Building in the rain – and some upcoming programs

With the weather shifting and rain finally in the forecast and on the ground, our construction team is still hard at work getting the roof covered and the ground prepared for concrete. Work slows a little when it’s wet, but we’re still seeing a lot of great progress.

In the meantime, we enjoyed a fun LEGO program on Wednesday exploring amusement park architecture. Coming up Saturday is International Gaming Day from 12-3pm. We’ll have a variety of traditional and current games to play for families and friends alike. Next Wednesday don’t miss another great craft program for youngsters as we build Spider Webs from twigs and yarn at 2pm.

On a more practical level, we have our first visit from Covered California enrollment specialists this Sunday from 1-4pm. Take care of your enrollment early before the crowds descend on us. Also next week on Wednesday we’ll have a representative from Echo Fair Housing in the library from 10am-12pm answering your questions about housing and rental issues in Alameda County. If you can’t make it this week we’ll have repeat visits from both of these great organizations coming up.

Hope to see you at the library soon.

Early this week framing is ready

Late this week the roof and siding have an extra layer

Stacks of roof material ready to be laid-down

Yellow moisture-resistant layer waits for the rain to pass so sand and concrete can be added

Piles of rebar waiting to be added to concrete

Pouring Rock at the San Lorenzo Construction Site

Lots of great new pictures this week, including our first photos from the roof! The construction site is very active this week with crews working to get as much of the roofing and ground cover finished as possible before we get another storm. The roof on both sides of the building is coming along nicely, though the existing side obviously had a head start.

I learned today there’s a lot more to pouring the concrete slab on which the library will rest than just flattening the ground underneath and putting-in rebar. This week the crews are adding 4 inches of rock and gravel to the ground. On top of that there is a material used as a moisture barrier to keep things nice and dry. On top of that there’s another 2 inches of sand! Only once those layers are in place do we get our 6 inch thick concrete slab. Once that’s all in place the crews can move on to walls. Don’t hold your breath just yet, there’s a lot of work to complete in the meantime.

Check out a bonus video of the conveyor belt shooting rock into the space on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/SanLorenzoLibrary

Mounds of rock awaiting the conveyor belt

Flattening the ground near the entrance

Tamping down rock to prepare for concrete

Rear section of the new roof looking towards the existing building

Wood framing the skylights

Roof slopes come together and the view towards Hesperian