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Archive for March 25th, 2022

Annex 61

It’s a good thing we got a lot done in the dry weeks of February and early March, because it rained all last week and part of this one. The picture you see here was taken on March 6th, just a little over a week after last week’s shot; as you can see, the steel header was affixed to the top of the outer wall framework in order to support the three long beams which will support the purlins.  If you zoom in, you’ll probably be able to tell that the beams are not the rectangular tubing we used in the other leaves, but rather purlins rotated 90o from their typical orientation for added strength.  We decided to use them this way for two reasons, one structural and one practical.  Structurally, these beams were twice as long as the lengths of tubing; we’d have needed to weld two lengths together to bridge the distance, and the resulting beams would’ve been too heavy for safety.  The purlins were long enough and light enough, and when welded together into a truss as you see were plenty strong enough for the job, yet light enough for the structural needs.  As I welded the crosspieces into place, I could actually feel the structure becoming stronger and more rigid under me; you’ll see the picture of the completed section next week.  Practically, Grace underestimated the amount of steel tubing we’d need and overestimated the number of purlins, so it made sense to use the latter in every application where it was both feasible and safe to do so.  And while I was up there working, I came up with a way to use them for the headers on both cottage rooves; Grace approved of the idea, which you’ll see implemented in the coming weeks.

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