The Edge - Quarter 4, 2008 - (Page 22)

Getting equipment to where it needs to be is always a challenge when building on a steep slope. Fortunately, an agreeable neighbor below the property was doing an extensive renovation on his house and was not living there at the time of the work. That homeowner gave permission for Nirvana to access the job through his property. “Most of the project was built from the lower level up,” recalled Prizzi, “although part of it was built from the driveway at the upper level. All of the gunite shooting was done from the bottom up. We had to bring in pump trucks for the concrete footings, and that was done from the bottom up as well. We had a big challenge bringing in the pallets of block. We had to build a construction road from the lower level up to the level where we were working and, obviously, we had to later take out that road. It was the only way we could reach the job during rain storms, snow storms and freezing and thawing. Over the winter, our team had its share of snow, which had to be shoveled before continuing the four-season project.” 22 www.nespapool.org Locating the pool was a challenge because the homeowner wanted to optimize its view and the dramatic vanishing edge from the main level of the house. Nirvana worked on three levels of the pool at once to accomplish this. “Where we cut the shelf in the soil is where the footings are, and that is where the steel started,” said Prizzi. “Even those footings were staged up. It was challenging for our people and it was challenging for our equipment. It is not the traditional swimming pool where we cut into the earth and we run around the top doing the work. On this pool, we were always below the pool, we were at levels below the pool climbing up to the pool and then climbing into the pool to do some of the work. We had to build an incredible amount of scaffolding and that is where a lot of the cost came in.” An all-form pool, it was completely formed out of wood. “Our people came in with two carpenters and basically built a house. We had to make the shape and form it. Then, we brought the steel in and plumbed it. We then shot it and stripped the entire pool,” he said. BUILDER COMMENTS: “Engineering was a big factor on the job. It was like building a basement for a house with four walls and then putting the pool on top. It was a fun project because it was interesting and very much of a challenge,” said Prizzi. “We were very fortunate not to have any issueslike poor soil conditions. We did have two snow storms, so we shoveled snow and then went back to work. We did not have to do any soil compacting, although we did have to cut and haul out soil and stage in some of the soil. “Initially, we were going to do poured-in-place panels instead of Concrete Masonry Unit (CMU) blocks for the foundation,” he continued. “We learned that because of the shape of the pool, it would be extremely expensive, so I nixed that. We went to CMU block with a lot of steel. We built the basement and filled it. At the level that would serve as the bottom of the pool, we created a mat out of structural steel and then formed the pool. Basically, with this pool, all of the weight was distributed around the perimeter of http://www.nespapool.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Edge - Quarter 4, 2008

The Edge - Quarter 4, 2008 Contents The President’s Message New Pool/Spa Federal Safety Act Worried About the 2009 Market? Treating Hot Water? Project Focus The 411 on UV Disinfection for Pools and Spas The Advantages of Seeding Aggregate Surfaces Pool and Spa Industry Wins Gold Choosing a Retirement Plan To Get Best Coverage at Lowest Cost - Shop Now Index of Advertisers

The Edge - Quarter 4, 2008

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