Weekly Continuity and Construction Update (as of August 7, 2015)

Hi all! Construction Junction continues humming at a quick pace, with the complete footprint of the building now established. The foundation walls of Studio One are going up and concrete is flowing fast. On the north side, the gravel is filled in up to the slab level of the first floor.

Here is your weekly update on what to expect when you're expecting (a new building). Got questions? Use the question widget in the right column and ask away!

Eye candy 

This photo was taken from the Tower Cam on Thursday, Aug 6. You'll notice two white rectangles in the newsroom (top section of the photo) and one white rectangle in the engineering den (right side of the photo). Joe tells me these depressions in the concrete will serve as conduit runs for all the cabling and wiring that will support the technology in these two parts of the new building. (You can see a nest of pipes running from the satellite dish into the new engineering office).

The Tower Cam automatically snaps a photo every half-hour, and you can find those photos on the server here: S:\towercam

Want an even closer vantage point to the construction? Laurie is organizing tours of the site! Sign-ups are outside her office. Hard hats and closed-toe shoes are non-negotiable.

WTF parking? 

It's a little brutal out there in the gravel lot. The circular flow of the parking lot should be back in effect by the time you read this.

• Are you able to or interested in taking the bus? VPR has CCTA bus passes available! See Laurie or Madelyn.
• Interested in carpooling? Your friendly co-workers might be too! Ask around.
• Encourage guests and visitors to carpool too, or at least warn them about what they are getting into when they drive here...

We are hoping to get 5-6 more parking spots soon, as the construction team continues creating the new North Parking Lot. If you can't find a parking spot, you can try parking across the street next to the Loft. We have permission to use 12 parking spots there, and we rarely use all of them.

IMPORTANT: No parking at the Loft on Friday afternoons from 12-2p. (Islamic Society needs all available parking for their weekly worship service.)

Upcoming noise

More of the same, people, more of the same: gravel, compaction and parking lot work. We were expecting a delivery of steel on Aug 13 that promised to make some new and exciting contributions to the aural experience of construction, but that has been pushed back to Aug 19. There are two music events next week, one recorded and one live. The construction crew is aware and is arranging their work accordingly; Brian will communicate with the teams that are working on those performances.

Here is the construction calendar for the next three weeks:

    

10	11	12	13	14
SDI - Foundation Footings/Wall (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction)	SDI - Foundation Footings/Wall (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction)	SDI - Foundation Footings/Wall (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction) Recorded Perf.	SDI - Foundation Footings/Wall (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction)	SDI - Foundation Footings/Wall (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction) Live Perf.
17	18	19	20	21
SDI - Foundation Footings/Wall/ Slab (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction)	SDI - Foundation Footings/Wall (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction)	Steel delivery (slipped a week) SDI - Foundation Footings/Wall (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction) North parking lot	Steel delivery and installation begins SDI - Foundation Footings/Wall (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction) North parking lot	Steel installation SDI - Foundation Footings/Wall (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction) North parking lot
24	25	26	27	28
Steel installation SDI - Foundation slabs (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction)	Steel installation SDI - Foundation slabs (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction)	Steel installation SDI - Foundation slabs (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction)	Steel installation SDI - Foundation slabs (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction)	Steel installation SDI - Foundation slabs (concrete pump and mixing) Bushey - Northeast backfill (compaction)

Gird your loins!

At some point in the next 2-3 weeks there will be a day when the water, sewer and septic will be completely shut off at 365. We will pinpoint exactly which day this is, and we'll have a few days notice. The Loft will still have full facilities, and we will be bringing in fancy Port-o-lets and bottled water. (Consider asking your supervisor if working from home isn't the worst idea that day.)

What if someone asks me... 

What the heck is going on at VPR? Construction, wha-?! MarComm circulated a bunch of guidance on answering questions about the project way back in May, and those public construction FAQs are now reposted as a refresher for you. The Free Press is interviewing Robin about the construction project soon, so you may see an uptick in public interest.

The Green Room is my personal cave and I don't want anyone else using it.

Well... here's the thing. Cody's team will be frequently using the Green Room starting August 19 for pledge drive purposes. They will be booking this in Zimbra, under the spaces called Green Room 1 and Green Room 2. This is your gentle reminder that EVERYONE should be using Zimbra to reserve the Green Room for workspace, meetings, etc. If you don't have it reserved, you can be booted out by someone who does.

TIME CAPSULE!! 

What the what?! Vic is interested in seeing if we can't put together a sweet trove of memorabilia, immediately obsolete technology and notes of apology or explanation for future generations. Here's the deal: use the comments section below to suggest ideas of what should go in a time capsule. (See how I'm coercing you into using the blog to its fullest potential?)