April 27, 2007 Friday: 1st Floor is Poured!

A momentous day. The pour was delayed a few days because of 2 3/4 inches of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday but work should beable to kick into high gear starting next week. The pour of the first floor is completed. - Video & Slide Show added.

April 24, 2007, Tuesday: A Good Week of Progress; Now Wet

Today was the day they were to pour the cement on the 1st floor. It is pouring rain and looks like it will all day. They still have a bit of work to do before they pour so it might be a day or two if the weather cooperates. They need to get the duct work in place in the community room then it should be set.

Last week the masons built the interior block walls about 1/2 way up before they cleared off the floor in preparation for pouring the cement layer.

Yesterday was a beautiful and warm day which allowed the masons to complete most of the stone work for the basement exterior.

One correction for last weeks log: The connecting piece of the 1st floor will be built after the rest of the floor is poured. A few more pieces of steel need to be put in place and then thick corrugated steel will serve as the base to pour the cement on.

I've added one more slide show and two nice panoramas one from on top of the dirt pile in front and one of the interior.

April 17, 2007, Tuesday: Construction Nears Completion of Important Phase.

The installation of the electrical switch box was completed on Easter Monday as scheduled but they did run across a cement water barrier that they had not counted on. It took a crew several hours to jack hammer their way through to access the buried lines. The work site was a bit quieter that day because power tools don't work with out electricity!

Much of the week though was wet and progress was slow but so far his week has been ideal for work with temperatures in the upper 60's and lower 70's. The masons have pretty much finished the two exterior walls of the elevator shaft. The biggest news is that the last of the 1st floor hollow core panels were dropped into place.

Forms will now need to be created for a pour of the final first floor section that will connect the addition to the existing abbey building. Once the floor is all in place and a concrete lip is created around the periphery , several inches of cement will be pour across the entire floor structure. This will lock everything in place. This will be a big step in the construction process because it will allow the excavated dirt to be back filled around the site and electrical & plumbing work can begin in the basement. In addition the completed floor should also keep the basement relatively dry from spring rains.

The geothermal wells have been completed and connected into several series. The workers should return in the next couple of weeks to run the final lines into the addition once back filling has been completed.

This week I've added 3 new videos. They are each under 2 minutes in length and include a walk through of the basement before the floor panels were installed. A panorama and slide shows of the most current work have also been added.

No more "Birds Eye" Views!
The elevator shaft has risen three stories and now blocks most of the construction work from the Abbey hallway. It was nice while it lasted.

April 6, 2007, Friday: 1st Floor taking Shape

Most of the blocks were laid for the front of the additions first floor this week. The monks are starting to get a sense and feel for what the building will look like. A few have even ventured out to peer out the windows to "see what they can see."

More steel was set in place to hold the 1st floor's remaining hollow core panels which are scheduled to be dropped into place next Tuesday. The noise in the Abbey was pretty loud at times as they drilled and chiseled away at the building to bolt connecting steal beams to the current building. These beams will hold the floor that will connect the two structures.

Monday the power throughout campus will be turned off from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM so that a switch box for the new addition can be set in place and hooked up. There will probably me a lot of monks going to town on Monday!!