ELON / HAWK RIDE/ POLO RELIEF SCHOOL
This project requires land development of an residential lot in Charlotte, NC to make way for a new school that will relieve overcrowding in the Elon, Hawk Ridge, and Polo Ridge schools. The residential lot to be graded was a single family ranch home that sat on a 15.86 acre lot. The land development will include the standard grading along with a detention pond for erosion control.
Project State Date: May 2022
Project End Date: May 2023
Project Location: Charlotte, NC
Project Acreage: 15.86
Project Intention: Public School
Project Customer: Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools
UPDATE 1
FROM HOME TO SCHOOL
The chosen lot for the Elon/Hawk Ridge/Polo Relief School was a two house dwelling sitting on a idealic ranch lot. Being a home that had some existing grading done meant that less habitat change was required for land grading and site development. When developing land that was previously graded it can be a mixed bag. On one hand you have less to clear but on the other hand the existing grading can be all wrong for the coming construction. This particular site gave no problems for land development for the coming school.
COMMUNITY MEASURES
The site that was chosen for the school was immediately adjacent to a residential community and across the street from a pre-existing high school so careful considerations had to be taken. We put in place innovative measures to control noise and dust in order to not disrupt the daily lives of the people of the local community. We also faced a challenge with school students trying to cut across the lot in order to get home to the adjacent communities. To overcome this we constructed fencing and other creative solutions to offer passage but to minimize any danger to any students from the school across the road.
CHANGE OF PLANS
Sometimes when doing site works plans need to change. This was the case with this project. Some structures needed to be added to the construction plan so we had to adjust the development of some areas and increse the size of the detention pond in order to accomodate the changes. Any time we work on a project we always anticipate changes and make sure we have contingicies in place to accomodate them.
UPDATE 2
KEEPING THE RUNOFF FROM RUNNING OFF
The detention pond was created in the corner of the lot to keep the erosion of the lot to a minimum. The pond contains baffles that filter the silt and make it settle on the bottom of the pond so that the only thing that comes out of the pond is clean water. This is beneficial for the health of the surrounding habitats of the lot which include a small forest, a residential neighborhood, and a busy highway. Â
FINISHING UP THE DEBRIS REMOVAL
At the time of this update the remnants of the debris from the lot were all being rounded up and being removed from the lot in order to allow the real dirt grading to begin. Every job has different specifications on where debris should be taken to or what should be done with it. Here at JL Raper we have significant experience in this and can help advise on this. For this particular project, most of the debris was chipped up and turned into quality mulch which was sold to vendors.Â
RUNNING INTO SURPRISES
One thing that any company that has been doing site works for any amount of time will know is that sometimes you run into surprises that aren’t forseen. With this particual project that surprise was the existence of two sewage tanks on the lot. The owers of the lot knew about a well but were unaware of the two sewage tanks. While grading we discovered the tanks and took appropriate measures to safely remove them.
UPDATE 3
LAYING THE PADS
The work being down on the school site at the time of this update included the grading for the foundation slab for the school as well as the parking areas. After the land devolping is done for this next would be the installation of the underground pipes for sewage and fire systems.Â
MANAGING THE TOPSOIL
The large mound of dirt that is sitting in the middle of the jobsite is the topsoil that was removed from lot. A lot of it is being held in order to be used on the areas that will contain grass, trees, flowers, etc. But the remaining topsoil will be taken and used by the customer on other sites. The customer was still working out all the logistics on where they wanted the topsoil to be moved so in order to preserve it we tarped the topsoil to protect it from damage until the customer is ready for it to be moved.Â
WORKING WITH COMITTEESÂ
Sometimes a job can be quite complicated, especially if there are a lot of people, departments, entities, etc. involved. Here at JL Raper we are comfortable with these complicated situations and we know how to submit information correctly and to wait on responses before doing anything. We understand the politics of business and will never do anything to make any project more difficult than it has to be.
UPDATE 4
RECYCLING THE TOPSOIL
Being a full service grading and land deelopment company means that we have the ability to plan ahead when it comes to material like topsoil Not only are we clearning and excavating the land on this project, but we are also doing the curbing and landscaping. So instead of wasting money on removing topsoil and then paying to bring more topsoil back in we have stored the topsoil onsite in order to reuse it on the areas where landscaping and curbing will be needed to beautify the site after all the grading has been done. This saves money for the client and it is way better for the environment.
SCREENING THE SOIL
On top of saving the topsoil to reuse later on in the project we also brought in sifters to ensure the soil is free of large rocks or any other debris that could cause problems later on in the development of the land for use as a school. This step is critical to ensure no problems later on in the grading of the site and helps to make the landscaping, curbing, and any other land development process go smoother.
UPDATE 5
INSTALLING UTILITY
An ofter overlooked aspect of any grading or site development is the installatin of utility pipe in order to facilitate proper water and sewage movement underground. Laying these pipes isn’t something that just any company can do. All pipe laying must be completed by a pipe specialist that knows slope percentages to make sure whatever liquid inside the pipe flows in the right direction and at the right flow. JL Raper is a Public Utility Contractor and we do all utility connections and installs on our grading projects.
PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
One of the advantages of using a full service grading and land development company like JL Raper is that we do everything from the initial grading of the land to the final curbing and landscaping. This means that as we are moving the earth we can plan ahead for what we know we will be doing towards the end and can keep those plans in mind as we develop the site. This saves money and time for the client.Â
UPDATE 6
NAVIGATING THE CROWD
One of the things that a lot of grading companies (and any construction company) has to learn is how to do what they need to do on the jobsite while the jobsite is littered with other companies doing lots of different things. Its all too easy to get frustrated and stop or slow down what you are doing because you have to work around the crowd. Here at JL Raper we know how to work well with others. Our staff have been trained on how to get the land development work done when fully surrounded by other contractors and, most importantly, how to do it safely. It simply requires a high level of alertness, patience, and communication with others. Our process keeps the work going and any negative incidents from happening.
WATCHING THE WEATHER
Its no surprise that weather plays a vital role in job completion when doing any site development. Staying up to date on all weather forecasts and being able to make wise decisions on what the day may bring is something we pride ourselves on. We know that sometimes a forecast of rain just means sprinkles. We keep a keen eye on all weather indicators to truly understand what the day may hold. Of course we are wrong sometimes, but we try to keep it to a minimum.
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