Changes on the Inside

Last week, construction crews "popped out" the windows that used to give us a view of the greenhouse space on the first floor. They sawed around the window frame to loosen the window. Then, two strong workers took the window out. This happened VERY FAST. After that, a masonry crew laid cement block in each of the openings. Using block and grout from the same company that supplied it in 1983, the match with the older block is pretty close. It looks great, but it does mean that we no longer have any natural light coming in the south wall of the building. This is only temporary, however, as there will be light coming in through windows in the study area being built in the former greenhouse space. We just cannot see this yet.

Friday, March 12, the library closed early (again) because the electrical crews had to relocate power and heating conduit from the first floor office area. This was necessary so that the roof to that space (southwest corner of the building) can be removed. It should come off this week and then crews will place structural steel for the second floor. Watch for these changes.

Susan

The Demolition Continues

Well, it has been a while since our last post. We have been scrambling to keep the library operating (you know, helping students, providing library materials - all that important stuff), while at the same time packing to move. As of last Friday (Feb. 26) we relocated all of technical services, including office space for three librarians and our storage area. What a HUGE job that was. But, we made it. For the past few days we have been trying to find several things that have been packed who-knows-where???

While this has been happening, the renovation continues. You can see the second floor at the east end of the addition and now the second floor of the central part of the addition is taking shape. Notice that the ceiling will be the same beautiful wood we currently have.

Crews have been working on the interior of the addition. Archways and doors have been cut through from the existing building to the new building and there are some interior walls rising in the new space. We cannot see much of this because our window view from inside the library has disappeared. The communications and English faculty have a ringside seat now, including all the noise and fumes. See more photos on our Flickr link.

The demolition crews arrived on Monday, March 1 and immediately gutted the technical services space we vacated the previous Friday. Walls came down, ceiling was removed and they are now cutting holes in order to place the steel to support the second floor. It is so loud that we can hardly stand it at times. We have brought out the earplugs again and students are using them.

This Friday (March 5) we will close at noon so that computer services can relocate half of the library building's computer connections. Unfortunately, these connections are in the part that must be demolished. This involves cutting all the connections, relocating the fiber optic cable, switches and rack. Then, every connection must be reconnected AND tested. Alan says there are about 35 connections to relocate. WOW! What a lot of work. We do appreciate it.

Susan

Can you see the progress?

Appearances indicate that workers are making great progress on the library project. Exterior walls keep rising - at this point the second floor walls are almost complete on the southeast corner of the building. And, they have begun some work on the inside of the existing building. Yesterday they took out another exterior window. This is an amazing feat to watch as they "pop" out the old window (8 feet wide by nearly 5 feet high) and replace it with a plywood barrier. No broken glass, no mess, but a bit heart-stopping. They also began building a barrier wall on the inside of the second floor. This will protect library users as the workers remove cement blocks to create the openings for the storage room and tutoring center. Sadly, the wall will block our "bird's eye view" of the construction.

We Have Floors (at least one)

Lots has been happening in the past two weeks. The mechanical room (on the east side of the project) has been sealed again. The roof was off for a scary couple of weeks, as the snow fell and the wind blew. With plenty of plastic sheeting and a really dedicated crew, the snow did not cause any damage. The structural steel was placed and last week, the concrete slab for the floor/ceiling was poured. After that, the crews erected more scaffolding and they are raising the walls for the new second floor above the mechanical room. And, happily, the mechanical room (the heart of the building) is under cover again.

At the same time, they have been placing steel beams for the floor/ceiling in the center part of the addition (formerly the greenhouse). By the end of this week, they hope to pour the concrete slab so that this section will also have a ceiling. Then, the second floor masonry work will proceed there, as well.

We had a slight inconvenience on Monday, when some electrical work unexpectedly took out the power for part of the computer lab and our two public printers. It was a shock to everyone. We rerouted the students to another lab on campus for printing and the electricians got power back on in a matter of minutes.

Pictures on Flickr show how fast the exterior walls are moving. They also show the huge amount of structural steel the building needs. When we are putting our entire book collection in the new second floor, we don't want the building to "fall down," so we are happy to see so much steel. It is amazing how heavy books on shelves are!

The Wall Is Going Up

It is a bit hard to tell because most work is behind plastic, but the masonry crew is laying block for the south wall of the addition. In addition, there is no longer a roof on the mechanical room and former classroom area. Let's hope we don't get a big snow storm until they get that under cover again.

Yes, there was an electrical outage yesterday (January 18), but, NO, it was not caused by the library construction. It was a planned outage so that PPS could replace the transformer that keeps electric flowing to most of the campus buildings. You can probably blame the library renovation on many things (smells, sounds, longer walks, etc.) but not this time.

Be sure to check out the new photos on Flickr. You can get a better look at what is happening.

Susan

Concrete and More Demo

Today, Groathouse laid a concrete slab for the new addition. It was pretty hard to see because they had to do it in a plastic tent to protect the concrete from the cold. There is a concrete slab under there, however. Seeing the rebar laid out took me back to one of my pre-library jobs as a reinforcing bar detailer.

At the same time, our friends from Brisco are back and taking off the roof (membrane and insulation) of the existing mechanical room on the east side of the building. This is tricky because they are working above all the electrical, heating/cooling, and water units for our building. One false move ... However, these guys are REALLY good, so we don't expect it to be smoky, dusty, cold, or wet. After they complete this delicate work, things will look more interesting, at least from the exterior.

Word from the site superintendent is that the erector company will arrive later this week and begin to place the structural steel for the columns, beams, and decking. This will show us how big the new building will look. Be sure to wander by the site late in the week or on the weekend and check it out.

Susan

New Addition Emerges - Slowly

During the last two weeks of 2009, electricians and plumbers have been working inside the existing library to relocate many wires and pipes so that work on the new addition can begin. This work has meant that we have been without lights, computers, and heat (although they provided supplementary heat so the pipes wouldn't freeze), as well as water for some parts of many days. We have water back, but there are still some areas that do not have electricity. Right now, we don't have any Mac computers available for use because the electrical plugs needed are not live. By the end of this week, all that should be behind us (we hope!)

Outside to the south, crews have been working to do site preparation so that they can begin laying concrete for piers, footings, and slabs. Once they have clearance to lay concrete, they will. Then we can say the new building has truly begun.

Stay tuned early next week because the roof on the mechanical room (east) may be taken off. It the weather does not get as cold and snowy as predicted, Brisco will be back to remove this roof. Then, as structural steel is moved into place, we should be able to see the building's new outline.

Susan

Work Moves Inside

Just about the time the weather warms up, workmen (I haven't seen any women on this project, except for our lead architect, Karen) move inside.

This week and next, they are relocating several electrical conduits that are too low for the new space. In order to do this, they must turn off electricity to various parts of the existing building. Good thing we are closed! Library staff has been able to work around the electrical outages and the workers continue to be very considerate in keeping us informed as to what they are doing.

With the holidays, they will have some short weeks, but work will continue. By January 4, the BIG electrical outages should be behind us. We will have a few small areas where power will be out for a few hours, but that shouldn't inconvenience anyone too much.

We may also see concrete work beginning on the footings for the new building. Let's hope the weather stays nice.

Susan

Demo Continues

Brisco, the demolition company, is making great progress on removing the exterior brick from the south face of the building. Because of the noise, they will work on the ground floor level, south side (around the first floor windows) on Thursday and Friday. By the weekend, they may have most all of the brick gone.

The brick must be removed so they can cut through the cement block walls.

Juniper bushes on the west side of the building have already been removed. Soon, the junipers on the east side will be cut down. Since these are thirty-plus years old, it is time for some new greenery and it will make working in that area more efficient for the construction crews.

While the noise continues in the library, it has been bearable. When they run the jackhammers to break up concrete in the greenhouse area, the building shakes. We have been assured not to worry, as the concrete removal is not attached to the library building.

Susan

Noisy, noisy, noisy

The noise levels have been increasing inside and outside the library. As the demolition continues, things will be more uncomfortable for several days. Unfortunately, this is right during end-of-semester crunch time. In order to get the construction finished by July, the contractors need to work at this time.

The demolition crew will finish taking down the steel support system of the greenhouse today and tomorrow. They will also begin to remove the exterior brick, so this will mean lots of chipping and pounding. The noise meter at the entrance to the library is currently in the orange zone and set at "Rockin'." We may reach the red zone (the ultimate) later today, sad to say.

Kudos to the demo crew and their supervisor. They have been very cautious as they work around the library's southfacing windows so that they don't break glass or otherwise endanger library users. We have had to block off (temporarily, we hope) some of the study area on the south wall of the second floor. Some tables and chairs have been relocated so students still have space to work.

The sub-zero temperatures of the past week have been hard on the crew, but they are pretty resilient. They work 45 minutes outside and then go into the old greenhouse classroom (it is still heated) for a 15 minute warm up. The weather is supposed to warm a bit, beginning today, so that should make their work go more smoothly.

The workers end their shift at 5:30 p.m. each day, so the library is back to normal noise levels all evening.

Susan

Wrecking Jackhammers Are Working

On Saturday morning, the demolition crew began dismantling brick arches and the inside of the greenhouse. By Sunday afternoon, the arches were gone. While it looked simple, work did cause a bit of inconvenience in the library when the heavy duty tools threw a breaker and temporarily took out a bank of pc and Mac computers. Those computers were back up and running by opening on Sunday.

Today, crews have been disconnecting electrical, mechanical, and water systems in the greenhouse. This is tricky because not everything is self-contained. Separating the greenhouse from the library is like cutting the umbilical cord or undocking the space shuttle from the space station. Most times it goes smoothly; other times it doesn't. We lost water in the entire building for about 90 minutes today, while they drained a hose line in the greenhouse. The crew worked fast so we were inconvenienced just a little.

Alan, from computer services, is currently stringing fiber optic cable so we can relocate the Mac computers and Tutor Trac kiosk tomorrow morning. Physical plant has helped move an office unexpectedly when we discovered that a water line went right over file cabinets.

Susan

Fences and No Action?

So, the fences went up, a few pieces of equipment arrived, but no real action. Has nothing been happening? Actually, yes, there has been some activity, but nothing we can see.

Last week, TERRACON from Billings did asbestos testing. Great news! There isn't any to worry about in the library so we won't be delayed by abatement.

According to Groathouse, the demolition contractor hopes to begin removal of the brick arch and greenhouse on Friday (December 4) or Saturday (December 5). So we should see something resembling renovation very soon.

We've had some rumblings on our roof today and I assume it isn't an early visit from Santa Claus. Probably some reconnaissance activity for later in the week, I am guessing.

Susan