Brought to you by your representative on site: Jay Fritz
The pictures you saw in the last post were shot on the third day, a Wednesday, that the iron worker had been on the job. This part of the construction is so fun because not only do things start to take shape but it happens so quickly compared to what was done before. One of the critical parts of the steel structure that mostly is unseen, but is shown in the first picture, is the X brace that keeps everything along that beam line from moving back and forth when the wind blows or the earth shakes. At this stage, when the crane is here costing $1000 a day, the brace is put in loose until everything is plumbed and leveled and then it is bolted and welded in place. The final bolting and welding is called " The Finishing" and takes about 4 to 6 weeks on a job this size. The second picture was taken on Thursday January 28 showing kind of a big moment because the first Foyer Concourse truss was set in place. When everything is finished we will be able to see this truss exposed as part of the architectural design. At the same time as those trusses were being set, picture 3 shows some of the bar joist were being welded in place to prepare for a stack of steel deck to be placed there by the crane.
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By the end of the first week the iron workers have made a lot of progress and as the first picture below shows the Concourse is really starting to take shape. Most of the trusses are up and the support structure for the roof top HVAC units is starting to take form. Because we are using all of our land for building or parking the roof was the place to put the heating and cooling units. A special flat structure had to designed over top of the peaked trusses to set the units on. The first of many fun & special events that we are planning during the construction process took place on Saturday and Sunday afternoon the 30th and 31st of January. We wanted the entire family at Grace to get involved and leave their personal mark on the building in ways that normally are not possible. In the second picture you can see Joyce, one of our young at heart ladies, sharing with God one of the scriptures that she has clung to her whole life. We asked the family to write down scripture of prayers of blessings on the steel before it was put up so that it would be there as long as the building was and when our Father looks down to see us he will see the His Word that has touched the heart of those who are inside. The last picture is as small portion of the many words that the family recorded on the steel to remain there for all eternity.
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The view in the first shot below kind of gives you a feel for how our concourse is going to feel when you walk in the new Worship level entrance from the west. If the sun was shinning you would get more of a feel what it would look like on Sunday morning with sun shinning in the far end of the concourse. The second picture shows the workers tightening the bolts that hold the columns in place. If you notice there is a gap between the concrete and the bottom plate of the post. Between the center of the column and the concrete the workers have placed steel shims that adjust the columns to the correct level, then to get the column so that it stays straight up and down, they tighten the nuts on the anchor bolts. The tool they are use here is an electric impact driver that can tighten up to 1700 lbs if torque. Then last picture shows all the posts around the Worship center being held in place straight up and down by nothing more the the four nuts on the anchor bolts. The main support beams are then attached to the columns and support the floor. So if the post are at the wrong height then the floor would not be level with our existing floor. After the iron workers are done with the finishing stage the gap between the column and the concrete is filled with a high strength grout which assists the steel shims in holding up the steel structure.
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By the next posting you will see the complete steel structure and get a feel for the size of the new building and how close it is to the Mexico Road. Until then if you would continue to pray for dry weather that is not to cold so the project can continue on schedule.
