Corps of Engineers. We are responsible for 20% of the entire contract.

Our duties include loading up clay from the levees, hauling it to designated stockpile sites, and reclaiming those sites.  Removing and disposing of sandbags is also part of the contract. 

Pouring Forms

The concrete pump has arrived and concrete is flowing into our freshly-formed up walls as we speak.

The pour went smoothly. A building will be moved on the walls in a few weeks.

Stacking Forms

August 3rd, 2011; Crosby, ND:

Forms are being stacked for the basement walls of an office building.

There are many advantages to ICF basements. With ICF basements, the concrete is not exposed to the interior or exterior of the basement wall. The EPS panels on each side of the concrete insulate the basement walls and create a barrier. Basements built with ICFs are much more comfortable and feel like the upper levels, creating more truly livable and valuable space. With proper waterproofing and installation, ICFs create warm, dry basements for years to come. While an entire ICF struture is preferable, ICF basements can serve as the foundation and livable space for a stick-built or manufactured home.
 
Click HERE to read a bit more about why we choose to use BuildBlock forms. We really feel they are the best insulated concrete forms available on the market. We have been a dealer, distributor, and installer for BuildBlock for the last three years.

Minot Flood Clean-Up

Minot's Dakota Agronomy is scrambling to get back to normal as dike removal is underway.

Bluestone Construction has an excavator, two trucks, and a wheel loader on site loading and hauling away tons by ton of clay from the massive dikes situated around the fertilizer elevators.

Office Foundation

Bluestone's mini-excavator and wheel loader can be seen today working on digging out for a foundation for an office building.

Apartment Buildling Lot

Our portion of this job is complete; the site work for an apartment building in Williston, North Dakota.



The concrete pour underway; subbed out.

Noonan is Looking Snazzy.

Photo: The curb machine is being mobilized out in order to make way for more striping.


Things are looking good... snazzy in fact; and wrapping up at the Noonan border.

Working on a Lot

A large truck maintenance and parking lot is coming along nicely for a customer in Crosby, North Dakota.

Along with the scope of the site work involved in preparing the gravel parking lot, Bluestone is currently working on preparing a shop floor for a concrete pour, putting a basement in for an office, installing a septic system and bringing water to the site.

Bluestone Goes Green

Impressive set of solar panels near the Noonan, ND:

This photograph taken by Leif Anderson shows the newly installed solar panels at the Noonan port of entry. Bluestone Construction's role in this particular portion of the project involved drilling holes and grading around the panels, as well as trenching in the transmission lines.

The panels act as a supplemental power for the port. The grid is large enough to power an average-sized residential house, providing ample sunlight.

We Dig Geothermal Systems

Yes, literally and figurativly speaking; we "dig" geothermal heating and cooling systems.


Photo is of employee Dustin digging in a geothermal system for an ongoing port of entry project near Antler, North Dakota.

The "Main" Issue

The "main" issue in Crosby, ND a few weeks ago was a sewer main break.

Bluestone Construction was called to the scene when the local contractor's backhoe failed to reach the line. It turns out the break was 18 feet under the earth!

Site Work

Bluestone loader and excavator at work near Crosby, North Dakota. July 15th, 2011.