One Life Blog » Construction

Ralph Weitz Presents Building Construction Update

ronh — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:19:35 +0000

As chairman of the Building Committee I want you to join us in celebrating the beginning of construction. This is a great celebration and I invited some friends to help us celebrate. It has been over 7 years since the elders appointed the Building Committee, and frankly, we thought we would be out of a job by now! We can blame the delays on the county, funding, etc., but the reality is that we are on God’s schedule.

In order to design the building and meet the needs of the congregation, we surveyed all the ministry leaders and conducted two sets of ministry leader interviews. The committee visited churches and schools in order to see how new construction was being used to meet the changing needs.

Our committee selected the firm Helbing/Lipp – Engineering and architects. Helbing Lipp is one of the top architect firms inNorthern Virginia. We also selected Jack Bays Inc. as our general contractor. Jack Bays Inc. is one of the leading contractors in the Northern Virginia area.

After the Jack Bays Inc. bid was accepted, they went to their subcontractors and said, “Let’s review all the bids to make sure everything is covered.” They examined the bids line-by-line. They reduced their bid by about $1,000,000. Lynn Bays said to me, “Ralph, that never happens. It always goes up.” I said, “This is God’s timing.”

Walls Are Going Up

ronh — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:11:59 +0000

If you have driven past the construction site sometime this past week, you will have noticed a great deal of activity up on the new second floor. Steel framing creating the outside walls are nearly all in place. Concrete block infill and firewalls are going up. The shape of the interior rooms has been layed out on the cement floor. Even the windows looking down into the atrium are now recognizable.

Steel Goes Up

ronh — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:25:11 +0000

Exciting day here at Immanuel. The steel support beams arrived and already the outlines of the new building are beginning to take shape. Take a look at the photo gallery for more images. We will post video on the site in a couple of days.

Repairs to Metal Roofpan Underway

ronh — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:33:45 +0000

Repairs to the metal pan of the B-wing 2nd story floor are being made and the pour of the new concrete floor for the second story is scheduled for Wednesday, August 19. Strengthening of the 1st floor walls has been completed and the vertical steel construction should start over the next couple of weeks.

The Glass Breezeway has been removed except for the awning portion leading to the parking lot. The roof will be reconnected to the new Breezeway.

The modifications to the interior water and gas systems are in process and should be completed before the end of the month. New electrical power conduits are in place and the service from Dominion Power should be installed once the new switchgear arrives, is installed, and inspected.

With the concrete pour of the 2nd story floor, the cap to the fire separation stair area will also be poured and the hall doors leading from the B-Wing to the Gym will be ready for installation. Ttemporary walls have been installed in the 1st and 2nd floors of the C-Wing where the new Breezeway will ultimately connect. We are maximizing efforts to get the C-Wing modifications finished this summer before the beginning of the school year.

Glass Breezeway Coming Down

ronh — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:10:32 +0000

This week saw a lot of activity here at the Immanuel site. Courtyard walls which had been taken out last week have had the new masonry put in and the window openings established. The Glass Breezeway is nearly demolished: the green mansard roof has been removed, columns are gone, and the glass storefront windows have been removed. In the C-Wing (school), work continues on the classroom off the breezeway. When completed, the classroom will become a hallway open to the Glass Breezeway 2nd floor corridor.

Mansard Roofing Removed

ronh — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:09:05 +0000

This week has seen a good deal of progress. The green steel mansard roof has been removed from the B-Wing in preparation for building the 2nd story. This construction should start when the structural steel arrives, scheduled for August 3. Next week, strengthening of the 1st floor walls will be started. The rubber roof membrane will be removed in order to allow repairs to the 2nd floor steel pan and make it ready for the concrete pour of the floor.

The six large foundation footing wells for the Glass Breezeway have been refilled, and concrete floor poured back to the normal Breezeway level. These foundations are ready to accept installation of steel support components for the new two-story Glass Breezeway once the structural steel arrives.

The stairway steps to the Gym near the boys’ bathroom that were removed have been reinstalled. They were removed to install concrete footings which will support a 2nd thickness of wall between the B-Wing and the Gym, providing a 3-hour fire rating.

Windows and doors on the center courtyard side of the B-wing are being filled in and new smaller windows installed to allow light from the atrium area to enter the interior B-wing rooms. Special lintels are being made to go over the windows. Exterior (courtyard-side) walls are being rebuilt and filled with concrete and steel to support the columns that will go upward to provide support for the 2nd story wall and roof structures.

B-Wing Construction Walkthru

ronh — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:59:23 +0000

Recently we walked thru the B-Wing construction area. This video shows some of the construction that has been taking place along with the removal of the mansard roofing over the B-Wing.

Sewer Line Installation Completed

ronh — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:03:23 +0000

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).

Glass Breezeway Demolition

ronh — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:05:59 +0000

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.

Watching the Webcam

ronh — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:16:50 +0000

With the unusual amounts of rain that we have had over the past week, outdoor construction has slowed on the B-Wing modifications.

This past week, the fire sprinkler water utility line was put in up to the interior of the building where the special room will be located for the fire suppression manifold. The final inspections by the county plumbing inspector and fire marshal and system pressure test are all scheduled for Friday, May 29. Workers have been digging a trench across our parking lot and installing the new sewer line this past week, getting ready to connect to the county main under Backlick Road. We are waiting VDOT approval to actually cut the asphalt in the street to finalize the connection. This is tentatively scheduled for the first week of June.

Measurements have been taken to enable finalization of structural steel shop drawings so that steel manufacturing may begin for the second story and the new two-story Glass Breezeway. Next week, some interior demolition of the Glass Breezeway will occur to expose the ceiling area so that we can access wiring and piping presently going through the Breezeway between buildings. The actual tear down of the present Breezeway will be done shortly after Immanuel Christian School is out for the summer.

Also next week, interior masonry work to reinforce walls, construct new walls, and put in new doorways should begin. Some wall construction is dependent on sub-floor soil tests to insure stability of the floor and walls of the B-wing portion nearest the present Victorian Courtyard.