Fire in the hole at Athens, VT

Welcome to Interplex

Building the addition to our 65 year old Swedish
circa 1750 farmhouse in Athens, Vermont

We start with the first shovel of dirt that squarely hit unlimited ledge (rock that refused to budge even with an excavator) and continue through settling into the finished addiion. A process that will carry into at least 2003

Step One ~ F i r e i n t h e H o l e
(many, many holes)

This project was started in 1999 and finally got under way in mid 2000. We first ran into ledge rock and had to blast out most of the cellar hole

Blasting a new cellar hole at
Hüse pu Hülen,
Pugh Corners, in Athens, Vermont

We have taken out some of each page in this series to make room for additional pictures. The house is now finished except for interior doors, plumbng, kitchen and some trim and the basement darkroom.

Kevin from Athens and his big machine
The new cellar hole that was started in 1999 was excavated in the fall of 2000. After more than a year of planning and missed opportunities the crew from Key Drilling and Blasting of Keene, NH, has made rubble out of the ledge that filled about 80% of the planned cellar hole. Blasting began October 26, and continued into the following Tuesday. Drilling the many holes required for the dynamite is the most time consuming part of the job As the rock is blasted an excavator pulls the rubble away to prepare for the next blast.

The cast of characters include Kevin and his Kato excavator, Tom Key the owner of the blasting company and his drillers, Dana Willey and Mukthar Sandhu.. They are making a lot of dust out there. Pulverized slate from the multifaceted carbide drill bits that rotate and hammer the rock as they drill into the ledge is blown in the air. The bits are 2 , 4 and 6 feet long . Compressed air is forced through a hole in the center of the drill shaft to blow out the debris.Then a blasting device or detonator and 2 - 3 sticks of dynamite are packed into each hole then the hole is filled with crushed stone. There is a lot more drilling than the actual blasting.

Starting the six foot pressure drill

After the detonators are wired in series the blasting area is covered with large mats of cut up tires woven together with steel cables. The mats keep the rocks from flying in all directions and punching holes in the house that is right next to the blasting site. The connections are tested for continuity then wired to the battery operated "plunger."

Here the owner blows some more rock from his future basement with a two button box slightly larger than a pack of playing cards..Buttons on it, marked "charge" and "fire" are pressed and held in sequence .

The blast! Nothing very spectacular, thanks to the mats

On to the next phase, the foundation (click here)