Brought to you by your representative on site: Jay Fritz
I know it seems like a lot should have changed because it has been 2 months since the last update, however not as much has changed as I would have hoped. When it was dry it was too cold and and when it was warm it was too wet but we managed to get some more work done.
The last time you saw pictures we were still waiting for the concrete to get finished. Although the tall portion of the foundation walls were done we still had the short portion in the southeast corner to get poured and that included the elevator pit which has to be 5 feet deep to make room for equipment. The first picture of the top row shows the completion of the footing portion of the foundation about 6 weeks later then we had hoped because of weather delays. The next two pictures are of the elevator pit floor and the finished walls of the pit. To give you an idea of its depth the top of the walls is the height of the finished floor in the lower level. The elevator, which is right inside the new East entrance, is one of the key features of the addition because it will give the East parking lot and the entire building handicap accessibility.
Along with the concrete, there was also a block wall that had to be completed to support the steel of the new addition where it is next to the existing building. It is not only a support wall but a fire wall also. The first picture of the second row shows the start of the wall at the west end while the concrete was being finished at the east end of the wall line. The next picture not only shows some of the weather that we would work through but also the the east end of the block wall. When you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see the elevator door behind the mason with the orange coat on. The block wall, which should have taken only 6 days to build, was started the Monday before Christmas and completed enough to support steel on the 20th of January because of the weather being ether too cold or too wet. The elevator shaft still needs to be built but it is not necessary for the steel to get started. The last picture in the second row shows the day had finally arrived for the delivery of the steel but it would take a lot more then a little snow that day to stop the steel workers from moving forward.
The bottom row starts with a picture of what will most likely be the largest single item that will get delivered to the construction site. The north gable end truss was delivered in 2 pieces, the bottom piece in the picture is flat on top because the peak still needs to be attached once it is in place on the top of the walls. Traffic had to be stopped for about 3 to 4 minutes on Mexico road while the truck pulled in. Altogether there were 9 truck loads of steel delivered to the job, three on the first day. The next picture shows that between trucks the steel workers didn't waist any time and set the first piece of steel, a column in the Children's Worship room extending through the foyer to support the roof near the West entrance. The last picture shows the progress after the 3rd day, not only did they set all these columns and beams to start the foyer concourse, unload 9 truck loads, but also put together the 14 main roof trusses (in front of the gable end) which were delivered in two pieces.
Because of the weather, the progress has been slow and there hasn't been a lot to share, causing the long time between posts. Ice and snow does slow the steel workers down if they are doing high work but it doesn't play as much of a factor for them as it does for the other sub-contractors. My hope is to show you more in about a week, talk to you more then.
Jay
Brought to you by your representative on site: Jay Fritz
Since my last posting, as you know, we received additional rain fall which resulted in upper left hand picture. As much as I don't like working in the mud the water still needs to be pumped off the building site. I remember at the end of that day, when I took my boots off, I felt like I was floating. I thought you would get a laugh from the top center picture where it looks like the local wild life is reading the sign and trying to tell his buddies not to go that way. There are many days when I arrive before sunrise and see deer down in the bottom of the flood plan area.
Back to business. The top right picture shows the workers finishing the steel inside the wall before the inside form goes up. Notice the boards in the wall just to the right of the workers, this is the window in the 5th grade Sunday School room. The middle left picture is of the concrete conveyor that moves the mix as needed much quicker then by hand, saving time and money. A question that I have gotten several times is how do the workers get the concrete to flow around all that rebar. If you notice in the center picture one of workers is holding, what looks like a long hose connected to a motor. This is a concrete vibrator. At one end is a metal cylinder that they push down into the concrete to vibrate around all the rebar and fill in all the air pockets. The next picture is the day after the pour, they strip the forms so that the concrete can cure faster. Again to the right you can see the 5th grade window.
In the bottom two left pictures it shows one of the ways to control costs and speed the project along, that is to have more then one company doing the same type of work. While we have one company, whose better at walls and footings, working on the foundation; another company who is better at surface concrete goes to work on the curbs and sidewalk for the parking lot. It is not that either company couldn't do the other part of the job, they just can't do it as cost effectively.
So as of the 8th of December we have about 70% of the structural concrete finished, all the curbs and walks for the 1st stage of parking lot and almost half the rock for the asphalt base laid. If we can get the weather to cooperate there is a possibility that the Sunday the 13th will be the last day we will need the shuttle for several months. The other most common question is "Are we on schedule". Two answers to that. My schedule that allows for a 10% weather delay "NO", God's schedule, since He is in charge of the weather "YES". I will let you choose which answer is correct.
The last picture I want to bring your attention is the bottom right of the contractors lunch. We do this every Wednesday at 12:00 for any workers who are on site that day. We provide a hot meal and a warm place to eat, as well as free drinks. The meal is prepared by you the members of our church, brought into the freezer, then thawed, cooked and served by other volunteers. The look on the guys faces when I tell them that they get a hot meal for free is priceless. I want to say thanks to all who have cooked and served these past weeks and a special thank to Kim Funke for organizing and coordinating this ministry that touches the workers in a very down to earth way. It is not exactly feeding the five thousand, but I think they are just as thankful and amazed.
More to come soon.
Thanks to Jim Abbitt (aka the Red Barron) we have these great pictures of the job site, and the pictures from the ground are by Kim Funke. When you get a chance, thank them for their contribution to expanding the ministry here at Grace.
This will give some what of an idea of all the thing that go into a building site that you never see.
Please continue to pray for good weather so that we can continue our progress. We need about 10 working days on somewhat dry ground so that we can get the parking lot paved and start parking on it.
