So today when I went by to do a "drive by shooting" of the house I almost missed that there was a structure at the bottom of the hole.
I realized that it would be much more appropriate to park and get out of the car to take the picture (just like it would be more appropriate for me to not say "drive by shooting" but I couldn't stop myself). So the progress that they've made today (and bear with me as again I have limited knowledge in construction) seems to be as follows. They have a layer of aggregate (or pea gravel as my co-worker is calling it) on the base which will be better to soak up any water in the future (better than that dirt which is mostly made up of clay). Then they have put up the structure in which the footings in which the weeping tile will go around it and I believe the area where the sump pump will go (that that one is more of a guess for the sump pump).
Descriptions (for anyone like me that didn't know what this stuff was really)
Aggregate: the aggregate serves as reinforcement to add strength to the overall composite material. Due to the relatively high hydraulic conductivity (the ease with which water can move through pore spaces or fractures. You bet your bum I Googled that!) value as compared to most soils, aggregates are widely used in drainage applications such as foundation and French drains, septic drain fields, retaining wall drains, and road side edge drains. Aggregates are also used as base material under foundations, roads, and railroads. To put it another way, aggregates are used as a stable foundation or road/rail base with predictable, uniform properties (e.g. to help prevent differential settling under the road or building), or as a low-cost extender that binds with more expensive cement or asphalt to form concrete. -Wikipedia
Footings: Another common type of shallow foundation (footings) is the slab-on-grade foundation where the weight of the building is transferred to the soil through a concrete slab placed at the surface. Slab-on-grade foundations can be reinforced mat slabs, which range from 25cm to several meters thick, depending on the size of the building, or post-tensioned slabs, which are typically at least 20cm for houses, and thicker for heavier structures.
Sump Pump: A pump used to remove water that has accumulated in a water collecting sump pit, commonly found in the basement of homes. The water may enter via the perimeter drains of a basement waterproofing system, funneling into the pit or because of rain or natural ground water, if the basement is below the water table level. -Wikipedia
Weeping Tile: A porous pipe used for underground drainage. The pipe is typically plastic with small slits cut lengthwise into it. It is buried and surrounded by aggregate larger than the slits. The aggregate rocks prevent excessive soil from falling through the slits into the weeping tile. With this arrangement, water in the surrounding soil above the weeping tile flows into the weeping tile. The weeping tile then drains into a storm sewer or a sump pump .
It is often used for water drainage near basement foundations to prevent flooding. It can be used in farmer's fields to drain waterlogged fields. Such fields are called "tiled". Weeping tiles can be used anywhere soil needs to be drained. -Wikipedia
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