In my last post, we left the situation with the steel dropped off and the excitement about to begin. While didn’t witness it, we saw the results. Those big steel columns are set on the footings and the floor joists have been placed.

When we came it on Friday night in the dark, it was hard to see the progress. Coming out on Saturday morning, my wife had the perfect name. Steelhenge.

That’s how it looks against a dark, cloudy sky.

This shot gives a better look at progress. The steel frame is in place. The long beams at the top will carry the roll-off roof. Contrary to my earlier post, they are 30′ long, with a foot on either end to accommodate the overhang beyond the 28′ of the building. The beams are also 6″ square, and not 4″ as I said previously. Big, heavy, steel. So the name may stick. I’m not sure if Steelhenge will be right name, or if it will be appropriate once the building is complete.

The pier footings were expanded to provide more strength for the bolts. Additional reinforcing and connections to the existing concrete were added before more concrete was poured. The sonotube covering will be removed to leave 3/4 inch of clearance. The far divider brace on the joists in this picture hasn’t been permanently set, so there is room for adjustment. There will be no contact between the pier and the joists or the floor.

It was interesting to see that when you jump up and down on 2x12s on a 12′ spread they just don’t bounce noticeably. We are also adding access to the building. The stairs and sidewalk under construction are visble in the background.

I took the standard panorama shot too. Clicking on the other shots will take you to the photo gallery.

Comments always welcome.

Things have been quiet on the construction front. We’ve been waiting on the metal fabricating company, Talley Metal Fabrication, to complete their work and come out and install the steel. This has taken longer than expected. It is a complicated job, and they have done excellent due diligence in figuring out how to implement the design.

The big news is that the steel arrived today. It would have been installed, but today was quite a rainy day. They’ll be back tomorrow to do the install, then Greg will start the framing on Wednesday. Unfortunately, our plan to see the work in progress was foiled by the rain.

Here is the steel, sitting where delivered this morning. The two long pieces in the background are the 28 foot supports for the roll-off roof. The other parts are the six supports and a piece to connect the south-east end together. All together, they will form a 28 foot by 12 foot “U” shaped support structure for the roof.

The steel pieces are four-inch tube steel with the fittings welded on. Here is a close shot of the two long pieces that will support the roof.

This next shot is a close-up of the angle iron the wheels on which the moving roof will roll. You can see how the angle iron is cut away and descends to a bead of steel. This will allow the roof to sit lower in the closed position, providing a tighter seal against the elements.

If things stay on schedule, there should be a lot of progress in the next week. We’ll be out at the site next weekend. I hope to have many more pictures. Once framing starts, things move very quickly.