Author Archives: raingardenuiuc

By Tony Heath, Project Engineer This blog post covers Tuesday, August 27th. Howdy! After missing out on Friday due to scheduling and Monday due to rain, today was a big day at the garden as we removed the section of sidewalk between the north and south cells in order to remove the old cracked drainContinueContinue reading “Rip-Rap and Siltsoxx and Clay (Oh My!)”

By Tony Heath, Project Engineer This blog post covers August 21st and August 22nd. WED, AUG 21:  Howdy! Today was a smooth day at the rain garden as we picked up where we’d left off yesterday morning when the tornado sirens drove us inside. After getting about 1/2″ of rain yesterday, I was worried thatContinueContinue reading “A Couple of Smooth Days”

By Tony Heath, Project Engineer This blog post covers August 19th and 20th. MON, AUG 19: Howdy! It was good to be back out at the garden this today after a long weekend. Special thanks to Layne for stepping in Friday and handling all the chaos on his first day supervising construction at the garden. TheContinueContinue reading “Here’s to another big week!”

by Layne Knoche, Project Landscape Designer While Tony Heath was out of town Friday, Layne Knoche managed the construction site. Layne is also making preparations for Phase II (plant installation). This blog post covers August 15th and 16th.  THU, AUG 15: This was the first day I had been to the Rain Garden since construction started.ContinueContinue reading “Week 3 Progress”

by Tony Heath, Project Engineer This post covers Thursday, August 15. Howdy! Today was a big day at the garden: the soil mix is here! The Landscape Recycling Center (LRC) delivered the bioretention soil mix backfill for the south cell. LRC started delivering the soil mix slightly before 8:00 a.m. while Facilities & Services’ Josh andContinueContinue reading “The soil mix is here!”

By Tony Heath, Project Engineer This post covers the garden’s Phase I: demo/prep progress for the past two days, August 13th and 14th. Howdy! TUE, AUG 13: Yesterday, work progressed in the garden along two fronts. While Josh and Stephanie continued their soil excavation of the south cell, the Facilities and Services Electrical Shop (ShopContinueContinue reading “Mixing the soil and moving the lamp”

by Tony Heath, Project Engineer Howdy! Friday was a busy day, capping off a very busy week at the rain garden. With rock removal finally complete, the Facilities and Services crew could begin excavating the south cell in earnest. There was quite the mix of soils in there with a layer of black topsoil sittingContinueContinue reading “Week 2 Progress”

By Tony Heath, Project Engineer Today was another productive day at the garden. When I arrived this morning, the Facilities & Services crew was continuing with rock removal in the north cell. I noticed that they were using a smooth-bladed bucket for the excavator. It was more effective at pulling the rock out without bringingContinueContinue reading “Rocks, rocks, and more rocks (and also filter fabric)”

By Tony Heath, Project Engineer Howdy! It’s been an exciting week here at the Red Oak Rain Garden. We’ve seen some rapid changes to our landscape, which include removing the berm, making preparations for the new sidewalk, starting to remove the old bike path, saying goodbye to our shrubs, and starting to remove rock. TheContinueContinue reading “Week 1 Progress”

by Eric Green, Construction Manager It’s official – the Red Oak Rain Garden project broke ground yesterday.   Facilities and Services began Phase I, which is demolition and preparation. They excavated a portion of the ground, where a new sidewalk will be and removed a large portion of the berm. Tree protection has been upContinueContinue reading “A Ground-Breaking Day!!”