Dateline: Kapaa, Kauai, Hawaii, USA September 1, 1999

"This hasn't happened for 2,000 years!" chortled Dr. P.K. Mehta. "It's historic. Not since the Greeks and Romans has such a massive placement of concrete been completed without a single crack. Not even a hairline fissure." Dr. Mehta's joy spread throughout Kauai's Hindu Monastery and the island. The 117' 6" by 56' by 4' foundation weighs over 4 million pounds and took exactly 108 cement trucks to place. Founder and Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, who had declared it must last 1,000 years, now knew that it would.

This pioneering project is made of a special mix that reduces Portland cement about 40% and replaces it with the pozzelon fly ash. Dr. Mehta notes that this makes a superior concrete, stronger, more durable, harder and even cheaper. It's adoption by nations and industries could radically reduce the greenhouse global warming problem, for which cement production worldwide is responsible for an astonishing 6%. The temple could, in time, change how things are built on the earth.

A Unique Temple
Iraivan temple is a traditional Hindu temple for Lord Siva being built on Kauai, northernmost of the Hawaiian islands in the central Pacific, by Saiva Siddhanta Church. The ambitious plan calls for an all-stone temple, the first to be constructed in the Western Hemisphere. Work has been underway in Bangalore, India, since December, 1990, hand carving the several thousand individual granite blocks which will comprise the completed temple. The hand carved rocks will easily last a thousand years--having managed fine for several hundred million already. But the foundation to put them on--that was the problem. A team of experts finally arrived at an unprecedented solution, a block of "high volume fly ash concrete" placed in two "lifts" of two feet each with no reinforcing steel at all.

Fly ash, a waste product from coal-burning electrical plants, when mixed with concrete is able to replace a portion of the portland cement in the mix, producing stronger concrete. Because it cures more slowly and other reasons, it also gets less hot, avoiding the otherwise inevitable thermal cracking that would occur in a slab of this size.

Fly ash looks just like vibhuti, the sacred ash of Saivite Hindus made from burning cow dung. Vibhuti, in fact, has the same properties as fly ash and one could make a "vibhuti concrete." It is an amazing coincidence that the solution to Lord Siva's first temple in the West involves the concept of ash, so central to Saivite philosophy and practice in which the ash represents God's power to burn ignorance.

[See part two of the press release for a more technical description of this innovative solution]

The job was contracted to Steel Tech company of Honolulu, Hawaii, and the concrete supplied by Hale Kauai of Kauai. Neither had ever dealt with high volume fly ash concrete before and willingly embarked upon the necessary and steep learning curve to make the pioneering job succeed.

Day One Concrete
The first day's placement, August 21, began at 6:40am, an auspicious moment determined from the Hindu astrological system, with the breaking of a coconut upon a rock. This ancient observance invoked of Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed God, Remover of Obstacles, to insure a smooth day, just as Shekhar Kapur, Hindu director of the Academy Award winning movie, "Elizabeth," similarly broke a coconut at the beginning of every day on the set. Hale Kauai's trucks rolled in, announced by seven strikes upon a four-foot diameter Balinese Gong, while the Hindu monks and lay members tended a sacred fire adjacent to the site. They chanted Hindu scripture throughout the day, offering grains and ghee into the fire.

Saiva Siddhanta Church's traditional Hindu celebration of Guru Purnima, in honor of the spiritual teacher, had been moved one month to coincide with the foundation project. Many guests had come from the mainland USA and from overseas to witness this historic event. The guest of honor was 110-year-old Swami Bua of New York, a revered figure in the Hindu world and still quite active.

Steel Tech and Hale Kauai were thankful for the blessing, but had never had quite such an audience of saffron-robed monks, elegant sari-draped ladies and dozens of island friends to watch-- "Concrete placing as spectator sport" was the joke of the day.

Technical Reality Sets In
The somewhat apprehensive crew under the direction of Steel Tech's foreman, Jeff Griffin, unloaded the first truck into the south corner of the forms. It made a small pile on the ground, not even reaching the top of the forms. Clean, untouched form boards spread out in all directions for many feet. It was going to be a very long day. Three trucks later, they had established the first placement depth of two feet and were starting to proceed outward.

A successful concrete foundation is more than a good mix design, and it became clear on the day of the placement how critical was the human element. After all, a design is useful only if all the concrete meets it. That's a stiff requirement for four million pounds of material handled by fifty men with dozens of machines responsible for loading, delivering, dumping, consolidating and finishing 1,000 yards of concrete from 108 delivery trucks. Everything about the concrete had to meet a specification, especially the water content. Should it rain upon the gravel pile the night before, this added water must be compensated for in the mix. And should that pile dry out by noon during the placement, again compensation must be made.

There was one potential problem, a big one: rain. The water content of the concrete was critical, measured to the pound. A Hawaiian shower was not welcome. Mark Twain once said of the islands, "If you don't like the weather, just wait ten minutes." Clear morning skies were no guarantee. The island generates its own weather, and a cloudburst can occur any time. The additional water would weaken the concrete, and change its consistency from the surrounding mix. The whole principle was to have exactly the same concrete from one end to the other.

And there was an even bigger complication. If an inch of rain or more falls, the roads to the work site and the surrounding area would deteriorate to the extent that the concrete trucks could no longer drive in. That would put an end to the pour for the day and leave a "cold joint," completely defeating the goal of a crack-free slab. The Church had a plan, however, and for weeks prior to the pour performed yajna, Hindu fire worship, with the intent of preventing rain. It worked.

Day Progresses Well
There were several elements of the concrete which were closely watched by Dr. Mehta and Mr. Langley, especially the "slump," a measurement of how thick or thin the concrete is. Special chemicals were used to adjust this slump, and Tom Meeham of Master Builders company was responsible to inspect every truck and make the right adjustment to the quantity of superplasticizer added to each truck. This took some trial and error. The fifth truck, for example, was so soupy the concrete poured out on the ground and ran back under the wheels of the truck. On average, though, the concrete was very stiff and difficult for the workers. The team of seven in front of the power screed were continuously standing in up to two-feet of thick concrete for hours, where lifting a leg to take a step was a major effort. Fortunately there were breaks, for the eleven trucks of Hale Kauai could not deliver continuously, but at the rate of five an hour. All day long the religious ceremonies continued, the gong sounded at every truck, the work continued without a hitch and the rain stayed in the sky.

At each step during the placement, essentially a large science experiment, Mehta and Langley were everywhere, testing, placing, consolidating, insuring that the concrete was handled right. It was essential, for not a single person on the job had ever dealt with this unusual material before.

Part way through the day the guests gathered for a cultural event at the ashram, featuring famed local singer Larry Rivera, a hula dancer, several Indian dances and a skit by the monks. A feast rounded out the public event.

Work went on all day until the last truck at 4:30pm, workers finally left the site around 7:00pm, having covered the huge slab with plastic.

Crack-free First Lift and Second Placement
On August 27th, Mehta presided over the uncovering of the slab and inspection for cracks. The next day, August 28th, Saturday, began as the previous Saturday. Except the auspicious moment to begin this day was 6:20 am. The crew was jubilant, confidant that the day would go without a hitch. After one stiff mix in the first truck, Meeham had the slump under control for the rest of the day. One small section of form work moved slightly, but was fixed in a matter of minutes. By day's end Keoki, a heavy equipment operator who prepared the gravel substratum, said he'd never seen a job go so smoothly, no breakdowns, no injuries, no hold ups, nothing.

The Church had invited the families of the workers to come this day, and provided refreshments and vegetarian lunch for everyone. Unlike the previous week's formal pageantry, this was more a weekend picnic and an opportunity for everyone to share in the event.

The job wound up an hour earlier, with the last truck finishing at 3:30pm. The masons finished off the slab, then everyone was gathered for the souvenir picture taken by renowned Kauai photographer Tim DeLavega on his large format camera.

Success
Deva Rajan said, "I've never seen such genuine good teamwork by Steeltech, Hale Kauai, the engineers, the owners, the suppliers the truck drivers, masons and workers. I've never seen such overall interest, such knowledge of the project on everyone's part, their understanding that this was something unique, something great, something to be proud of."

Asked for the final count, Jeff Griffin of Steel Tech announced that 108 trucks had delivered exactly 1,000 cubic yards of concrete with hard a wheelbarrow full of waste. Of course, in Hinduism, 108 is an auspicious number, and the temple fund raising efforts had always said it would take a 108 trucks--quite a guess considering Hale Kauai runs trucks holding seven, eight or ten yards. Actually, the temple slab holds 999 yards, and one yard was placed in a nearby pit for future scientific research. Mehta and Langley want to take core sample five and ten years in the future to study the concrete and long its strength over the years, at a time when the foundation itself would be encased in stone.

Mehta, Fly Ash and Iraivan Temple
The job was a special fulfillment for Mehta, a devote Hindu. In 1993, he wrote in the conclusion of his book, "Concrete: Microstructure, Properties and Materials," a college standard: "In Hindu mythology, there are several gods. Siva is an ascetic god who is always ready to help the needy. Once the gods collectively decided to dewater an ocean to obtain the pot of nectar of immortality which, it was rumored, lay at the ocean floor. However, the in the process a stream of poison was released and it started destroying the whole world. When no other God showed any willingness to handle the poison, Siva volunteered. He drank the whole steam of poison, which left a permanent blue mark on his throat. Since portland cement concrete is able to incorporate safely millions of tons of fly ash, slag and other waste byproducts which contain toxic metals, shall we call concrete Lord Siva of the construction materials' world?"

Metha's been an evangelist proclaiming the virtues of fly ash concrete for many years. It's been an uphill path. For example, in India, the building codes date back to the departure of the British. At that time fly ash was little understood and specifically forbidden to be used in concrete. Those building codes have not changed in 50 years, and India is busy piling hundreds of millions of tons of fly ash next to its power plants. Once or twice a year, both Mehta and Langley have gone to or set up conferences in India to sell the use of fly ash concrete.

Mehta was, therefore, astounded when Deva Rajan came out of the blue to request his help on the temple foundation. It was clear at that time that some sort of fly ash concrete would be required, and Mehta being the expert, became part of the project. He could hardly believe his good fortune. Here the very goal he was pursuing was about to get a tremendous boost from a project to build a temple to Lord Siva, his chosen Deity and object of his book's closing prayer on the use of fly ash. He also has long advocated reduction of steel rebar in concrete, convinced that it reduced longevity. Granite doesn't come with rebar, he argues, why should concrete? Again the temple project fit the need. Here was a large demonstration project, one which could be closely studied and monitored, to prove several points at once: that such a slab could be poured without cracking, without rebar and that it could achieve the strength needed. He now estimates, after initial tests, that the slab will reach 6,000 psi within two to three years, double the engineer's requirement.

"I don't know any structure," Mehta told the local newspaper, "that is this size with 2,000 tons of concrete in it, without a single joint or single support or steel rebar in it."

The Canadian Collaborator
Langley too had a long-term interest in concrete durability. "My participation has been logarithmic," he told "Hinduism Today." "First I was asked in Canada to produce concrete that would last ten years. Then I was asked for 100 years, and now 1,000. I can't express my feelings on this. We can use high volume fly ash concrete in heavy construction, in dams and foundations. We are getting away from extremely ridged structures for we've found that the stronger the concrete in the beginning, the weaker it ended up. The old Roman concrete structures were weak, they moved under loads, and consequently have stood for 2,000 years."

Langley is an expert in soil engineering, and has designed the protocol for the surcharging of the foundation. This is a process whereby a weight of dirt equal to the weight of the finished temple is placed upon the foundation for six to nine months. This allows any settlement to happen immediately, rather than later after the temple is finished. As it could settle as much as seven or eight inches, such settlement would misalign various components connected to the foundation, even if the foundation itself remained intact. There is a remote chance that every uneven settlement will still crack the foundation, even though it has survived thermal shock. That will be discovered next year. For now, the slab is to cure for 90 days, then will be buried under ten feet of dirt. Poles stuck through the dirt to the surface of the foundation will allow weekly readings of settlement.

Temple's Next Step
Next summer when the slab is cleared, the first stones will arrive from Bangalore, India, and construction will begin. The traditional trained stone workers, the silpis, will do the final dressing of each stone and fit it into place without mortar. This process will go on for some years. The temple has no completion date, and is being built on a "pay as you go" basis. Only when money is raised and in the bank is it spent; no debt is permitted. Thus the foundation work was postponed for some months until the required $320,000 was in the bank. The gravel bed upon which the foundation was placed cost $280,000, for a total of $600,000.

At the same time as the temple is being paid for, an endowment is being created to care for it in the future. The total project is $16,000,000, which includes the temple, support buildings, landscaping of the 51 acre ashram and a permanent $8,000,000 endowment.

As Mehta said, "We have been developing for the last 100 years a culture of much more haste and fast scheduling and profits. We are doing this with straightjacketed technology, made so autocratic that there's no freedom for human beings to think and innovate. We don't use our common sense at all. That what I'm fighting for, common sense. Kauai is going to show the way with this temple as a pioneering new concrete technology which is needed by the rest of the world."