A Large Crane and lots of Heavy Metal

As I arrived at the sight this afternoon, the first thing that I noticed was a rather prominent crane arm extending well into the air. Closer examination revealed the movement of very large floor supports being put into place. This is a huge advance over the wooden beams prominent in the ceiling of the old basement.

Also prominent on the site today is a large number of rust colored metal grids (see above and below). My best guess is that these will be spread over and suspended slightly above the surface of the subfloor. The metal grid will help hold the concrete together and make the entire structure stronger. Once the floor is poured, I imagine the walls can begin to go up and the 3rd dimension will be revealed.

Art Mania/ TIE DYE

Art Mania / Tie Dye /three sessions
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007
Tie-Dye with the legendary Cliff Croxford, Tie Dye Master
1:30 for elementary age, 3:30 for teens and 6:30 for adults.

Sign ups required!
Bring a 100% cotton garment to dye!

Subfloors and steel and lots more . . .

The construction crews have been hard at work assembling our library building. I knew that it was too early to add the roof, so I had to ask what all of the corrugated sheet metal was for.
As it has been explained to me, this is used as subflooring and concrete will be poured over the top to create the floor.


Here you can see the erected structural steel along the middle of the building. Judging by the size of the steel beams, the architects must understand quite well how heavy our loaded bookshelves can be.


They have also added the sub-flooring to the basement area. Beyond this, the beginnings of the reading room foundation is visible. In a matter of months, you could be relaxing outdoors on our reading area enjoying the view and a good story.


There is much more steel waiting and ready to find its proper place in our new building.


By the way, our block layers have been working hard to fill in the gaps in our walls. If we could get an aerial view now, we could finally have a good representation of our building's dimensions.
Stay tuned next week for more pictures . . .Same Book Time . . .Same Book Channel.

If you haven't seen changes lately, look again. . .

Several pallets of cinder blocks have arrived on sight recently, so the gaps in the foundation walls will undoubtedly by filling in soon. The building will now very quickly begin looking like a single project rather than a collection of smaller ones.



A black tar-like material is being added to all of the concrete pours to repel the moisture from the building. I know everyone misses the mold, but we likely won't be inviting it into our new building anytime soon.


The big news of the week is the arrival of the structural steel. Several big trailers and a couple of big cranes came into play. If you like jigsaw puzzles, you'll love what's about to happen.



There was a man walking through the front entrance earlier today over newly installed floor joists. In another six months it can be done without the hard hat and without watching that first step. Progress is great!!!

More footers . . .but wait until next week

Yes, I know that it doen't look like much has happened in the last seven days. Appearances can be deceiving, but progress is being made. The last of the footers are being poured. I am told that structural steel is on its way as early as next week. The basement area is really taking shape. Great care has been taken in these stages to make sure that problems don't come up later.

Connecting Everything . . .and a little Rain.

The changes this week have been less obvious from the street, but don't think that the workers have been slacking off. Support columns for the back of the building have been poured, and wall forms have been constructed to continue the foundation.
It's hard to believe that where we once parked our cars has been replaced by the beginning of this new structure. I have bee told that more concrete block will be laid in the coming weeks and we shall soon see the complete outline of our new building.
The following pictures are without the normal bustle of activity only because of a well needed rain. I assure you that this the inactivity has been the exception and not the rule.