Back to the Future

I missed it! I had been watching the downtown University area location where Turner Construction was building something. I had watched the pile driving and the pouring of the footings. I had seen the electricians and plumbers doing their underground work. What kind of building was going up here? I didn’t know and didn’t really care; I was simply interested in the work itself.

A retired construction worker. A sidewalk superintendent. That’s what I am. And I had missed the arrival and the erection of the steel frame. Darn! Back in the day; the steel arriving meant that the job was really on its way. There would soon be form and substance to the project. And so there is and I missed it.

There are still some miscellaneous pieces to be placed, but the substantial frame work is complete. The building has been ‘rattled’ and the decking spread and pinned. Edge angle and support clips will be welded into place pretty soon. Nelson studs will be welded through the deck and into the beams. Once the deck has an edge and all of the mesh and utilities are in place; concrete will be poured.

This is the stage of construction where I was usually called to get a crew on the site and get busy. There would be support clips to weld on the outside edge of the frame. And once the concrete was poured on the floor of the second story, our fireproofers could begin to spray Monokote on the beams and columns that supported that floor. We would follow the concrete on up the building, always just one floor behind.

Obviously I need to pay more attention...