Above Ground Walls are Going up

On December 3rd and 4th, the spancrete was laid. The site has been partially backfilled. The waterproofing and backfilling should be done this week. (See picture to the left) Today they started laying the forms for the above grade walls. The above grade walls should take about 10 days to form and pour. The above grade walls, like the basement walls will be made of insulated concrete forms or ICF. ICF is a very energy efficient and environmentally friendly construction method. The picture to the right shows workers putting the forms together. For more information on ICF, go to www.forms.org

Beams are going up.

Today they are erecting the precast steel for the columns and supports.

Within the next few weeks (weather allowing) the piping for the heating system will be put in and the basement floor will be poured.

Basement Walls are Poured.

Today they poured the concrete for the basement walls. A pump truck was used to get the contrete where it needed to go because our site is so small and there are houses on each side of us. This picture shows the cement truck pouring the concrete into the pump truck. The long arm is the chute coming from the pump truck. Now that the concrete is poured, it takes about two weeks for the concrete to cure before they can lay the Spancrete.

Next week, they will be setting the steel for the columns, working on the under-floor electrical, and the piping for the HVAC (the library will have radiant heat). Then the basement floor will be poured.

Footings are complete. Next are the concrete forms.

The footings were completed today. Now they are beginning to construct on the Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) walls. ICF walls have insulation on each side of the concrete and forms are not removed once the concrete is poured. They are very energy efficient. For more information on ICFs, visit the Insulated Concrete Form Assoication's website. www.forms.org

Footings being poured

Today they are beginning to pour the footings. Excavation continues on the back side of the lot.

Excavation Continues

Excavation continues through the end of the this week. Next week they begin the footings and pouring the foundation.

The Night the Library went Batty

Ken and Barb Bowman of the Bat Conservation of Wisconsin presented a fascinating program on the Bats of Wisconsin last night. Ken and Barb talked about the 11 species of bats that live in Wisconsin, what they eat, how they live, and what to look for in a bat house.

Special thanks to the Lakes Gallery of Fine Art for allowing us to hold this library program in the gallery.

Shoring Continues

The work on shoring up the east side of the library lot is continuing. Next on the schedule is completing the excavation of the basement, working on the footings, and then forming and pouring the basement walls.

Construction Resumes!

Construction has resumed on our library addition. Currently workers are shoring up the east side of the lot. 8 beams have to be drilled into the ground and then sheets of metal are placed between the beams to hold the soil back. After the shoring is complete, then excavation can resume.