Site Visit 11-17-08

Monday 11/17/08
7:55 am
30 degrees
overcast

Click to view Picasa Web Album of Today's Site Visit

Cold morning. The scaffolding at the north-west corner of the site has been relocated to the stairwell in the south-west corner. According to the scaffolding inspection sticker, it was taken down on the 16th and back in service by this morning (17th). A while back I was told that the scaffold is inspected on a daily basis and workers are not permitted to use the scaffolding unless it has been inspected and signed off on.

At the north side of the building a heavy highway crew and their Volvo EC330BLC(http://www.volvo.com/constructionequipment/na/en-us/products/excavators/crawlerexcavators/introduction.htm) were handling steam pipes stored at the north-west corner. Two men were securing the hoist cables, one of them would guide the pipe as it was raised and walk with it over to the north-east corner. (Why the pipes hadn't been stored or delivered according to where they would be needed? Is it too difficult to coordinate the delivery?) I was told by a worker that the steam pipes needed to have welded connections. I am curious to see how they manage to weld all the way around a steam pipe fitting.

Walking around the site to the south side I noted a couple of things that struck out at me. First, I saw two PVC pipes leading from the ceiling runs to the grade outside. I think is done for temporary drainage of the roof decks so water does not collect in work areas. Next, I saw the formwork for the utilities at the south-east corner outside the mechanical room. The rebar had been bent, cut and placed, suspended on half-a-brick. Finally, inside the mechanical room insulation installation had begun. A space heater was on making the electrical room feel very comfortable (but no workers were in the mechanical room). At the north-east corner of the mechanical room the stairs and landings installation has begun.

The landings are bolted to the north wall and suspended from a beam above at the south of the stairwell. The stair landing shown on the left has not been bolted yet and is supported by a winch and the tension bars.

Final Notes from visit: (1) Space heaters look like airplane jet engines and turn out a ton of heat (they can turn out almost 1,000,000 BTUs - http://www.heatershop.com/dual_fuel_gas_f1000t.html).

(2) Trench protection has been deliverd and is stored at the northern part of the site. The steel tubing spaning the trench protection on one side were not aligned with the steel tubing on the other. (3.) Stepped concrete platform poured in two rooms at south end of building. (Future locker rooms? - we shall see).

Next week is Thanksgiving Break, next report scheduled for 12-01-08 (or maybe this friday - I'm keeping my fingers crossed).

Monday 11/10/08
7:40 am
35 degrees
Windy (5-10 mph)



Cold & windy day. Metal studs were being installed on the east wall of the gymnasium. One worker was in a lift while another was assisting from the ground. I have come to realize the scissor lift is the workhorse of this project. It is being used by everycrew and is constantly being moved around the interior of the building to access work in high spaces (I didn't think to count them at the time).

I started the observation today by walking around the site from the north in a counter-clockwise direction. At the north-west of the site there is a roofing staging area. The roofing membrane rolls are stacked and there is a delivery truck with a crane attachement. At the south-west corner scaffolding wraps the corner of the building. The masonry wall (around the future stair well) has progressed up to the second floor level. No active work was being performed in this area.

At the south-east mechanical room gypsum was being installed on one face of the metal studs. I'm not sure when the electrical inspection is scheduled for. At the south-east of the site a raising scaffold was about forty feet up. The more I am around the raising scaffold the more I am amazed at how it works. Every 15 - 20 feet it is attached to the building. The main platform holds the mortar and block and a lower projecting platform is for the workers to place the block. This means the mortar and the block are at about waist level when they lift and place them. The a telescoping fork-lift is used to load masonry onto the platform. There were about 3-4 workers on the platform at any given point.

(After leaving the site I got to thinking about the possibility of a new piece of equipment. I have to work out a couple of sketches - but it involves combining a flatbed truck with a raising scaffold for easier mobilization and demobilization.)

Walking around to the gymnasium I watched metal studs being installed and what appeared to be a fireproofing contractor clearing away fireproofing from the metal stud framing. Checking that the safety inspection for the scaffold had been performed for that morning, I proceeded up to the second level.

Here I found two waste line manifolds, but on closer examination found (a) that only one penetrated the floor slab, and (b) each were comprised of elements which could be adjusted to allow the connecting pipe to slop in the direction of drainage. (this may have little applicable knowledge in the future, but it helps me get a better understanding of what may be involved in the installation process).

Walking past the manifolds I proceeded to the south roof. An 18" section of cementitious board has been installed along the perimeter of the interior side of the roof parapet. Also three metal curb frames, (5' x 20') have been assembled. At the south-east corner of the roof I got to speak with a couple of the masonry contractors on the raising scaffold. In speaking with the foreman (I believe), as the scaffold swayed back and forth slightly, he told me he felt safer on the raising scaffold than the more traditional scaffolding over to the side. (Also, they are always looking for masonry labor, so I may have a job for the summer).

Then, I came back to the first floor gymnasium and noted some new materials being stored therein. Some steel sprinkler pipes were arranged near the north wall. Looking up I saw some large hangers which will eventually carry the roof drain piping. That's when I realized the correlation between where the materials were stored and where the hangers were located almost forty feet above. The path of the hangers above and the clear path below allow the scissor scaffolds to maneuver without having to relocate material. I didn't get a chance to ask how this was planned - but maybe next time.

Finally, I got to talk a little with a mechanical contractor who was installing rectangular ductwork. He explained the wrapping is a relatively new feature for protecting the ductwork. I learned about the Pittsburg joint used to seal the length of the ducts, that they were fabricated in Roanoke, VA., and that the mechanical company was a subsidiary of a larger civil contractor. (All that in 5 minutes).

Great site visit. Lots to think about. More to report next time.

Site Visit 11-03-08

Monday 11/03/08
7:35 am - 8:35 am

50 degrees
overcast

New blog feature: Slideshow. Click the image to open the picasa web-album!

First working day after daylight savings! Masonry Mock-up installed adjacent to owner's trailer at north-east corner of site. Roofing insulation stored on roof deck - roof membrane stored at building north-west corner (Firestone Ultra Ply TPO 80-Mil). Drilled cores around perimeter appear to be filled. Scaffolding installed at building south-west corner. Raising scaffold stored at building south-east and building north-east corner. Stone masons at work at north-east. Ductwork and piping appear to be complete at the south portion of the building and in progress at the west end.

Propane tanks have been delivered to the site. Two are located at the south-west corner (first and second floor) and one is located at the south-east (for the mechanical room). They haven't been turned on yet (maybe next week).

(Above left: mock-up masontry wall, Above right: view looking north-east) is the mock-up of the masonry walls being installed. A 4-foot wall has been started at the gymnsaium north-east corner - no scaffolding in place) and an 8-foot section of wall has been installed at the south-east corner. In the foreground are four resources (only three are visible) used by the masons to manipulate the stone. From left to right they are the scrape bin, masonry saw, pallete of block, and behind the pallete are two barrels of water.

Fire proofing appears to have been installed at the gymnasium second floor level. Temporary halogen lighting has been installed at the gymnasium. Metal stud installation was more-or-less complete at the west side of the building and in progress at the south roof parapet. At the roof, workers were installing what appeared to be metal curbs for mechanical equipment. Other than that I saw some steel connection details I had missed in previous visits and saw some roof drain piping. More to report later - hope to load some sketches on by weeks end!