Work starts

Thursday on the Broadway canopy

A poor forecast, but with a bright start. We hummed and ha-ed over whether to work, but then thought, let's give it a go and see how far we get.

This was the scene first thing this morning. The scaffolding is up, giving a large platform that extends out over P1 from which we can work. In the bottom right hand corner is the top of one of the uprights. This marks the position for the final truss to be placed, and gives you an idea of the area the last part of the canopy will cover.

This is the view from the footbridge, showing that after the scaffolders left on Wednesday, the gang managed to make a small start by taking off some of the roof panels. We want to cram in as much time as possible at the start, as we have only 2 months to complete the job, and you never know what fate might throw at you. We'd rather be a bit ahead of schedule.

 

This picture shows the panels taken off on Wednesday. Two of glass, and two of corrugated iron.

The final section to be placed will attach to the truss in the centre of the picture, so everything that is to the left of that has to be removed. That includes the short steel extensions as well.

Note the pallet on the left. This has a Dexion frame built on it which will be screwed to the wooden end panel. Once released from its bolts to the steelwork, it can then be removed on wheels. One of Neal's ideas, you can see he's been thinking about this. It worked like a charm too.

And, hey presto, the end panel is easily wheeled away!

So far the weather has been very cold (minus 4 overnight) but dry. The forecast however was dire for the afternoon so we thought we'd see how far we got.

The answer was that we got the panel off, as well as the temporary plywood sheets on the other half. Those sheets were always the giveaway that the canopy end was not all there was to come, there was more, but we had to get the station open in 2018 to start the money coming in. The plywood is parked on the left in the picture.

We also got the fabricated steel extension pieces off successfully, leaving the extensions on the second half and the rest of the timber framing still to go. We also have to cut away a small section of corbelling in the corner by the blue board. Notice how the end panel has been wheeled back into position. This is to protect the opening from wind and rain overnight.

After three hours of work the bad weather kicked off, with a strong, icy breeze, and sleet turning to rain. We were happy with what was achieved, we are more than on target at this early stage. Friday will see the rest of the preparations at Broadway, Saturday is very poor weather again, and Sunday a day of rest for the team. Monday will be at Toddington preparing the metalwork (Truss, purlins, fascia boards and roof sheets) and Tuesday is the day of the big lift and fitting, initially with bolts as in 2017. The bolts will be replaced by hot rivets shortly afterwards.