Wednesday 4th May
Twenty five volunteers signed in today on what turned out to be a beautiful day, close to 20c by the afternoon. The day started with the clearing of the last of the old steelwork from the footbridge and some lamp posts from platform 2. All heavy items that needed help from JC and the bobcat. With Steve on the dumper, Terry, Martin, Chris and Rod the job was finished late morning. This will now enable us to finish the back filling of platform 2.
The dagger board production line continues. At least Mike can enjoy the weather whilst painting.
You'll note a spare paint tin and brush, it belongs to ....
.... Graham, just been to fetch the brew that keeps you going.
Today saw the arrival of the scaffolders to start on the scaffolding which will enable the roofing of the footbridge. The footbridge towers were scaffolded from platform level and then a cantilever scaffold was built between them. This will leave room for vehicles to pass under whilst the scaffolding is in position.
On the station building Tony is finishing off the plinth headers on the north end of the back wall. David was helping with the fetching of materials.
John S and Bob were working on the reds at the southern end. The aim being to get the wall high enough to position some more of the window cills.
In the chippies shop, more dagger boards are being made in case the painters run out. Peter and Brian drilling the holes and Ian sanding before the painting.
During the morning we were pleased to welcome some visitors from the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. It's always nice to show off Broadway to fellow enthusiasts.
We also had a visit from the BBC, the crew are seen with Roger our chairman. They were filming a piece about the Share Issue for West Midlands News. If you missed the piece which was shown at 1830 tonight, check it out on BBC i player, it was a good piece. Although going well the share issue stills needs your support, if you can.
At the southern end Peter carried on with the footing for platform 2 slope, Clive was working on platform 1.
Paul and David have fetched window cills for the back wall of the station. Is the discussion, are they the right ones, or how do we get them over the fence?
The cills delivered Bob and JC are setting up the line to make sure they are at the right level.
Work continued on the cutting Dave B and Vic working up to the fence line. Later Terry on the brush cutter Steve and Rod joined the team. The inevitable fire made things a bit too warm.
At the end of the day the scaffolding was well advanced, but will need to go up another level.
Great work as usual guys, keep it up, a question about the station building and one that i have been wondering about since the first steels went up, why are they needed? The brickwork going up seems adequate enough to support everything, so why the need for the steels internally, Many Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI think the answer is the roof requires it - bear in mind that the roof has a massive overhang over the platform with nothing under it - it's cantilevered out from the building and the steels are in tension on the opposite side to the platform to stop it toppling over!
ReplyDeleteProviding a loadbearing steel frame also allows you to make the external walls non-loadbearing, so you can use lightweight blocks for the inner leaf to improve thermal performance, compared to the original.
ReplyDeleteIn the original construction of the buildings the walls were of solid construction in the back wall tie rods extended down to near bottom the of the wall. These rods tied the roof using the weight of the wall. The new wall are of cavity construction so the steel frame ties the roof to the foundations.
ReplyDeleteWatched BBC Midland 6.30pm news for yesterday on the BBC i-player, was quiet a good piece, well worth watching, lets hope it inspires more people to buy shares, remember the ability to watch this expires at 7.00pm today.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the camera could be angled a bit higher to give a better view. One day soon I suppose it will need re-positioning as the station building gets built.
great progress , are you telling your suppliers to invest in THE LAST MILE ,they should do so ,john M.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that this question will reveal that my building knowledge is somewhat outdated. Are there any wall ties between the outer brickwork and the inner 'thermalite' blocks ? Is insulation material like 'rockwool' placed between the inner and outer skins? Brilliant to see the progress being made.
ReplyDelete