Completing the Big Dig

We have finally completed the digging portion of the project.  After the one and only day of rain during the equipment rental, the weather dried out and dried everything nicely to finish the project.  The excavation left us disappointingly far from a perfect hole.  For four solid days, Andrew and I shoveled wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of dirt out of the pit and up the hill onto the Bobsled run.  The digging combined with the uphill pushing of the wheelbarrow was very physical work, and I was glad to have such a great helper in Andrew.

I had started digging to the right of the dirt ramp we were using to cart the material out of the hole.  We continued clockwise all around the perimeter of the 4x6 frame attempting vertical sides and a level bottom. As the digging progressed, the pit began to look more like a swimming pool without water in it.  The project was finally looking like something more than a mud pit.  Neighbors began to get intrigued, and on the last day some of the neighbor kids actually jumped into the pit with shovels in hand.  It was a great blessing again, as it allowed me to save energy from digging to allow me to be able to push more wheelbarrows of dirt up the hill.

On June 8, the last shovel of dirt left the pit, and only the ramp remained to be re-distributed along the bottom.  I got up early in the morning and started the last bit of digging and raking.  When I finally had a flat base and square sides, the next phase began.  I spent about two hours digging out a drainage trench down the middle of the bottom of the hole.  Again, the removed dirt was re-distributed along the bottom.  Sod was then removed from the lawn on the downhill side of the court.  The trench was then extended out 15 feet further downhill.  After a visit to Lowes the next day, drainage tile was laid out into the trench.

We are now in the final stages of the construction.  I will get a bunch of bags of pea gravel to pack in the drainage time and then shim all the sides of the frame to level using bricks and dirt backfill.  After that, the landscaping fabric will be put in place to cover the entire base.  Then the sand will arrive.  The timeframe looks good to finish before Family arrives at the end of the month.