This past week construction has been moving forward on all fronts at a mesmerizing pace, Great Hall/Narthex, rear wing and Day School have all felt the attention of Scott Crumley’s construction plans! At the front the sand pad, recently recovered from Amazon using it to test the multi-terrain capabilities of a white panel van (not good), has been surveyed, the location of the walls marked, trenches for the footings dug and the steel rebars set in place so everything is prepared for the concrete footings pour next week. Readers may recall from the rear wing how a layer of concrete is poured into the trenches to form the “footings” that provide the foundation on which the concrete blocks that hold up the walls are placed. That's enough of “Construction 101,” as one with an eye for the heavy machinery like myself, the grand thing about laying footings is it marks the return of one of my favorite pieces of machinery to date, the mighty concrete pump. Not to be out done the long awaited “roofing” has started on the new rear wing that will also replace the remaining flat roof over the Day School, library, and corridor. So hopefully the days of having the emergency roof repair man on speed dial will be over and water damaged ceiling tiles will be a not so fond, distant memory. This week it’s been the framers turn to start “doing their thing” on the rear wing roof. If you have ever visited the rood space in your house you will have seen the roof trusses and the complex web of wood braces and beams that keeps this skeleton in place. If you are anything like me you’ve probably felt the pain those trusses can inflict on an unsuspecting head as you rummage around looking for an elusive suitcase that you’re positive was thrown out 5 years but “another” in the house has a different idea but then I digress. The framer’s processes are fascinating, after erecting a temporary wooded frame each truss from that huge stockpile of trusses deposited behind Tucker Hall is identified, lifted up by a truly entrancing green, extending arm fork lift truck, and carefully laid in its correct order on the temporary frame. Last but not least the Day School! The kindergarten classroom was finished off with a stiff cleaning from our Sexton then handed back for occupation and I have to say the teachers have done a wonderful job in transforming the space in readiness for the start of term. Then there was the air conditioning, or lack thereof in the music room and nursery classrooms. It would be exaggerating to say it was a “Houston we have a problem," but getting power back to those air conditioning units was not just a matter of changing a fuse! It transpired that way back in time, around April this year, whilst excavating the rear wing a mystery cable had to be removed that seemed to have no purpose in life. We now know that cable had a purpose and to fulfill that purpose it ran under the courtyard to power those air conditioning units. So new cable and conduit, taking an above ground route, have been laid and cool air is now pulsing through those rooms, "lovely chubbly"*!! I couldn’t end without drawing your attention to the New Building Photograph Album on Flickr, Gretchen Hood includes the link in the Daily Prayers email. The album gives a pictorial record of the build from day one including photographs of the individuals working on site and, of course the machinery, including the big, green forklift. And there is more, thanks to Chris Higgerson, the owner of Higgerson Inc the site contractor, I have been able to post some aerial photographs of the construction which I think are well worth a look! I will be out of town so next week will be “blog free” unless the blog spirit moves me to write about staying in a cabin high in the Blue Ridge…….on second thoughts probably not. Stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach "Lovely chubbly": Cockney phrase meaning something is good or enjoyable (Cockney is someone who was born within the sound of the Church of St Mary-le-Bow in East London)
2 Comments
Chris Randall
9/11/2020 08:37:18 am
David,
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Mal Higgins
9/20/2020 12:05:06 pm
Great aerial of the campus progress, presumably from a drone hired to take some shots for HIggerson. Hope the Amazon delivery driver had to explain whatever dirt he splattered his/her truck with as he turfed the front sand pad..
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AuthorDavid Beach is our Building Project Manager, and has been an active part of our parish family for more than a decade. He is retired from NATO and the British Army and is a joy and blessing to all of us. Archives
July 2021
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