Construction Update: Jan. 19, 2012

More Webcams
Wonder what's going on right this minute at the Protective Services building site? Check it out for yourself. Additional webcams are live on the construction page of College website today so you can track progress at Protective Services and the Ingenuity Center. The Health Education Center was the first construction project with a live view and we’ve now added a second webcam there with a different perspective.

If you’re having trouble viewing any of the webcams, try a different browser. Due to a technical limitation, the webcams cannot be seen using Internet Explorer on Madison College computers. Most other browsers including Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome should work fine on campus and once you’re away from Truax and on a home computer you can look at the webcams using Explorer. There is a limit on how many viewers can watch at any given minute so make sure you don’t keep it streaming on your computer – let others have a chance to look in too! Visit the construction page here.

When First is Last
It doesn’t seem logical but there is a good reason why crews are just now pouring the first floor at the Health Education Center even though the second and third floors are already finished. Because of the cold, concrete floors were poured for the upper levels to trap heat in the work zone to make it easier to do the underground chores. The first section of underground work is now finished and this week a thick slab of concrete floor is being laid there.

A second stairwell is going up at the health building. Once finished, the three-story structure will have a main grand staircase and three smaller stairwells. The stairs are built fairly early during construction because it’s easier for work crews to move between the floors using steps rather than ladders.

Walls and More
Masons have been active at the rising Protective Services building. Using a mortar silo that’s on site, they’ve built some of the interior walls as work continues to pour the footings and foundation walls. An impressive 18-foot tall wall has already been erected (you can see it on the webcam) and will be part of the large-bay garage that will house fire trucks and ambulances.

Bad Dirt. Good Dirt.
Did you notice the enormous hole being excavated outside Mitby at the Gateway site? Seems the soil there is poor quality so 10 feet of dirt is being removed and will be replaced by “good” soil. What’s the difference? The native soil is composed of too much peat and organic matter, which means it can’t bear a lot of weight – as in a three-story building. So before Gateway goes up, crews will dump “good” soil in the hole with a higher concentration of sand and greater weight-bearing capacity.

Regional Round-up
Watertown
Two community rooms will be part of the expansion at Watertown Campus. The status of the rooms had been in question because of a funding issue but the Board decided to keep the rooms in the project because of their importance to the campus community. Construction at Watertown starts in March.

Fort Atkinson
Just a few weeks into the project and already visible progress is underway at the Fort Atkinson campus. Two different additions are going up there along with renovations to the existing building. The early work is focused on excavation and footings.

Reedsburg
The roofers are already on site at Reedsburg. Three additions are being attached to the main building. The new sections are being enclosed and next week masonry work will begin.

Portage
Next month. That’s when the Portage bids go to the Board for consideration. Plans call for the expansion and renovation to begin in March.

Check Matters for future construction updates!