22 November 2007

 

TOWN HALL PROGRESS NOVEMBER 2007

In the 11th week of the contract O’Brien Construction is making excellent headway both externally and internally.

 

All the existing roofs have now been repaired and are ready to finish slating, along with the lead fitters who have just completed recovering the flat roof above the main hall with three tonnes of new lead. They could not start this until the front elevation roof was made safe by installing extra steelwork to support the ageing timbers between the Clerestory gables.

 

The lead work to the front elevation is almost complete and ready for connection to the rainwater pipes.  Some lead soaker work is still required to the gable skew stones which have to be re-bedded to make them safe.  These stones are also being pinned and strapped back to the roof timbers to ensure added stability. 

 

The roofs to the rear of the building have been erected and made ready for slating.

 

The gable dormer above the lift shaft has been installed, the plant room and escape stair walls have been built and roofed over. The kitchen and office gable has been built, and the glaziers are busy installing the new patent glass panels over the new gallery area (above the former council chambers).

 

Slating is progressing despite the weather recently, and is estimated at being approximately 30-35% complete.  About 90% of the external stonework has been picked, and the Scottish Lime Centre has completed a number of test panels for the rubble and Ashlar stones.  Preparations are underway to repair broken and missing Ashlar stonework by indenting, or setting-in new pieces of matching stone, all to the satisfaction of Historic Scotland.

 

The first two batches of new windows have arrived on site ready for installation, with the adjacent stonework needing to be cleaned first. The central stained glass window has been examined by a specialist, and will be removed for re-leading and reinforcement works shortly.

 

Internally there is a lot of work happening, with mechanical fitters installing air-con and heating ducts, electricians fitting containment trays and first fix cabling, and plumbers routing pipes.  Joiners have nearly completed strapping all the internal walls ready for insulation and cladding with plaster board and approximately 30% of new ground floor ceilings are now up.

 

All the main steel to the mezzanine floors are in, floor joists are fitted and floored.  The steel stairs to the rear fire escapes and mezzanine are now being fabricated locally. 

 

The lift shaft has reached roof height and the masons are preparing to install the lifting beam and concrete roof slab.

 

There are between 28 – 35 men working on this site at any given time.
 
Updated photographs showing the project progress will be placed on the website gallery on a regular basis.

 

The Caithness Horizons board of directors have also held their first board meeting in the new office and storage facility, which is now open at 66 Princes Street in Thurso.