Rising Up

Words by Chris Major

Photos by Julie Harris

On Monday 23 January, the first section of the steel frame forming the skeleton of the new LifeCentre was erected!

If you have been past the site on Washway Road over the last week or so, you can see impressive progress being made from what’s appearing above the fence. However, the builders have also been kind enough to insert windows into the fence so that passers-by could take a peek at what’s going on across the whole site, so anyone now going past can see the building actually taking shape from the ground up!

When I met up with David Leigh, site manager for Parkinson Building Contractors this week, he told me he is very happy with the overall progress of the work. Around 30% of the trenches needed between the concrete piles sunk at the start of the foundation work had been excavated before Christmas and the rest since January 10.

David says on Wednesday 18 January, he oversaw the pouring of some 180 cubic metres of concrete into the trenches. Thirty lorries were required to deliver it!! Bolts were also put in around the sheared tops of the concrete piles to prepare them to receive the 55 stanchions to which the rest of the framework will be attached.

Two concrete floor slabs have now been laid to form the base for two staircases which will be eventually be used for emergency exits, but in the meantime will be used by contractors working on the higher levels in the months ahead.

The team onsite expect to take around another 5 weeks to complete putting up all the steel framework. Corrugated metal decking will also be added to the floors to give them support. Next the roof will go on with an insulated liner sheet which will keep the area underneath about 95% watertight for the duration of the build. This will allow mechanical and electrical work to start with substantial protection from the elements.

Traditionally, buildings were completed one floor at a time, from the bottom up. However, this way of working is slow; David says the LifeCentre would take twice as long to complete if he and his team did things that way! As it is, they will use scaffolding, as well as the two staircases put in this week, to allow work to be carried out on all floors at the same time.

The mild winter weather has helped progress significantly... A real answer to prayer! When the walls are completed, the cement can be protected from any frost with hessian sacking so it won’t crumble.

David is still confident that the project is on track to complete in the Autumn. Despite the initial delay caused by the disconnecting of utilities and the fact that the groundwork has taken a bit more time than expected, once several trades can all work simultaneously, he believes, this time can be retrieved.

Relations with the neighbours remain high on David’s priority list. Although one or two concerns have been expressed when vibration was caused by the driving in of the piles, reactions have been favourable as to the way the builders are considering people in the vicinity.

Parkinson subscribe to the Considerate Constructors scheme which seeks to promote high environmental standards and good facilities in building work. David feels that he and his colleagues were harshly marked in a recent report, but was consoled by a sympathetic Health and Safety inspector who was pleased with the site and agreed with David that the Considerate Constructors man might have been more, well, a bit more considerate!


A side note is that the last Building Fund offering was held on 22nd January and church members gave and pledged £11,000. With a few more donations since then plus gift aid we're around £16,000 closer to the £260,000 target we need to hit by October. Thanks to everyone who has given so graciously thus far. Do keep praying that God will move hearts and provide His resources for His project!