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.