Below are the four jets with the can for the 500 W center light!
The 17 cubic yards of concrete from two trucks were pumped into the forms and ‘compacted’ with vibrators to fill every crevasse in the nearly 2 ft deep mass of metal cans, copper conduit, concrete blocks and brass jet fittings.
It was no easy task to guide the heavy concrete filled hose around the base and avoid covering exposed areas.
To avoid any structural issues all of this had to be accomplished in one single ‘pour’.so the wall immediately followed the bottom of the fountain.
The surfaces then needed to be smooth to accept the tiles covering the bottom …
The bronze plaque was set and observed by a Rotarian for accurate placement!
The top of the surrounding ‘seat / wall will be decorated with colorful shells that are imbedded in the concrete, which await placement here.
The outside of the form was removed later today, to allow them to place the shells in the not fully hardened concrete of the outside wall. The right timing for the removal of the form is critical to allow the wall to be sufficiently cured and stable to support istelf and still allow the shells to be imbedded.
The Rotary Plaza will be a beautiful, very well lighted, accent to the neighborhood that contibutes to the safety of pedestrians. We will forget that the pedestrians were not well accommodated and put in harms way during the construction process due to the lack of planning! We will need to remember that this Plaza was paid for by the Community Development Agency with your tax dollars! That this fountain will be dedicated during a dire drought that prohibited such fountains in San Diego. The designers did not have the foresight to incorporate LED lighting that consumes only a fraction of the 6500 Watts of power and perhaps could have opted for a more modest squirt effect than the 27 jets that require a 25 Horsepower pump while such technology was well developped at the planning time. We now have two council members who have environmental backgrounds, they might explain to the rest what a large carbon foot print means and how it contributes to a wasteful public display, while we as individuals are urged to conserve! I am not sure that this project received proper scrutiny by our engineering department, whose director approved ALL the plans and did not consider water and power consumption excesses. The lone environmentalist on the city council, at the time, could have made the other members aware of this, rather extreme, waste! I was told that 100 W lamps are available and could be installed prior to filling the fountain that would reduce the lighting consumtion to under 3 KW, but the designers opt for a “Lets see if its too bright” approach first! The fountain would need to be drained and re-filled to make the change, again wasting thousands of gallons of water. Also a retrofit to LED’s is NOW talked about (HIGH RETROFIT COST)! Dedication is planned for July 1st
