If you will remember, we had several very large trees that were removed early in the construction project. But the wood was salvaged to be crafted into furniture for the chancel area.


The wood was taken to a sawmill near Charlotte, and the logs were sawed into long planks.  The lumber is curing now. A team of church members consisting of Walt Roth, Dennis Leffler and Roger Szymczyk is monitoring the curing process and working on the design of the chancel furniture. When the wood is ready, they will begin handcrafting the furnishings.

One of the sideline activities that is ongoing at the construction site is testing. There has been soil testing as the foundation trenches were dug, and in this picture a technician is preparing samples of the concrete being poured in the background. These samples will be tested for curing and durability.

                 

"X" marks the spot! Or in this case, maybe it is a Celtic cross! Where the red "X" is in the middle of this pictures is an "X" shaped foundation pit. This is directly beneath the steeple. Now of course, the dirt level here is the lower level, but if this were the upper level worship space, the "X" would be right in the middle under the steeple.

And the most exciting news this week.....!!!

We have some vertical concrete walls!!!

In Genesis 28, Jacob lays his head upon a stone to sleep, and the Lord appeared to him in a dream.

"Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place---and I did not know it.' And he was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.'" (Genesis 28:16-17)

We also have come from a dream of the new building into the reality of dirt and concrete and equipment, and it's a little scary and expensive. But as walls grow, and steel beams define shape in the weeks ahead, it will become awesome. "This is none other than the house of God..." Thanks be to God!

Something new and vertical has appeared on the construction site! It is a sample board, and during the next week samples of the various building materials that will be used for the building will be mounted on this board for display.

Large machines and tools are handy,  but so many tasks on the site come down to manual labor. The reinforcing rods in the foundation are laid and tied together by hand.








Even the careful spacing between rods is measured and marked so that the resulting grid pad is precise.





If you don't think that this will be a big building, here is a little perspective.

The view in this picture is taken from just outside where the elevator door eventually will be looking towards the doorway that will connect the new building with the Ministy Center. Don't those two doors look like they are a long way away?

The deep foundations on the Ministry Center side of the new building are complete. Work has started on the remaining deep foundations on the Mammoth Oaks Drive side.

And something else vertical has appeared! The panels for the foundation walls are being erected. There will be two parallel sets of panels built. Then concrete will be poured in the space between the panels. Once the concrete dries, the metal panels will be removed leaving a solid concrete wall standing. The mounds of dirt scattered around the site then will be moved back into the space on the outside of the walls.

Workers are forming the metal shapes that will become vertical columns once concrete is poured around them.

And last but not least! Spring arrived this week. The cherry trees are in full bloom. The sky is blue. The sun is warm. Life is good (and busy!) on the construction site.

The foundation for the front end of the new building is creeping along. The red lines on the schematic drawing of the new building show the foundations that currently are being poured.

The picture shows the actual foundations as they look today (Thursday, March 15).

Some new pieces of equipment showed up on the site. No--we are not drilling for oil! The elevator needs a pit for the hydraulic piston which raises and lowers the elevator car. The drilling rig and associated equipment were being set up as this picture was taken.

Remember the hymn The Church's One Foundation?

For the next three weeks, construction is all about the church's foundation. Pits and trenches will be dug, braced with steel reinforcement bars and then filled with concrete.

Vertical foundation walls will be built on top of these in-ground bases.

Looking ahead:

• Steel erection is scheduled to begin the week after Easter.
• Topping out of the steel superstructure is slated for the 3rd week of June.



The footprint is growing wider as more dirt is hauled away. The depth of the excavation on the Providence Road side is as deep as...well, as you can see from the picture, it's as deep as a dump truck is tall!

 

For safety reasons, the fence around the construction site has been anchored and covered on several sides with a green cover. Several exits have temporarily been closed off (with the approval of the Fire Marshall!). Watch that last step!

The most exciting thing this week is the appearance of the first recognizable feature of the new building. In the lower level diagram of the new building, look at the area marked "Youth Assembly Room". This room has a step-down floor, and the "pit" for this lower floor level was dug out this week. It now gives a reference point for the rest of the lower level floorplan.