Alliance Redwoods Conference Grounds entrance
Alliance Redwoods Conference Grounds in Occidental, CA (near Santa Rosa)is a beautiful place deep in the Redwood rainforest on the CA coast. Darren connected buidlings to existing water, restored one retaining wall and built another and repaired drainage. We were there for about six weeks. Darren had much help with existing staff members.
All the pictures seem dark, not because we were working at night, but because the forest canopy is so dense that it is quite dark even at high noon.
Retaining Wall Repair. It is a retaining wall/seating area serving a group of cabins. The wall was eroding away. They tore it down, sunk sonotube 5' deep and filled with concrete around each support. Then backfilled the area, compacting it every few feet. The wall and seats were then re-installed. It's not going to move now!
Tearing down the existing wall
Setting the upright posts
This is camp staff working with Darren
Making sure it's all on the level
Improving/Repairing Drainage: This camp is situated around a creek at the bottom of a 700' deep ravine. Winter rains here cause major, major runoff down the hill. Some buildings have become flooded as the water goes where it wants. Darren regraded the land in several areas around the camp and we have current reports that during winter 2007/2008 there was no water in the buildings and the surrounding areas were not holding water as they had in the past.
Over time, this hillside had fallen down to the building footer. Darren's chore was to pull the dirt away and build a retaining wall to protect the building from water seepage and dryrot.
Building the retaining wall behind a building to hold back erosion away from the structure
WATER LINE INSTALLATION: The camp had a new 4" water main installed but still needed all the buildings to be connected to the new water. With help from the camp staff, Darren connected several buildings to water. Working around all the trees and tight proximity between buildings posed a challenge which was easily met by the mini-excavator, wheel barrows, and 5 gallon buckets. Having a full-time helper on this portion of the project was extremely helpful.
Dumping fill into a wheel barrow to be carted down the hill, covering recently-laid pipe by a building
Beyond the excavator, you can see the steep hill and the close proximity of cabins and trees on this water-line project.
