Hutchinson First Church of the Nazarene Construction Update

Today, the footings were finished, and all the pier caps in the middle of the building were poured. One more step completed, 1,000 more to go! Next week the plumbing will be laid out, as well as some of the electrical lines that will be in the slab. If everything goes to schedule, the slab will be poured one week from Monday (June 26). Then we wait for steel. And wait. And wait... ... ...

Today's Picture Gallery (25 pictures)

Things were moving today! Early this morning Voegeli Concrete Construction started working on the pier caps and grade beams. A back hoe with a narrow bucket would dig where the footings would be poured, carefully removing the sand and LVCS from around the rebar found on the top of each of the piers. The back hoe operator is so exact it reminds me of someone using their hands to dig in the dirt, allowing their fingers to go between each metal bar. Only pretend your hand is 5 feet long and 18 inches wide!
After the footing was dug, more rebar forms were placed in the holes, and awaited the 3:00PM appointment with the cement truck. After thick, pink foam insulation sheets were placed on the inside of the footings, the entire hole was then filled with cement and leveled off. It looks like about 3/4ths of the outside of the building was finished today.
Nathan with Kenney's Electric was back, and he and his crew started working on running the electricity from the existing building to the new one. In case you wondering about the path for the conduit, it's going outside.

By the way - the biggest construction project I have ever been involved with is building my boys a sand box in the back yard. If you have any corrections or would like to tell me what something is called (in order to help me sound half way intelligent), please leave me a comment and let me know what I can change or improve!

Today's Picture Gallery (21 pictures)

Today was another slow day. Kenney's Electric started installing the new "Exit" signs inside the existing building. This is due to the fact that you can no longer exit the south entrance, so traffic must be directed towards another exit. As soon as the new exit signs are installed, a temporary wall will be built blocking the south exit (and blocking the view - rats!).
Dan Link from Landmark Architects is still determining the best path for the electrical feed from the existing building to the new building. The easiest/cheapest route would be to the boiler room, then outside along the east wall of the gym. Dan is concerned that this might cause problems when we go to build the youth/teen building. He doesn't want to be prohibited from putting footings/pilings where he needs to due to the fact that there is a buried electrical conduit there. The other route is through the gym loft. This will be much more difficult to run, as well as partially block some walkways/stairways. Hmm... A real nail biter! Which way? Which way???
Tomorrow the pier caps and grade beams should start being poured.

Last night's rain has postponed the pier caps and footings being poured until Wednesday. Nathan Warner was out with Kenney's Electric deciding the best way to route the 3" electrical conduit from the existing power supply (on the north side of the east entrance) to the new building.