adoption artwork installation

carrying on from my last post, we had the rocks ready to go and now we were setting up for the install.

and it all begins with digging the set down area for the rocks. which meant digging 3 large holes.

it was going well until we hit a very large tree root. thank god we had the help of nelson to get us through this.

 

after a long day of digging and chopping through roots we had our gravel bases ready

 

the next day we arrived on site early before the sun rose to meet the crane. this is the largest crane we have ever hired - 200 tone - we were very excited!

 

it took a couple hours to set up the crane,

 

and the delivery arrived mid morning with our 3 large rocks!

months of prep and planning, and designing came down to this morning and lifting about 13 tons of granite above the tree tops and through the air.

 

it was a stressful and exciting morning. but all went as planned.

 

there was a nice poetry seeing this heavy rock gliding peacefully and slowly over the trees

the crane team was great, and positioned the rocks on site easily.

 

loading up the third rock that will be used as a seat for the sculpture.

 

a view looking up at the memorial in place with the 200 ton crane in the background.

 

giant boulder of granite moving through the air

the boulder was placed near the final spot but due to the trees on site we needed to get a second smaller crane on site to move the boulder into its final position.

this was a bit unexpected, but in the end it necessary. the crane team made it happen and we were very happy to see the last rock in place

 

here we are trying out the placement of the seating rock before it is unchained with one of the crane company guys.

 

that was the end of a long, exciting day.

 

for the next few days we were back on site with nelson again prepping hte site and paving around the seat rock

 

we used granite pavers called sets to create an undulating ground area around the rock

 

a few scattered pavers are set within the grass, leading out towards the split rock units.

there are some pavers in the paved areas with text sandblast into them with words relating to the project.

 

as we left the site after a week long install all up. it will take some time for the site to recover from the installation process. the site is near the river in a parkland area, and it will be a nice place for visitors to reflect on their own experiences in regards to adoption histories.

 

here is the site about a couple weeks later, on a visit while walking the dog. the official launch in in 2 weeks, the first time to have the whole community that was behind this project on site to celebrate this accomplishment for their community.

i will post some photos from that event as it happens.