Okay, so I’m taking the day off tomorrow, and being so I’m presenting my weekly update one day early. It has been a busy week on this project and it is kind of crazy at times with all the different trades on site. Here are the different trades and areas of work I counted today: metal stud framers, dry wall installers, dry wall tapers, carpenters, general laborers, electricians, plumbers, sheet metal duct workers, hydronic piping installation, excavation, weather barrier installation, as well as painting. I also counted 15 man lifts on site. Anyway, here is a current look at all the work and material inside the rotunda.

Rotunda

Preparation work on the floors in the two Workshops and the Classroom located between them began this week. Carpenters were installing the rigid insulation in Workshop 2 on Wednesday are shown here:

Rigid Insulation Installation

Today the Mechanical Contractor is installing the plumbing lines for the hydronic floor heating as shown below.

Hydronic piping installation

This maze of piping connects to a manifold in the wall that distributes the different zones of heated water lines is indicated here:

Hydronic manifold

Next week these floors will have steel rebar installed just above the water pipe. The water lines will then be connected and pressure tested to ensure there are no leaks. On Thursday the concrete is scheduled to be poured which will become the finished floor in these areas of the building addition.

Yesterday we had a very detailed discussion with our architectural team, our general contractor (Absher) and their metal wall panel subcontractor about the look the architect is seeking on the exterior walls. They selected four different profiles of panels, 2-inch, 4-inch, 6-inch, and 10-inch modules that are to be installed in order to create a random look. It certainly won’t be easy to do but it should be modern and distinctive looking once it is installed. Here is our team in action:

Teamwork!

Counterclockwise from the right in this image we have Chris Griffes and Justin Rabe of ZGF Architects, Fred Hamond from Architectural Sheet Metal, and the guy in the Canadian Tuxedo is Dewey Hiam of Absher Construction. They were playing around with the different sized profiles to help Fred understand how the installation should work. Anyway, they just ordered the metal panels and this material has around a six week lead time, so we won’t see the wall panel installation anytime soon.

Next week we will continued to frame in the glulam beams at the rotunda and entry area. The weather barrier installation just began and as that goes up the current yellow sheathed addition will turn orange. Window installation will follow that work. As I mentioned above, we will be pouring the concrete floors in the workshop / classroom addition, so we will see a number of concrete trucks coming and going on Thursday.

Cheers!

Tim

Hello all and happy Friday. Hopefully you are all doing well after celebrating Cinco de Mayo aka: Battle of Puebla Day in Mexico. I personally feel like I need to have a liposuction procedure ASAP after consuming a bunch of yummy nachos last night.

It has been a very interesting week on the Lecture Hall job site. On Tuesday a large flatbed truck had just delivered another load of glulam beams to our project. While attempting to leave our campus and driving up the ramp to the McCann Plaza bus loop / driveway, the driver made not one but two mistakes. He simultaneously ran over the metal hand rail at the ramp and also over an irrigation device on the other side of the ramp, which in turn broke the irrigation line and caused a sudden geyser near the entrance to Red Square; photo attached. I was actually there when it happened and it was definitely a “I can’t believe what I’m seeing” moment. Luckily I was able to contact our Grounds Supervisor on his cell phone and notify him immediately of the situation before Red Square became a new campus water feature. There is never a dull moment at Evergreen.

I had mixed feelings that day; I didn’t know whether to laugh at that situation or to give the truck driver a hug since he looked so dejected. Anyway, that situation made me think of the following quote: “Mistakes are a great educator when one is honest enough to admit them and willing to learn from them” – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

We will have the usual activities on site again next week. More glulam beams and wood decking will be installed, followed by roofing work, electrical work, and wall framing. There will be no more driving over hand rails or creating simulations of Old Faithful.

Also attached for your viewing pleasure are two roof top progress photos, one from April 25 and one from yesterday.

Have a great weekend, and happy Mother’s Day to all those moms out there!

Cheers,

Tim

Timothy Byrne

Project Manager

Facilities Services

The Evergreen State College

360-867-6093