Update
4/02/2001
In the last update I sent you I had briefly mentioned the glu-lam beams that are to be the structural support for the Community Center roof. Most of this update will deal with the installation of these support beams.
Figure 1 - 70 ton crane on site Figure 2 - 70 ton crane with boom extended
In the figures above the 70-ton crane that will be used to install the glu-lam beams has been brought on-site. From pictures, it’s difficult to get a feel for the size of crane being used to pick up the glu-lams and place them in position. Figure #2 tries to show the relationship of the crane to the Community Center itself. As you can see it is a fairly large crane. In fact, it is probably the largest crane of its kind in the area. It requires a very competent operator to run this crane. His job is to pick up the glu-lams and set them on the concrete pillars that support them. He has to do this without damaging the beams or putting anyone’s life in jeopardy not to mention the precision it takes to set them down in the proper place.
Figure 3 - Glu-lams for swimming pool area Figure 4 - Preparing for instalation
To try and get an idea of the size of the glu-lam beams, the figures above show the beams in relationship to the men assisting with the off-loading procedure. As you can see, they dwarf the workers considerably. The beams were assembled at the Motor Pool yard and then transported by a special flatbed tractor-trailer to the Community Center site. These particular glu-lam beams will be placed on the Center’s swimming pool side. They span approximately 72 feet and weigh around 10,600 lbs a piece. The first beams to be installed are on the gymnasium side of the building.
Figure 5 - Placing the first glu-lam on
gymnasium
Figure 6 - securing the beam
side
Figure 5 shows the first glu-lam beam being installed on the Gymnasium side of the Community Center. While we haven’t been plagued with the storms we were experiencing earlier, wind is a factor during the installation of these huge trusses. As you can imagine, wind can play havoc with positioning and the safety of the workers as well as the crane operator. These glu-lam beams span approximately 108 feet and weigh about 22,000 lbs each. They’re made up of two different truss structures. You have a left and a right truss that are butted together and joined with heavy-duty steel plates. Once they are set in place they are welded to the steel supports embed in the concrete at the tops each concrete column. Heavy timbers are used to keep the trusses from racking until the roof deck is installed.
Work
will continue on the placement of the glu-lams for the next week or so. As of
today, April 2, 2001, there were 8 trusses in place on the gymnasium side with 5
more remaining to be installed. The picture above was taken earlier and only
shows four of the eight. The remainder of concrete to be poured in the column
forms on the south side of the swimming pool area was in process today as well.
Once the concrete has cured sufficiently, the glu-lams will be erected on the
swimming pool side.
Other
portions of the project are progressing nicely. Most of the concrete pads in the
concession area and locker rooms have been poured. A substantial amount of
mechanical equipment for the heating, air-conditioning, chlorination system, and
circulating pumps is on site and is being installed. Plumbing and electrical is
on-going. Metal decking for the upper floor is moving along very well. The
backfill around the outsides of the north and west side retaining walls is about
85% complete.
As a footnote, the French Drain system around the Community Center continues to work as designed. I am very pleased with the success of this portion of work. We will continue to monitor the discharges from the French Drain to see what changes will occur when the irrigation ditches come on-line later this spring. Two monitoring wells on the south side of Peaceful Spirit showed a drop in the ground water elevation of approximately 2.39 feet. This was based on what the ground water elevation was when monitoring began in December of 1999. The lowest point was reached in February of this year when the ground water was at its lowest point. We have seen a rise of about a half of a foot since that time. I would expect the water to come up substantially when the ditches are back on-line. We didn’t really see much of a rise last summer but both the winter and summer were pretty dry last year. This year has been a much different story.