Capping it off
W.G. Yates and Sons Construction Co. workers create concrete pile caps at the site of the 81st Medical Group’s new inpatient tower Feb. 22. The caps are placed atop the 630 production piles bored by Berkel and Co. of Mobile over the past month. The concrete piles are set 40 to 50 feet deep throughout the site. According to Yates site superintendent James Hodges, Berkel completed the piles Feb. 24 and Yates crews are going to use about 1,400 yards of concrete to form the 82 caps, which vary in size based on the number of piles each covers. Once a cap is completed, the workers create concrete columns on them. In addition to the cap work, Yates has already begun excavating the tower’s two elevator sites and a stairwell site. The tower is scheduled to be completed in September 2011. (U.S. Air Force photo by Steve Pivnick)