Our build is Sunday. I have 100 volunteers coming throughout the day. At the beginning I plan to put people in 5 groups to put the components together and 40 people on mulch. If people are still putting components up and we haven't done the cement yet, how do the mulch people work at the same time?
I remember when I was at a U Play! Build that mulch moving started right away. Where was the mulch going? My construction committee is telling me we can't put the mulch on the playground until after they put the cement in. Can someone give me an example of how all of this works.
Thanks!
Hi Mara,
Thanks so much for the post! I'm a Project Manager with KaBOOM! and I hope that I can help you out with your question!
For most of our builds, we normally need 150 volunteers to help put together playground pieces, move mulch, and mix concrete. Usually, we have about 4-5 teams of people designated to building playground pieces, 1 team working with the professional installer to do 'decks and posts', 40-70 people on mulch (depending on the size of the playground), and about 15 people on concrete. While the teams are assembling playground pieces, the mulch team begins to shovel mulch onto tarps, and our concrete team lays out the border (which help contain the mulch). Once the concrete team has laid out the borders, be sure to have your professional playground installer check the use zones to be sure they are sufficient.
The concretre team can then join the mulch team to help move mulch towards the site. Since the borders will already be in place, the mulch can be dropped in spaces that don't have equipment or holes (mostly use zone areas along the perimeter of the playground and in any areas that are free of holes. Once the decks and post team has most of the decks assembled and the components teams start to bring their playground pieces to the playground site, we normally ask our installers when they are ready to start to concrete. Some installers concrete as they go and others wait until most of the main pieces of the structure are attached. Concrete is definitely a big job, so perhaps try to have people take turns, or use some of the volunteers that assembled components to help out with concrete when they are finished.
The mulch team does move all day! Once the installer lets us know that the structure is ready for concrete, the team starts to mix, and only the installer can tell them where to drop the concrete (that way no decks go up or get concreted without being plum and level). Once an area of the site has been concreted, the mulch can go over the concrete (we suggest adding a little dirt on top of the concrete so no footers would ever be exposed). The concrete (or quickcrete) that we use, needs 72 hours to set before kids (and adults) are allowed to play!
I hope that this was a helpful explanation of how things normally work at a KaBOOM! build! I'm sure that you can alter the team numbers to work with 100 volunteers! Another thing you will want to keep in mind is hydration! It's always great to have 2-3 people designated to be waterboys/girls for the day to keep all of the volunteers happy, healthy, and hydrated!
Let us know how things go!
I'm not sure from your question if you are doing concrete the same day, or perhaps you are bringing in a truck to pour the holes. Either way, you can still move in the surfacing on the day of the build--always better to have it in the "pit" area than outside. All you need to do is leave a path(s) for your wheelbarrows to get in and around the holes. You can make small piles of EWF (mulch) around all of the holes. That way, when the concrete is poured, people can just rake the EWF in place, rather than having to move it still. If you are bringing in a truck with a shoot, the same principle creating small piles around the holes to rake in place later still applies--you just won't need any paths.
There will be lots of use zone and "dead" space that can surfacing can get placed as well if you are pouring later in the day. Places like space between swings and other equipment, or other motion components and slide run-outs, create lots of room for your mulch team to work. So carry on! :)
Best of luck on your build! Don't forget to add your playspace to our Playspace Finder once your done!! You can also create a project record of the playspace and include great shots from the build!
~Caleb~