Rounding the Shear Wall

12/1/20

Your construction crew had a conversation about response options to virus numbers across the state. We decided to continue working in small groups, wear masks, wash our hands, and use sanitizer. Normal workdays are still Monday and Tuesday 9-1 PM, however individuals can come and work at any time as long as work follows our general plan. In this manner we hope to continue making progress while keeping safe. We all recognize the risk and hope to minimize it using this format.

This week we rounded the shear wall with George, Gene, and Doug setting L girders along the walls of the south room. George did the bulk of the work and Doug and Gene provided help as needed. Today we all got together and hefted Corvallis in place. It fit nicely with very little modification. 

George works on south room L girders as Doug picks up the last pieces of  what was once a large pile of cut-offs.

Doug has concentrated efforts in Eagle Cove and Eagle Point and it shows. The area behind the roundhouse has been framed in and the sawmill has moved into that area. Track re-alignment is developing around Eagle Point and will be spectacular when complete.   It will be clinging to a cliff, jumping across a small bay on trestlework and finally landing on its original alignment near where the old sawmill  used to be. 

I framed in the area where the paper mill and chip yard will be. While working on that I was able to provide access to a window and set up for Eddyville to be installed. This framing will support lower level access to Red Rock as well as upper level access to the staging yard. This framing had to be all new because it didn’t exist on the old layout.   Another big effort today was picking up all the small chunks of plywood that develop during a significant rebuild like this. We had a substantial pile in the middle of the south room and also a large box next to the chop saw. We dumped it into my truck and I was going to take it to the burn pile at the ranch. After considering the number of screws and nails in this stuff, I decided to take it to Coffin Butte Landfill. This will reduce the number of holes in the horses feet and the amount of time I’d have to spend pulling them out and treating them. It also enhances domestic tranquility between the barn boss and myself. 

The east end of Corvallis is now in place. Notice the gap between the two layout  chunks. This will be filled in once we know the  exact location of the Corvallis chunk.

A word about setting chunks of the old layout in place is appropriate here. We carefully calculate where L girders will be needed to support our layout chunks and then install these girders complete with spacers and stabilizing braces. These are then carefully leveled with reference to the perimeter L girder on the wall. The layout chunk is then lifted into place and aligned. Most times this alignment process requires  tweaking the ends of chunks to change angles or add/subtract length. Once this is complete we screw from the L girder up into stringers of the layout chunk. 

There was once a wall on this end of Eagle Point but Doug and Gene hatched up a pretty nice scenic detail to round off the end of this peninsula.

A closer view of the roundhouse back and new location for sawmill. This area did not exist on the old layout as there was a wall here. That’s why the back wall of the roundhouse was left off.

Framing for the paper mill and chip yard.  Blank area to the right of new framing will be the 43” aisle in front of Red Rock and staging yard. There is an access hatch right in front of the window.