The week of Feb. 6-10 was of major significance to the expansion project at the Meskawki Bingo · Casino · Hotel. The concrete roof was poured on top of the ninth floor of the nine-story hotel.

"This second pour on the roof will bring us to approximately 20 percent completion," said Dean Halbrooks, superintendent for the Weitz Co, general contractor for the project. "We are right on schedule for our portion to be complete this coming July."

The roof was poured beginning Monday Feb. 6, with a 154 cubic yard pour. On Friday the 10th, the crew was finishing with a 210 cubic yard pour.

Manatts concrete, Tama, was providing the concrete for the pour. "At 10 yards per truckload, it will take 21 trucks for this pour today," said Halbrooks.

The concrete was dumped into a large hopper on the ground, then pumped to the roof top, slightly more than 100 feet above ground. The pump, provided by Extreme Pumping, Cedar Rapids had the ability to deliver concrete a distance of 52 meters, according to Halbrooks. At a weight of 160 pounds per cubic foot and 27 cubic feet per cubic yard, that translates to 907,200 pounds of concrete delivered and pumped on Friday. They also had some smaller pours of two-three yards to do that day also. There are approximately 50 employees of the Weitz Co., on location laboring to complete the project.

"We have to heat the underneath side of the deck to around 100 degrees to pour this time of year," said Halbrooks. "We maintain the heat as the concrete dries until we reach a minimum break strength of 3,750 pounds. We've been averaging around 4,000 pounds here."

"Things are going well with the project," Halbrooks said. "As we finish the roof pour, there are already framers working on the second floor, installing bath tubs and a variety of other work."