{"id":134296,"date":"2020-06-19T08:08:58","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T12:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=134296"},"modified":"2026-02-18T22:57:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T03:57:45","slug":"campus-construction-update-june-19-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2020\/06\/19\/campus-construction-update-june-19-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Campus Construction Update: June 19, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sometimes a celebration is just a party, a little event that’s nice but nevertheless removed from the greater scheme of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And sometimes it’s more \u2014 as in the case of the \u201ctopping-off\u201d that brought a few dozen people to the Bonney Science Center construction site on June 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\nProduced by Theophil Syslo with additional video by Michelle Holbrook-Pronovost and H. Jay Burns.<\/em><\/span>\n
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In a typical topping-off, harking back to medieval Scandinavian tradition, an evergreen branch or tree is mounted to the girder (or brick or wooden beam) whose placement will end one chapter in a construction project and begin the next. The idea is to bring good luck to the new building, and maybe some public recognition to the folks involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bonney topping-off, though, had a symbolic or at least emotional heft out of proportion to the little tree, lent by Facility Services, that was mounted on the girder that would complete the facility’s steel frame. For one thing, it was the first time some participants, including Campus Construction Update, had seen Bates colleagues in the (appropriately covered and distanced) flesh since COVID-19 had descended three months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Images
Dave Thomas of Consigli Construction \nsigns the final piece of structural steel for the Bonney Science Center. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But the greater scheme of things relating to the event was explicated in remarks by Michael Bonney \u201980, who with Alison Grott \u201980, his wife, made the lead gift for the science center three years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is our sincere hope that for the decades to come, the students and faculty who come through [the science center] include the folks who figure out how to deal with our most vexing problems,\u201d said Michael, who retired from the Bates Board of Trustees in 2019 after 17 years as a trustee and nine years as chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He named just three problems, but those were enough: \u201cClimate change. The assault on humanity by viruses, and microbes more broadly. And frankly, because this center is located in this campus and our history, also social justice. Because the kids who come through here will have to go through all these other buildings\u201d \u2014 Bonney pointed toward the central campus \u2014 \u201cand think about the world differently.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Michael Bonney \u201980 greets a friend just before the June 16 topping-off celebration for the Bonney Science Center. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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President Clayton Spencer offers a few remarks to begin the June 16 Bonney Science Center topping-off event. At left are lead project donors Michael Bonney \u201980 and\nAlison Grott Bonney \u201980. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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Dave Thomas of Consigli Construction \nsigns the final piece of structural steel for the Bonney Science Center. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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Wearing its ceremonial evergreen, the final beam is maneuvered by crane toward the Bonney Center. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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Bates project manager Chris Streifel, left, and college treasurer Geoff Swift watch as the beam approaches its destiny. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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Steelworkers and other members of the Bonney construction crew observe the topping-off event from a shady spot by the building. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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A steelworker keeps his eye on the approaching beam. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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Receiving the beam. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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A steelworker guides the beam into place at one end. (Jay Burns\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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\"Bolts

Bolts will be snug-tightened to keep the steel in place, and the connection will be torqued to specifications later. (Jay Burns\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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\"Signatures

Signatures on the beam, now set in place. (Jay Burns\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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Alison Grott Bonney ’80 and Michael Bonney ’80 applaud as the installation of the final piece of steel is completed. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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Against the backdrop of vexing problems, the topping-off itself was a reassuring example of something done not just right but elegantly. After the remarks by Bonney and Bates President Clayton Spencer, the beam was signed by event participants \u2014 Spencer and other Bates people, representatives of project management firm Consigli Construction, and folks from architecture firm Payette, which designed the Bonney building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then a telescoping-boom Terex crane hoisted the beam to its destiny, a point on the building front over what will be an eye-catching glass-walled stairway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crane operator Roger Robbins of American Aerial Services fired up the Terex around 3:21 p.m. At 3:35, steelworker Lisandro Bonilla of Precision Steel concluded the topping-off, to applause, by sliding down a different beam and unfastening the lift line from the new one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In between, Robbins floated the beam along Campus Avenue toward Bonilla and other steelworkers, who guided it home and snug-tightened bolts to hold it in place. (Torquing the girder to design specs came later.)<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"From
From left, Consigli carpenter Chad Chalmers and job site foreman Shannon Kenney attach the ceremonial evergreen to the topping-off beam. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In all, pretty neat. “They did two dry runs,\u201d noted Jacob Kendall, Bates construction administrator for the project. We were glad we wore a necktie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Spencer had opened the Topping-Off Celebration (a small gathering because of COVID-19 constraints on attendance) with a quick address. “This is an enormous gift and we are so grateful,\u201d she told the Bonneys. \u201cAnd it is so cool to see it rising out of the ground and now heading toward the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said, \u201cIf ever there were a time when we actually know we need science, and intensive research, and informed expertise, that would be right now. So the timing of this is impeccable.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Vierendeel we truss<\/strong>: The topping-off recognized the completion of the center’s essential construction, and in so doing also marked the halfway point, more or less, of progress at the building site. Construction itself will be done in about a year, but it will take plenty more work to ready the facility for its scheduled August 2021 opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, back here in 2020, there’s still a bit of steelwork outstanding \u2014 placing some components, completing roof decking, truing up connections and tightening them to specification. \u201cWe’d love to just be able to put the very last beam in and say, \u2018Hey, that’s it!\u2019 But that’s not how it usually works out,\u201d explains Chris Streifel, the Bates project manager for the Bonney center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gray turns to blue: “Blueskin” weatherproofing application has begun. Bricks will follow. Note the opening for the building entrance at center: The wall above it functions as a so-called vierendeel truss. (Geoff Swift\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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About two hours before the event, here’s the location of the final beam for the Bonney Science Center, placed on June 16 at the topping-off celebration: The beam will slant from the flanges at top center to the junction of steel and concrete toward the bottom. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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On June 12, a steelworker perched on a just-placed beam looks to a co-worker for a signal. (Geoff Swift\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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Tending to fourth-story concrete on June 5. (Geoff Swift\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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The pumper is standing by to place wall concrete and Consigli employees are in position at the top of the wall forms in this June 5 view. (Geoff Swift\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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Building walls and running utilities on the first floor of the Bonney Science Center. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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From right to left, the Bonney Science Center, Chu Hall and Kalperis Hall are shown from the edge of the Historic Quad. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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A welder fastens steel roof decking into place on June 8. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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Galvanized for protection against the weather, these beams on an exposed section of the Bonney center penthouse floor will support a chiller and a generator. (Doug HubleyBates College)<\/p><\/div>

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An HVAC exhaust unit recently hoisted to the Bonney center penthouse. The plastic helps keep dust and debris out of the works. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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Steelworkers confer atop the roof decking. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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Jacob Kendall, Bates construction administrator for the Bonney project, surveys the fourth floor \u2014 aka the penthouse \u2014 on May 20. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>

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Another June 16 view of the penthouse. The elevator shaft will rise between the tented area and the skylight at left. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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Blueskin on the western wall of the Bonney center. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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How do you get the \u2019crete to hold those pointy contours? The science center seen from Campus Avenue on May 20. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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If Tuesday’s celebration was \u201cthe formal recognition of the completion of the structure,\u201d he says, \u201cthe actual completion of the structure should be next week when the steel effort demobilizes and the concrete crew demobilizes. That will be huge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The end of the structural steel and concrete phase, incidentally, activates an invisible but essential function of the Bonney building’s south face. We’ve told you how steel and concrete walls, floors, and load-bearing columns<\/a> interact to carry the building’s weight down to the foundation and distribute other stresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in the middle of that south wall at ground level is a 50-foot opening that will become a building entrance. That represents a break in the stress-bearing capacity of the wall, compensated now with temporary steel supports in the basement and in that future entrance. And the final steel and concrete placements bring to fruition a surprising load-bearing system centered on the wall itself: Specially supported from both sides and the roof framework, the wall becomes a so-called vierendeel truss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Named for the Belgian engineer who confounded peers by designing a truss with no diagonal forms, which are what make a truss a truss, the vierendeel concept comprises rectangular forms designed to resist stresses. The rectangles in this case of the Bonney center are\u2026the windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The pumper is standing by to place wall concrete and Consigli employees are in position at the top of the wall forms in this June 5 view. Note the opening at ground level: A future building entrance, this space is temporarily filled with steel supports that will be removed when the vierendeel truss is ready to carry the weight. (Geoff Swift\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe concrete itself is the vierendeel truss, but it relies on the steel framing, structural slabs, and roof deck for additional strength and stability,\u201d explained Julia Hogroian and Michael Tecci, engineers working on the Bates project for the Massachusetts structural engineering firm Simpson Gumpertz & Herger. In addition, there’s more rebar than usual embedded in the concrete throughout the vierendeel area and especially at the top of the wall.
 
So what about the last of the structural concrete, for which no one will give speeches, wear neckties, or make champagne toasts? Scheduled for Wednesday, the final placements will top off the science center’s east wall, facing Bardwell Street, along with smaller sections around the fourth-story \u201cpenthouse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A slump in our reporting<\/strong>: Finally, completion of the exterior walls and roof steel has made even more obvious a defining characteristic of Payette’s design: the prominent use of angles, some shallow and others sharp, across roof and facade. That has necessitated a number of slanting, even downright pointy contours atop the concrete walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
How do you get the \u2019crete to hold those pointy contours? (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But if fresh concrete is fluid enough to be pumped through a hose (but not the garden hose, as we learned to our dismay), how do you get it to hold a slope while it cures?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Techniques differ according to need, explained Dan Deschenes, an assistant superintendent and concrete specialist for Consigli. A key tactic is adjusting the \u201cslump,\u201d the viscosity of the concrete mix, by decreasing the proportion of water. Then, for a shallow slope, a mechanical vibrator and other tools are applied to condition and contour the \u2019crete while it firms up. For a steep slope, the \u2019crete is held in place with a board or other restraint capping the top of the form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other Bonney center news, the application of Blueskin vapor-blocking film began during the week of June 8. In general, this is a sign that a building’s exterior covering-up will soon begin. Sure enough, bricklayers from Maine Masonry arrive next week to set up their impressive Hydro Mobile staging, which goes up and down under its own power, if not by its own free will. Placement of the bricks \u2014 which, by the way, are produced from local clay by Morin Brick, across the Androscoggin River in Auburn \u2014 will continue through the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another kind of weather barrier will also show up soon, this time for the roof. While that layer will become part of the permanent roof cladding, it is not the final covering \u2014 which we’ll tell you about in a future installment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As the time drew closer for the Bonney center topping-off, at the other end of campus site work for Veterans Plaza was in its second day. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Inside the building, from the basement on up, the work of plumbers, electricians, drywall hangers, mechanical engineers, sheet-metal workers, carpenters, and more rolls on. On the third floor, the conclusion of steel placement means that the pace that interior work can shift up a gear or two. Why? Because it’s a four-story building, and the rule is that there must be two floor slabs between flying steel and ongoing work, to protect the workers in case steel is dropped. (You do the math.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, along with the final steel, chillers and exhaust-air handlers have already been hoisted to the penthouse, where they sit wrapped in protective plastic and awaiting installation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can we talk<\/strong>? Campus Construction Update welcomes queries and comments about current, past, future, and imaginary construction at Bates. Write to dhubley@bates.edu<\/a>, putting \u201cCampus Construction\u201d or \u201cWill someone have to get into the attic to water that poor little tree?\u201d in the subject line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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