One Life Blog

This past week, the new sewer line was installed up to the edge of Backlick Road and will be connected to the sewer main under Backlick Road by Friday, June 26. The basic interior “rough-in” connections to the new sewer line have been installed and portions of the original concrete floor that were removed will be put back in over the following week. Connection to the Gym sewage sump will be made over the next week or so, and when done, the church will be fully served by the new, larger system.

The modifications to the interior water and gas systems are still undergoing engineering evaluation for feasibility, cost savings and compatibility with planned construction phasing. The engineering should be completed by next week and modification/installation of those systems should begin.

Structural steel shop drawings have been received and reviewed and should be ready to go back to the steel manufacturer by the end of the week. We are informed that with the market as it is, we should get our steel components relatively fast compared to the lead times a year ago. Once the steel is received, the contractor will be able to proceed with second story wall and roof construction and the new two-story Glass Breezeway.

Geo-Technical testing of the earth structure under the B-Wing floor has been completed and we await the results to see what repairs are necessary before starting construction of interior walls in that area of the B-Wing (i.e. foundation and exterior walls nearest the Victorian Courtyard).

We should receive steel shop drawings for the D wing by Monday. With review and approval, our contractor expects to be fabricating the steel in early July. With that, we would start removal of the roof in early July in order to have the second story deck ready for the steel.

Construction continued this week with the installation of door frames and concrete block work around the interior doors.

We are reviewing the work in the other side of the Glass Breezeway now; we want to have all material in hand before we start so we can complete the work with no interruptions.

This past week, the fire sprinkler water utility line was tested and approved by Fairfax County and the Fire Marshal. The new sewer line was installed up to the edge of the sidewalk along Backlick Road and awaits VDOT approval to cut the asphalt and make the connection to the sewer main, hopefully by the first of next week.

Part of the interior of the existing Glass Breezeway has been removed to allow access to the enclosed pipes and superstructure in preparation for removal of the Glass Breezeway after school is out. Further demolition will resume upon a firm arrival date of the structural steel needed for reconstruction.

The electricians continue electrical and fire-alarm wiring in the first floor of the B-Wing.

Interior masonry work has begun on the first story to replace walls and install new door frames. This effort will continue over the next several weeks as first floor components and systems are installed.