Days 12 & 13: Digging a culvert by hand + soil-cement

I met a guy at the mountain party I went to the other day – which by the way I took a couple quick pictures of; a good time was had by all; and I’m glad I went…

Anyway, I met this guy that I had tried to get a hold of sooner, but wasn’t able to, which as it turns out was due to an issue with one of my texts going missing. He does dirt work; owns several machines; and comes well-recommended by some of the other locals.

So after we talked about it, he and his wife came out to the property a couple days later, and ended up suggesting a whole new angle for the driveway which would reduce the incline even more.

Which leads us into the following videos:

…and here’s where it stands at the end of Day 13:

It’s taken 2 days to dig the embankment back about 6″, dig the ditch down about 6″, mix all the soil-cement one bucket at a time, tamp it in-place, and embed rocks. And I can tell that I’ve got at least 1 more day just to even out the slope on the road-side of the culvert, as well as moving the mound of material that’s now sitting on the embankment above it. But I’m making progress anyway.

One foot in front of the other!

Until next time…