Blown Out Form

Concrete is wicked heavy stuff. Note the plywood panel at the end of the room on the left, this is not a good thing. If you look closely you can see the two 2 X 4 members nailed together lengthwise, that comprise this site-built concrete form system. The first and second pair of 2 x 4's, once holding the form together are non-existent in this shot, taken the next morning. During "the event" the guys tell me, the concrete was flowing onto the chute and out of the truck rapidly, as they unloaded the entire batch (7 cubic yards) in one area, instead of using a pump to dispense the liquid alternately in different areas.
The form kept filling up with concrete, stones and sand and water, the water acting as hydraulic fluid, unwilling to compress. As the stones that comprise the aggregate mix are forced down on top of each other with such force that all at once the 3/4" plywood, it's supporting cast of double 2 x 4's and steel snap ties gave way. The noise was horrendous as the concrete burst through the plywood and pushed the 2 x 4's out of the way, literally snapping the boards at the point the plywood panel was joined to the next sheet. The plywood looked as if it had been cut partially through with a circular saw, the line of severance was so distinct.
The braces were thrown acroos the room with such force that if anyone had been standing in that lower room (there was not) they would have probably lost the ability to walk, since in the flash of a second the boards were jettisoned, at about knee and ankle height, into the opposite wall of the room. Word was they bounced around in there some... before they went silently still.
As you can imagine, the excess cement, now following gravity's path, was flowing out of the open form and onto the floor of our new room. You can see the plumber's pipes sticking out of the floor in the middle of the room and the space looks pretty disheveled with concrete slag everywhere.
After working all day, the workers had to then remove the excess concrete, which covered everything. If they hadn't done this, the plywood and other parts of the forms would be inretrievable, being perpetually cast in cement.
The concrete was poured late afternoon Monday, they worked for the next four days completing the clean up rebuilding the form and repouring the concrete (yes, we also paid for the second load of cement).
Thinking about it today, the wasted concrete weighed in at about 17.5 tons, most of this weight having to be re-lifted and redeposited somewhere other than inside that space. Everyone earned their pay that week.