Flying Steel

With the concrete ring beam completed, we're now ready to install the steel ring beam. There's a lot of debate among the guys that this steel ring beam is overkill. It seems that on any construction site--either in NYC or here in London--the workers love to complain about the engineers over-designing everything. I partially agree with them, but as this will become our home, of course I think that it's better for it to be slightly over-engineered than not.

So the structural design calls for the concrete beam (which stiffens and consolidates the top of the brick wall), and then bolted to that is the steel ring beam, which provides additional lateral stiffening to prevent the roof from kicking out the walls. The way the building was originally built, the wooden ceiling joists did this job--but we have now removed all of them! These pieces of steel are much larger and heavier than the 3 sections of our beam. These are "c" shapes known as channels and because they are cut to 4 meter (12ft) and 3 meter (9ft) lengths they are extremely heavy.

I flew in last night, and first thing this morning went to meet one of our Polish structural crew to go rent an electric hoist. Our plan is to attach that to the top of the scaffold and then hoist it up the outside of the building and then into the flat.

The steel delivery

Takes three guys to lift one piece

Tying the 1st beam to the rope and hoist

Here goes the 1st one...

Up and away!

When the steel is properly balanced it only takes one guy to guide it

We staged a guy on each level of the scaffold to guide the pieces as they go up.

Jimmy is in front of the window

One of the smaller 3 meter pieces through the window.