9/24/11 - Ramp Work Continues

Who could believe in prophecies of Daniel or of Miller that the world would end this summer, while one milkweed with faith matured its seeds?   Henry David Thoreau - Dispersion of Seeds

Two changes were obvious this weekend, the first certainly indicates that they are pushing to get cars on the top by Columbus Day.  The parking lots appear to be complete with lines painted on the asphalt and guardrails in place.  A sign has been placed with instructions for those persons desiring to park in the handicapped area.

Handicapped Parking

To the left is the picnic area, now about half the size as it was in the past.

Main Parking Lot (upper level) with Guardrails

Final run up to the Handicapped Lot

Notice the sign with instructions and you can also see the guardrails and the drainage facilities below the handicapped lot.  And a tell-tale garbage can in place for visitors.

The low level cement ramp begins the climb

On the upper summit level, the change this week is the construction of the steel ramp which will wind around the base and lead the public to the observation deck.  The deck boards will be placed on the beams with a smooth transition.  I am guessing that wood will also cover the cement otherwise, winter time ice will make it impossible to walk up the ramp.  At the very least, some type of non-skid surface will be required.

See further pictures of the deck wood below.   

Cement meets Steel - NE Corner

Here we are at the old NE corner.  Seems like yesterday it was but a hole in the ground.

North wall and ramp support.

Remember the rabbit from a few weeks back?  This is how he would view it!

View from Ground Level - North Wall and ramp beams.

It now becomes obvious why the stone facade was built only partially up the walls!  Once the ramp is in place, they will probably continue going upward.

Western Wall

More Tapered I-Beams to Complete the Ramps

Today, I also note the presence of a large crane with a working bucket on the end of the boom.  I suspect that they will soon begin working on assembly of the cab on top of the tower.  Until there are ladders in place, there will be only one way to work on top!

Crane to lift workers to the top for installation of the Cab

Deck Planks  Await Installation

Humm ... Teak Deck Planks from Brazil?

Two bundles said "Made in Brazil" while the other two simply said "Baltimore."  Perhaps that should read "Grown in Brazil?"

South Side Wall, Facade, and Ramp Beams

You still can see the sky from inside the chamber, so there is no covering in place yet.  But, I do see wiring hanging, so they are probably doing some internal work.

 

South and East Walls

The SE corner is where the ramp will end.  Around the top of the chamber there runs a cement edging that overhangs just a bit.  I wondered why it breaks on this corner ... well it is obvious now... That is the point at which pedestrians will conclude their "ramp walk" and step over the threshold to the level observation deck.

 

Mr. New ... meet Mr. Old

Never Forget

Wachusett received some rain in the past 24 hours.  It is music to my ears when falling to the earth; it is music to my ears as the run-off makes its way to the ponds below the mountain.

 Come back next week ... Deck planks in place?  Cab construction?  We'll see....

9/18-11 - At Last ... The Tower Rises

Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk.

Henry David Thoreau  - Journal, November 11, 1854 

My good friend Mark and I both thought it would be late in the fall season, or perhaps even winter before the tower would be complete.  On this day, however, he evidence is quite strong; like trout in the milk, it will be sooner rather than later!

Returning from a two day outing to Mt. Monadnock off to the northwest, I could see the mountain as I came down Route 2.  "That sure looks like something new on the summit," I thought!  Could it be?  A closer look from Wachusett Pond at the base of the mountain told the truth.

Something New to the left of the Current Tower

Indeed, as I made a quick run to the summit, I could see from the new parking lot, that the tower is reaching the clouds.  Yet, I see no signs of a crane!  Not sure how this feat was accomplished.  The piece that I saw on the ground last weekend appears to be the topmost section of the tower.  And since it is a bit different than the bottom three cubical entities, I suspect that the tower cap will rest upon that.  Maybe that will happen next week.


If they are doing this with a helicopter, they could easily lift the cap from an offsite location, drop it gently on the tower, secure it in place,  consider it complete!  At least the primary structure.

Tower Reaching for the Sky

Big changes this week for sure.  But let us not forget to see how the base is looking.

The Ramp - Eastern Wall

The Northeast corner ...

 Finally, the facade has made its way all around the base.

Lest We Forget!

In memory of 9/11/01, a patriotic American left a reminder.

 

Northwest corner

Western Wall

Actually, it doesn't look as if the facade is much higher than last week although some rain may have slowed productivity.  Then again, thee facade now reaches completely around the circumference of the base, so there has been progress this week.

Southwest Corner.

With the tower having sprouted from the base lodge, I wondered about the roofing.  Perhaps the doorway is still open and I can have a look inside!

A Peek Inside the Box

 Well, as one of the rangers suggested to me several weeks ago, they would be dropping into the cement shell, a container holding electronic boxes and equipment.  Obviously, that tan box that is visible inside was not there last week ... and it didn't get through that doorway!  Helicopter drop!  The only possibility!

And that leads us to safely presume that the superstructure was lifted into place, section by section, by the means of a helicopter.  Wish I could have witnessed that one!

And while I could not get a shot low enough to seek sky light in the roof, the shadows clearly tell that story - the observation platform has not yet been poured - assuming that it will be cement.

Tubular beam attached to the in-ground Piles

Another Beam in place ... note bolts at the base

 Clearly, we can see a steel I-Beam which extends beyond our sight line to the right of the opening.  In the shot below, we can see that it is secured to the wall

Beam attached to interior wall

Detail - column secured to the pile

Southern Wall and Doorway

So, there has been significant activity at the summit this week, but what about the parking lots and the grounds about the summit.  

Lots of work here too!

View to the South from the Pond

This road will be accessible only to pedestrian traffic in the near future.

The Old Picnic Area - now Handicapped Parking

From Parking Lot looking as you would exit.

The road extension to the left goes only up to the handicapped parking lot - only about 25 yards toward the summit and on the right.
 

View from Parking Lot - Mt. House Trail on the Left

 But wait ... one more thing today....  What are all these people looking at?  Are they all here to look at the new tower construction?

What's in the sky that's so interesting?

Well ... it is September, time for the annual hawk migration sighting party on Wachusett!  Best seen after a high pressure front passes through, the hawks are seen migrating over Wachusett, one of the better known sites for this spectacle.  [click on the pictures and see them as big as possible, look for the black specs.]

The phenomenon that you see is the Broad Winged Hawk as they "kettle."  As the thermals are created the hawks gather in them at low levels (visible with the naked eye, below the clouds), and circle round and round, working the thermal and gathering altitude all the time.  More streak in from outside the thermal and before you know it, there can be hundreds of them.

Then, as they reach the highest point of the thermal, they peel off and head along their migratory journey, soaring for miles before they reach an altitude at which they need another thermal to carry them aloft again ... and another "kettle" forms.

 I was fortunate to ask a few questions of one of the birders that were on the mountain, and she explained all that we were seeing high overhead. 

  

Broad Winged Hawks form a Kettle. (right in the middle)

Kettle in Middle

Soon the tower in the background will be gone.  You cannot deny the fact that the trout is definitely in the milk.

See you next week!

9/10/11 - Superstructure Assembly Begins ... on the Ground

There is some of the same fitness in a man's building his own house that there is in a bird's building its own nest. Who knows but if men constructed their dwellings with their own hands, and provided food for themselves and families simply and honestly enough, the poetic faculty would be universally developed, as birds universally sing when they are so engaged? But alas! we do like cowbirds and cuckoos, which lay their eggs in nests which other birds have built, and cheer no traveller with their chattering and unmusical notes. Shall we forever resign the pleasure of construction to the carpenter? What does architecture amount to in the experience of the mass of men? I never in all my walks came across a man engaged in so simple and natural an occupation as building his house.

Henry David Thoreau - Walden - Economy - 1854

And this week, in-spite of the heavy rains and wind, the superstructure has begun.  I think, in this case, unlike a man building his home, we should leave the building of this one to the experts, the structural steel builders of America.

Another beautiful Saturday morning finds the steelwork in progress.  It appears as if assembly will proceed at the far end (eastern side) of the site.  Once complete, although to what degree I am not sure, they will probably use a helicopter or a very large crane to lift and position the base steel assembly inside the cement base - which obviously remains with no roof!

Good Morning, America!

Four legs at the base

Not having a tape measure, I paced off the length of one side of this square structure ... 6.25 walking paces.  That would figure to be about 20 feet.

Heavy Duty Welds

 Close inspection of the markings on the beams indicated that Quality Control has passed the section.  You can see by blowing up the picture below and where the initials are, in the bottom right quadrant, we see the sign-off:  QC.

Another piece of the Superstructure

Actually the base structure has changed little, the only activity is a bit more of the facade has been placed.  I suspect that the rains contributed to the slower progress this week.

The following pictures represent a visual tour about the Base ... East, North, West, South and back to East.

 

 

 

Obviously, the roof awaits the base assembly to reach over the top of the observation deck.  Once the base assembly is in place, and perhaps some of the generators or other electrical equipment, that won't fit through the door, the roof will then seal off the sky!

 

And finally, more progress on the parking lot.  The curbing has been laid and the final landscaping appears to be moving along with Up-Summit Road now totally diverted to the new parking lot.

The new final yards of Up Summit Road turns sharply to the left and up to the parking lot.
 

Entry to Parking Lot

The parking lot island will be filled with loam, graded and seeded.  Next will the the final layer of macadam and then the lines.
 

Curbing on the Center Parking Lot Island

Retainer Wall - South Side of Parking Lot

Looking East from the Middle of the Parking Lot

 

Mt House Trail Approach to Summit

 

Drainage Cut on South Side of Parking Lot

The last vestige of the Up Summit Road ... used only by Construction Vehicles today ... and eventually to be replaced by a pedestrian footpath of some type.

 

The Final Yards

The Old Picnic Area Lot

This lot is now bi-level ... upper as the handicapped parking area and the lower will remain as a picnic area.  From the picture above, I scanned to the left for the picture below....

 

Drainage Area Below Handicapped Parking and Picnic Area

Picnic Area viewing West to the Parking Lot

See you next week Mark!  And I don't know if America runs on Dunkin!  But they do build on Wachusett Drinkin Dunkin!