The view from above on November 28, with about a quarter of the dining hall leveled with sand.

The past few weeks have been an exciting time in the development of the dining hall, as we've received our new rendering, decided on an official name for the dining hall (Bear Creek Inn) and made strides in construction.

With an unseasonably warm November, work is progressing more rapidly than expected on some aspects of the dining hall construction. The warm weather has allowed contractors to prepare the ground inside the foundation walls for the pouring of the concrete slab. It's a multi-step process, several of which have already been completed.

First, the dirt inside the foundation walls is leveled. Then, large sheets of black "filter fabric" are laid into place and buried under several inches of large gravel. The filter fabric keeps the gravel from mixing with the dirt below.

Then, sheets of white "poly plastic" are laid over the gravel and a layer of sand is put into place. The poly acts as a vapor barrier, keeping moisture from rising up from the ground into the concrete slab.

As seen in the pictures here, the gravel has been completely laid and leveled, and the poly and sand are currently being put into place. The sand is also leveled and tamped.

After the entire area is covered with the packed sand, wire mesh will be laid down and tied into the foundation. Concrete will then be poured on top of the mesh, which helps the concrete solidify, and then the slab will be complete.

We hope to be pouring the concrete slab sometime next week, provided the weather continues to work in our favor. We'll continue to keep you updated on the progress of Bear Creek Inn, and for the most up-to-date images, you can visit the webcam at www.lakechampion.org

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Contractors work on spreading and leveling gravel inside the foundation walls.


Spreading, leveling and tamping the sand on top of the poly plastic.