We had a first kick-off meeting with 2 technical experts (for statics and special technics) yesterday.
The detailed (and somewhat confused) minutes can be found here.
The only two action points for us that came out of this meeting are
Contacting the neighbour on the right side of the plot (“the millionaire”) to find out whether he has a basement. Does anyone have the contact details of that neighbour or would be willing to investigate?
Dig 6 holes where our future buildings and the neighbouring buildings meet to find out about the (depth of their) foundations. The technical expert will send a map with the precise locations and would need to inspect the holes in about a month time. They should be roughly 50x50cm wide and maximum 80cm deep. Any (strong) volunteers for the task? Could maybe also combined with a site visit/a gathering on the site?
@Lee we didn’t get a chance to talk after the plenary but I can do this if you’d like (it seemed to me that you preferred to do it yourself, but I thought I would check).
Thanks for the offer. It had dropped off my radar to be honest, so grateful if you would be willing to take this up.
The question to ask the guy is whether and where he has an underground on his plot. The technicians want to know so that they can take precautions to not break anything once we start building.
Can you please save his details in the neighbours folder in Team External (Login – Nextcloud) and let us know about the outcome before you leave? If that’s would be difficult, no problem of course. Happy to take back the task.
@ChrisM we have received the plans for where to dig holes!
Apparently, hole nr. 5 is not necessary if the neighbour has a fully fledged basement, but not sure we’ll have this info on time… (A noter que pour le sondage S5, il faudrait s’assurer qu’il n’y a pas de cave au niveau du voisin de droite ( 461 – 463 – 465 ). Si une cave totale est présente, il n’est pas nécessaire de réaliser le sondage S5. Si la cave est partielle ou inexistante, il faudra le réaliser (dans la zone non cavée).
Five holes of 50x50x80, in the right places. I’ll dig the fifth one (S5) any way…
Any @reeflings who would like to reconnect with the site, Joannes and I (and possibly Dave) will be there on Saturday from 2pm. Joke and Axel will also be visiting for a wander around…
Spent this afternoon on site digging holes with Joannes and Mieke. Joke, Axel and Senna also visited
It was a bit challenging, as most of the spots where the holes were needed involved trying to dig through stones, gravel and building rubbish, as opposed to dirt or clay. And as such, there will need to be another session to finish the job…
Hole S1 is done, although one of the sides is only 25cm, as there was a piece of concrete extending from the neighbours building that stopped us digging as close as they wanted. It’s a good depth though.
Holes S2 and S3 are half done (40cm deep), and hole S4 is a quarter done (20cm deep). To finish them, we will need something other than just a spade or a shovel to break up the stones before digging out. I don’t know how it’s done here, but in New Zealand we would use a long, heavy, metal spike, which you throw repeatedly into the hole. Some sort of petrol-driven pneumatic drill would do the job in 15 minutes, but would cost about 100 euros to hire.
Hole S5 hasn’t been done. Sarah wrote to the neighbour on that side, using the Reef’s email. So maybe there’ll be a response from him at some point that results in it not being needed. If it is needed, it’s pretty likely to be exactly the same as the others: 45 minutes of spade/spike/effort or 10 minutes with a piece of kit.
@joannes knows exactly what still needs to be done, and has the photos to prove it I’d be happy to finish the job when I get back, but that would be the weekend of 15-16… not sure if that’s too late?
I couldn’t find it on the list, but thanks for putting me onto that site… very cool!
It’s the sort of thing that you can probably buy in the Brico gardening section for about 30 euros. It’s literally just a steel pole with a sharp end. And it’s something that we’ll probably need long term at the Reef, because every future hole in the garden will potentially meet this problem. Although Team Garden doesn’t officially exist yet, perhaps there’s a case to be made for buying an early essential, yet inexpensive, piece of kit…
As I said above, happy to take care of this the week after I get back…
Not that I want to be stingy about 50 euro, but if that’s the tool of choice, I would maybe check out whether we can borrow the local scouting group’s one. There is a group a couple of blocks away: Le staff d’unité – 26e Unité scoute N-D Lourdes – Jette
Side note: if need be I’d be happy to ask my foster son to give us a hand with the digging.
@joannes - you’re exactly right that it’s a barre à mine, like the one in Brico for 80 euros But the perceuse manuelle wouldn’t be appropriate… it’s for putting in fence posts or planting small trees. And a couple of bricks in the wrong place would defeat it.
@Lee - not sure why you think the local scout group would have one, as it’s a tool that can only really be wielded by adults, but I guess it’s worth a try. There are also other community-led tool dispensaries in Brussels other than the one Joke suggested above.
As I said above, future Team Garden will almost certainly need one. I expect most of the gardening stuff we’ll need will be able to be provided collectively by everyone moving in. But this is not something most people have lying around…
Having said that, we can certainly find a cheap one between now and then. On 2ememain.be I’ve just seen one in Halle for 40 and a set of three in Nivelles for 50. There’s also a secondhand tool market on the canal a few times a year where I could pick one up even cheaper.
So the bottom line is that if we can borrow one, great. If not, and there’s concerns about buying one now, it can still be done by personpower alone. But it will certainly not be easy, so the more hands (and backs) the better…
I was talking about the perceuse manuelle. Every self-respecting scouting group has one. I can confirm from experience that you’re done digging with these things as soon as you hit a rock (and I’m still feeling guilty about Wallonian cows who may have twisted their ankles because of the holes we dug )
@Sophie_B and @joannes, the way I understand this task, is that it can’t wait until mid-March.
I have talked to Sipan, my foster son, and he’s happy to help. He has a preference for a powered tool, but anything else would work too. He’d be happy to make time this weekend. @joannes is that an option for you, and if yes, would you be willing to get in touch with him?
@joannes and @Lee: What I took from the conversation with the technical expert was that the holes had to be maximum 80cm but that in some cases he would be able to draw conclusions without going that deep - that’s why I wanted to hear from him, but no answer yet so I guess it’s safe to have the holes done soon. Thanks a lot!
@Lee Yes, I’d be happy to talk to Sipan and fix a time this weekend, ideally Sat. around noon. I have a barre à mine/crowbar/koevoet + a decent shovel.
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