The School!
Paulette Elementary
Week 15
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Lifting the SteelI absolutely can not resist watching heavy equipment. I think it is the sign that a child still survives deep inside a man. Time and troubles erode the little boy but the chance to watch a big machine brings him back to life not unlike Frankenstein's Monster. So I'm driving by last night and saw the top of a crane sticking out of the top of the new school. This morning I finished all of the chores my wife told me to do and sped off to the building site. I must confess I did a lousy job on the chores. Most of you who read this site have noticed the first photo each week is a shot from across the road. I still took that shot but decided to use this one on the net this week. It shows an end view of the building with the roof girders going up on each side. |
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 At
the site the first thing I did was drop my dad off at the office
trailer. He said it was too hot to go stand and stare at a crane. How
can it possibly be too hot for that? I mean I didn't just get to see it
I got to touch it! I know this may sound very juvenile of me but I want
to point out the Chairman of the School Board was there looking too.What we found was a 1968 vintage Link-Belt crane being operated by Southland Erectors. It was one of the H series first to be built after the merger of FMC and Link-Belt. Link-Belt is an odd name for a crane company so we need to investigate where it came from. In the late 1800's a young man worked on his family's farm. Every time a chain broke on a  piece
of machinery they had to drag it back to the barn for repairs. At night
in his spare time this young man worked in his father's tool shed
trying to perfect a square link that could be used to repair a broken
drive chain in the field. He met with success and started the Link-Belt
company to market his universal chain link.Being able to make and size chains quickly revolutionized the industry of moving components. This same young man found uses for his links in everything from car transmissions to steering gears for airplanes after the turn of  the
century. He marketed these ready made parts as the Link-Belt machinery
company and marketed his custom designs as Link-Belt engineering. The
company started out making small cranes for the rail industry and moved
into shovels. The rest is history. It went on to be one of the most
successful crane companies in America and introduced the first
hydraulic controls.So why a 1968 crane? The fact is in my opinion because while new cranes are made little has been done better than this crane. Unlike its telescopic cousins, this crane is a fraction of the weight. The weight it saves in lifting itself can be used to lift heavier loads. It is a privilege to be able to see one of these old beasts running. And it is a testimony to a good crane company like Southland to spend the time and effort to keep it going. Yes they own newer cranes but this one is pure machine! What they are lifting now are the large inside steel pillars (Figure 1), The ones being installed in the video above are going to be the sides of the new gym. Each pillar is tied to the block of the building by I-Beam steel trusses. These trusses are connected to smaller beams at the wall and each beam is anchored into the wall.  This
crane will inch itself back one beam at a time until all are erected
and anchored to the front and back walls. Once this is done the full
length of the building the crane will be repositioned. For the next
step the crane will set up outside the building and reach over the wall
deep inside to set each individual roof truss.Inside the cab of the big crane a single man works numerous levers and foot controls. On the ground in the video you can see a man giving him hand signals. One turn of the hand and the operator knows that the people at the base of the pillar need it moved an inch. The huge machine would move ever so slightly and you would hear a thump as the beam sat down on its bolts sticking up from the concrete. Now keep in mind the man inside the crane can not see the bolt holes. It would be sort of like threading a needle using a six foot fishing pole. Also at the site this week we find the masons hard at work laying the brick exterior (Figure 2). It was amazing to me how much brick had been laid since I was last there five days ago. I was told that each mason with a good crew could lay more than 1000 brick each work  shift. Watching their assembly line I find that number quite believable.I told Mr. Beeler that I never come to the site without being amazed at how much has been accomplished in the past week. It wouldn't surprise me to one day go by and see kids going to school. After I watched for a while I slipped back inside the building to get a picture of a section of the steel that had been finished. What you see in (Figure 3) is the section behind the gym. The back square will be the framework of a classroom. The front opening between the large beam and a smaller beam will be the hallway that runs between the gym and the classrooms. It is simply amazing to watch these men work. Each has a purpose whether it be bolting steel, moving steel or laying block. My wife and I can hardly work in our kitchen without getting in each other's way. All the time I was there today I never saw one crew have to stop and wait on another. I know I have said this before but we have a first rate General Contractor in Rouse Construction hiring top notch sub-contractors to do the job. Union County is well on its way to getting a 21st century school. |
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