GILBERT F. WHITE MEMORIAL FLOOD LEVEL MARKER

PHOTO DOCUMENTATION OF CONSTRUCTION

JULY-NOVEMBER, 2010

Pre-construction site-view:

Note the lack of grass and landscaping at the project site:

Conferring and confirming that this is where the Memorial goes!

The locations (monument, utilities, pipes) were then marked right on the ground!

Q. What’s the City height limit at this location?

A. No more than 20’ high from the lowest point within 25’ of where the foundation goes.

(We had to shorten the obelisk by 18 inches!)

Checking to ensure our signs will match the others along the creek-path!

The site was placarded to provide the public one last chance to voice concerns over this project.

Hearing no objections, the digging of the hole for the foundation commenced! Bring in the tractor!

Ready, set, dig!

Here we pump groundwater from the

foundation hole, using a filter bag to

trap the sediment before we water

the grass!

Straw waddles were placed to prevent

dirt and sediment from entering the

creek, maintaining and protecting the

creek’s water quality.

New equipment arrives on-site to auger foundation anchors to bedrock!

Now it’s getting to be a busy construction site!

Drilling guide holes for the anchors

And after the anchor goes down 25 feet to bedrock, it is cut off!

Three anchors were put in place …

And then the anchors were covered with 50,000# of cement and the foundation footing was set!

The stainless sculpture base is attached to the footing, the scaffold is erected and the first stacks of glass

are put in place.

Close-up of the glass and flood levels

And our first glimpse of how the

sunlight illuminates the obelisk!

And our first glimpse of how the

sunlight illuminates the obelisk!

Our first glimpse of how the sunlight

illuminates the Memorial!

Committee volunteer, Dave Butler,

polishes the next marker level before

installation.

Artist Christian Mueller attaches the

level marker and adjusts the internal

light strands before continuing.

And then extends the threaded

stainless rod that runs the length of

the glass tower and into the sculpture

base.

Here, we’ve raised the glass to the

level of the Big Thompson flood. This

level was calculated by modeling the

volume of Big Thompson flood water

running through the topography of

Boulder Canyon and the channel of

Boulder Creek. The 1976 Big

Thompson Flood was the largest and

deadliest flood along the Front Range

in recorded history. 144 people died

in this flood that occurred about 40

miles north of Boulder.

The finishing touches and a happy

core committee: Dave Butler, Mary

White, Christian Mueller and Clancy

Philipsborn (l to r). Mary White is our

glass eco-artist, the designer of the

original obelisk, and Gilbert White’s

daughter.

The final touches of this art project

include a concrete pull-off from the

bike-path, complete with stone bench

and a tiered seating area of cut stone.

The finished base, showing the granite

in place over the stainless framework,

with additional glass centered on each

facet, creating a visual tie to the

obelisk. Sod has been placed

throughout the construction area.

Visitors and residents alike have already

taken to the project site, enjoying the

new seating and the new grass while

considering the message the Flood

Level Marker provokes, and the beauty

of how that message is delivered.

The view at night (from a cell-phone camera, before one of the two LED light strands was disabled to

make it less bright)! The structure is solar-powered and is on a timer that shuts it off automatically

around 11 PM each night.