Geothermal wells and Classroom Walls
May has looked and felt more like June this year- not a bad thing for moving work along. Structural panels continue to be assembled on our 11,000 square foot main facility while in areas already completed, other work is already progressing. Graywater drainlines, storm drains, venting and water supply lines are coming together in the basement while the radiant tubing for in-floor heat is being placed and cast in concrete on the main level. The radiant tubes will exchange heat by indirect contact with an antifreeze loop that is pumped into a series of wells, each of which is around 250' deep.
A geothermal well take about a day to drill and our system requires eight of them. We place long loops of polyethelyne pipe in the holes, then pack a special grout into the well to seal the pipe in place. Those loops come above ground now but they will eventually be attached to a header below ground that brings the antifreeze from the wells to the mechanical spaces in the basement. Befor the header gets placed, the area needs to dry out. Drilling requires water, as does the activation of the grout, and in our location, we also hit some minor aquifers that added to the imrpovised mud season.
The water well is slated to get started before the end of this month with a derrick twice the size of the geothermal rig. We'll also be trenching for water and electrical supply, bolting the student housing girders together, and sheetrocking the caretaker home.
Permalink | Posted by jstoddard on May 23, 2012 in the following categories: Wilderness Medicine Institute, Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus
Wyss progress - Mid-April Photos
Permalink | Posted by jstoddard on Apr 26, 2012 in the following categories: Wilderness Medicine Institute, Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus
NOLS Wilderness Medicine Institute Announces New WEMT Programming in Northern California
NOLS Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI) is pleased to announce its California Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT) program has a new home near Mt. Shasta at the College of the Siskiyous.
Photo by Shana Tarter
The College of the Siskiyous is home to established programs for Paramedics, EMTs, and Wildland Fire Fighters. “We feel it is a very good match”, says WMI Special Programs Manager Gates Richards. "The College of the Siskiyous and WMI share similar desired outcomes for emergency and wilderness medicine education, and they are excited to have us bring our WEMT program on campus. We will have the ability to easily transition from accessible urban EMT resources and an excellent indoor classroom right into local wilderness resources."
"A multi-year agreement was signed with the College of Siskiyous to host our WEMT courses. We look forward to developing our partnership with the College," adds Richards.
Photo by Shana Tarter
WMI’s WEMT courses are full immersion intensive training. WMI instructors have broad experience in both urban and wilderness medicine and are able to integrate both curricula for a wide range of students. WMI courses are demanding but rewarding; students leave prepared to deal with emergencies no matter where they happen.
The first WEMT courses in Mt. Shasta will be held this summer.
Permalink | Posted by Leslie van Barselaar on Apr 25, 2012 in the following categories: In The News, Wilderness Medicine Institute
Steady Progress at the Main Building
Permalink | Posted by jstoddard on Apr 16, 2012 in the following categories: Wilderness Medicine Institute, Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus
Wood workin'
Construction at the Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus is rolling forward with carpenters framing the floors and walls of the caretaker residence and the anticipated shipment of the trusses and lumber package for the main building. Bids from electrical and mechanical subcontractors have been evaluated and the work has been awarded to Inter-Mountain Electric, Rawhide Plumbing, Sweetwater Aire, and Mechanical Innovations and that rough-in work will proceed immediately.
We have also moved forward with selection of a well driller who is already working with Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to design a cased well expected to be 1,100-1,300' deep. Structural steel shop drawings have been approved and fabrication for floor girders and plates is in process. Final phase drawings have been delivered for the residences and remaining final phase plans for the main building are scheduled for March 6th. Neighborhood utility upgrades are on schedule which allows us to schedule trenching for new power feeders into the campus transformers.
Telecommunication connectivity challenges are being countered with an emerging microwave system and ongoing research concerning optimal placement of any amplification and antennae for cell signals. The Popo Agie Anglers will partner with NOLS, Wyoming Game and Fish, Trout Unlimited and local middle schools to spearhead a willow planting along the public fishing access to improve fish habitat and to augment existing revetments which stabilize our flood plain pastures.
Central Wyoming College students will be surveying the historic ranch buildings on the property and will produce a folio which will provide curriculum about the previous uses of the property and the prehistoric as well as pioneer-era evidence that has survived. Remaining uncertainty surrounding costs is receding as costs are finalized and 27% of the project has been expensed. We continue to expect substantial completion in September of this year.
Permalink | Posted by jstoddard on Mar 12, 2012 in the following categories: Wilderness Medicine Institute, Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus
Winter Wilderness Medicine
The Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI) has offered Wilderness Medicine Expeditions (WME) since 2009. These courses are designed as an introduction to wilderness medicine, as a means of gaining continuing medical education, and these courses also allow medical professionals to earn credits towards Fellowship in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine. The WME is designed for and open to medical professionals from EMT to MD.
The most recent addition to WMI's list of courses is a winter WME. From Feb. 26th to March 5th five participants spent time at NOLS Teton Valley learning and practicing wilderness medicine skills, honing skiing and snowboarding skills at Grand Targhee Ski Area, touring on Teton Pass, and then heading to the backcountry for 3 days and nights based out of a backcountry yurt.
This backcountry time allowed the participants to not only enjoy backcountry skiing but to also participate in skills sessions, scenarios, and highly educational evening discussions!
The Winter WME's home away from home.
WMI instructor Iris Saxer demonstrates improvised splitting techniques to WME participants.
WME participants work to aid one of their party who suffered a "broken" leg. Scenarios are a significant part of the WME curriculum and allow learned skills to be applied.
Winter WME participants and instructors get some backcountry spa time! A fantastic group coupled with excellent education made for a wonderful experience for all!
Permalink | Posted by Marco Johnson on Mar 8, 2012 in the following categories: Leadership, Teton Valley, Wilderness Medicine Institute
Wyss Campus Time-lapse
The educational facility is ready for floor joists and decking, SIP panels, and rain storage tanks. Weather calls for 20-40% chance of snow in the Lander foothills but day time temperatures are still clearing freezing, making the site a little muddy. Our mess is confined, however, and native grasses and drought tolerant species will landscape the area of disturbance when construction traffic slows down.
Permalink | Posted by jstoddard on Feb 14, 2012 in the following categories: Wilderness Medicine Institute, Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus
Pulling Forms from New Walls
Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus continues to take shape with completion of foundation walls at the main facility. Steel forms, pictured below, are assembled to be perfectly level, square, and plumb.
Before concrete is delivered, blankets are used to keep the cavity between the forms from accumulating snow. After the concrete is poured, hoses with circulating anti-freeze are draped over the forms and then covered by blankets once more.
With mild January temperatures, we could probably get by with a day or two of supplemental heat. Instead, we're choosing to give the concrete heat and support for three days before peeling back the blankets and popping off the forms. Then the heat goes back on with blankets for a few more days.
The resulting walls are pale when first exposed. The photo above illustrates the basement access door, diamond and square shaped pads for future columns, and washed stone that has been backfilled and tamped to a flat compated surface. Rain storage tanks will sit on the gravel between the posts.
The walls top more than 10' in spots but backfilling dirt against insulation will limit the amount of wall that will stick up above outside ground level. No concrete will be visible from the outside when we finish- the wall will be completely insulated and covered with cement based stucco and a blend of different metal finishes.
Six days after pouring, the excavators and loaders are packing dirt into the exterior nooks and crannies to establish the rough elevation of final grade. There will be a lot of hard use of the area right around the building so all landscaping will be put on hold until we are much closer to completion. For now, the limited snow and above freezing temperatures are keeping the site muddy and spring-like but we still have a lot of winter to go.
Permalink | Posted by jstoddard on Jan 31, 2012 in the following categories: Wilderness Medicine Institute, Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus
Pourin' it on
Uncommonly mild January temperatures are a lucky draw for the concrete crews at the Wyss Campus south of Lander. With foundations over 50% complete, project management is finalizing the sourcing of materials for the superstructures that will bear on new concrete. For our building, the structure, sheathing, and insulation are combined in a building system that incorporates series of "Oreo-like" panels (cream = insulation, cookie = wall sheathing) coverd with additional insulation to achieve a thermally superior building envelope. These structural insulated panels, or SIPs, come in pieces up to 8' x 32' and are erected using a variety of cranes and forklifts. Carpenters afix OSB-clad foam outside the SIP wall before installing any windows or siding. SIPs are also used for flooring and roofs held up by combinations of timbers, laminated beams and columns, and long laminate trusses built up with steel brackets. For all this to work, the foundation must be stout.
And these are- 50% fly ash replacement is double the recycled content of stock concrete in our local plant and leads to strengths exceeding both design specifications and columns formed with standard comperable recipes. By the time the forms come off these walls, we'll be hustling to frame floor supports and hang steel girders for the SIPs that will arrive fresh off the production line. But there is still steel to wire and forms to place before the main classroom building is ready. The total foundation is completed in five pours over a series of weeks with the last pour needing all the wall forms the sub has available. We will likely pour more then 80 cubic yards in the last session, expected with continued mild weather later this week.
Permalink | Posted by jstoddard on Jan 16, 2012 in the following categories: Wilderness Medicine Institute, Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus
WMI of NOLS Spans the Globe
In the beginning WMI training was most widely available to people in the western US. These days you can find a WMI course almost anywhere in the United States and 30 other countries as well*!
Where We Teach
(red indicates places WMI has offered courses)
* WMI has offered courses in: Australia, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Germany, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, and Uganda.
Permalink | Posted by jstoddard on Jan 5, 2012 in the following categories: Wilderness Medicine Institute
