What Are Those Large, Plywood Boxes?

These plywood boxes will be molds for the concrete fountains at the CAC's future Waterfront ParkIf you’ve had a chance to look out on the north side of the County Administration Center this week (or the south side last week), you may have noticed a long row of large, plywood boxes. These hollow boxes, which initially look like storage units or even tunnels, are actually the formwork for concrete that will eventually be the foundation for the water fountains on both ends of the building.Large pipes carrying the 81,400 gallons of water will sit underneath this concrete work.

“Think of it as a mold,” Project Manager Suzanne Evans said. “These will form the steps of the fountain.”

The large wooden structures, which measure about five feet high, six feet wide and 400 feet long, essentially will be housing the pipes that will carry the 81,400 gallons of water through the fountains. Concrete will be poured over each wooden box — and fortified with rebar — in about six different stages.

Evans said there is a plywood box made for each future water jet — with a total of about 30 jets for both the north and south fountains, combined.

The south side of the CAC is one step ahead of the north side, but visions of plywood will soon be forgotten as engineers are fine-tuning fountain operations with a mock-up model.The south side formwork is a step ahead the north side, with added support beams and some stages of concrete pouring complete. 

Completion of the entire Waterfront Park is projected for this spring.

Leonard Pinson, Property Manager of the CAC, said water for the fountains will be retained in a large underground storage tank located in the same building with the fountain pumps and new CAC chillers in the northeast corner of the park.