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This week, the Hudson bloggers get into the foundation business.

There has scarcely been time for us to adjust our outlook since the election came to such a decisive end barely 36 hours ago. We took to heart our president-elect’s speech about the challenges ahead just because we’ve started excavating in earnest for concrete foundation pours before Thanksgiving doesn’t mean we can assume it will be smooth sailing here on out. We’d like to hope that’s the case but Obama has duly cautioned us.

Another reason for us to have heart is that we had another 311 call and the Department of Buildings inspector who reviewed the site actually told the caller that all was well. While we knew we were doing things right, it was nice to have the back-up.

TAB-110608-02.jpgIn order to take advantage of the decent autumn weather, we decided to start pouring foundations for the middle of the site while we finish up underpinning on the far ends of the site. We’ll be excavating between the piles until we get down to the proper grade. Then we’ll add crushed stone and pour foundations. The purpose of the crushed stone is to act as an insurance policy against groundwater. Since most of Carroll Gardens and Gowanus was wetlands in the days of the Dutch, we are sensitive to concerns about water. The stone will provide more capillary space for any groundwater to disperse. The foundations will be concrete that is made out of 30% fly ash mix. Fly ash is a by-product of coal-fired electric power plants—it’s the ash scraped out of coal smokestacks. We earn points for LEED by using a concrete mixture that is 30% fly ash. Moreover, we recycle an industrial byproduct and reduce the need for new resources. The concrete mix has been approved by our structural engineer, and some of our sources suggest it will be stronger than typical concrete.

So, a cautious congratulations to us all we have all made progress and can most likely, probably, pretty surely, look forward to some more.

Inside Third & Bond: Weeks 1-60 [Brownstoner]

From our lawyers: This is not an offering. No offering can be made until an offering plan is filed with the Department of Law of the State of New York.”


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. Several months ago, in response to a question from me, you said you might be willing to post what the GMP contract value turned out to be after the major subcontracts were awarded. Any chance of doing that, along with the gross square footage of the development? Thanks.