6am, June 19th, 2001.  The pond is cloaked in tarps, and ready for the blow.  The ShotCrete crew arrived on time at 6:30, and 'blew' concrete for over 12 hours! They started with the waterfall, as it was the most complex structure, needing very careful application of many layers of concrete to get it right. Note the double hose to the nozzle.  One line has compressed air, and one has pumped concrete. The concrete trucks rolled in on a regular schedule.  We used 80 YARDS of concrete, mixed to the specified super-strong recipe specified by ShotCrete.  While most of the concrete could be 'blown' in, all the finish work was done by hand, as well as some of the edge work, as you see here on the waterfall. A view from the house of the concrete being 'blown' into the waterfall.  There were 5 guys on the crew.  One would handle the nozzle, and one the hoses.  One would watch the mix going into the hopper used to pump it to the nozzle, and one guy worked on finishing.  They traded places a lot, but they do this 5 days a week, often with a 2-3 hour drive on either end of a 12 hour blow each day! Once a layer was applied to the waterfall, they started on the bottom of the walls.  They would work one area about 6 feet high, then work around the pond.  Then, they worked the 2nd 6- foot layer, and finally the bottom. They were very impressed with the quality of the pipe work!  This is the same crew that did the ski jump and bobsled run at the Lake Placid Olympics!  They said they rarely see a site as well prepared! The concrete is 'blown' out of the nozzle at such a high velocity, it is nearly dry when it hits the wall!  They were walking on areas they had just 'shot' within 30 minutes - and not leaving any foot prints! 'I think I'm small enough to live in the waterfall basin!' You can see how messy it looks as they work on one part, then wait for it to set up, then work another part.  The foreground is the big bog - only 1/2 lined with concrete.  They have now set up some marginal scaffolding to work on the top half.  The boards were held in to the wall with pegs, and those peg holes had to be filled the next day after the 'blow' was complete. This is the final pass for the waterfall.  It still looks odd because of the bracing, but  when the boards were removed - it was perfect! A shot of the top basin of the waterfall - finished!  The two outside pipes bring the water into the basin, and the center hole is really an underwater light!  All pipes and fixtures were taped off to keep concrete out of them! 'OK - I've been really patient - how long until there is water?' The final finish work on the top edge.  The real skill in the team could be seen here as they worked with the wet concrete to shape it to a perfect, square edge.  The last bit - 'blowing' the floor.  Talk about painting yourself into a corner!  Yet, when they were done, the only marks on the bottom were from the ladder they used to get out!  The hard part here was to not break off any of the wash-down jets with the hoses! The morning after...  Note the plank in the foreground used to get across the 'Trench'.  The entire area surrounding the pond was left open to aid in placing the 12V wiring for the landscape lighting. Left side - the concrete pond the morning after the blow, as the tarps were removed.  Obviously, these two pictures overlap... Right side of the same picture.  You can see that we now needed a board to bridge the distance between solid ground (which would be patio) and the pond wall.  It sure made it interesting getting in an out on the ladders!  The shell was kept wet with automatic sprinklers for the next week to retard the drying of the concrete. The next morning, we find EVERYTHING covered in dry bits of concrete - even with the tarps there was over-blow!  Luckily, it was dry, and was easily washed from everything.  I wonder what the frog thought of concrete covered plants?   Artsy shot from the goldfish pond bed.  You can see the lighter color of the curing concrete above the flowering Astilbe.  This is about a week after the blow.