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Tower Takedown: The Day Before, Sept. 8
Final preparations, and the arrival of the crane.
A large Preservation Timber Framing crew hustled today to make the final preparations for the takedown tomorrow.
They disassembled the layer of scaffolding around the tower top, and reassembled it around the cribbing where the top will rest on the ground. (They'll move more scaffolding to completely surround the top after the takedown.)
In the morning, three flatbed arrived with the heavy weights that will counterbalance the massive top when lifted by the crane.
The crew made a ramp for the crane to drive over the curb, and laid out the heavy fiberglass mats that help protect the lawn from crane. And in the afternoon the crane arrived! It is indeed huge.
Now the new roof is trimmed out and ready to fly up, the cribbing on the ground is all set, and the final plans for attaching the bearing timbers to the belfry and then the crane to the bearing timbers have been made.
The action begins early tomorrow!
Tower Takedown: Friday, Sept. 4
The reinforcing and rigging work Preservation Timber Framing could do early is complete. Today they brought in more lumber for supporting the top on the ground, cleaned up the job site, and marked off some of the safe viewing areas for the Takedown (Wed. Sept. 9, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon).
Tower Takedown - Crane Day Preview with Ed Bell
A brief preview of what will happen the day the FPC Meetinghouse tower top comes down.
Project manager Ed Bell (Preservation Timber Framing) gives us a brief preview of what will happen on the day the tower top comes down at the FPC Meetinghouse.
A two-minute interview with Ed Bell (Preservation Timber Framing)
UPDATE – FPC Tower Takedown is Wed. Sept. 9
Some details on the Sept. 9th Tower Takedown, with photos from the site on Sept. 1st and 2nd.
September 2, 2015 – East Derry, New Hampshire — The removal of the damaged top of the First Parish Church Meetinghouse tower is now scheduled for:
Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015, between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon
The large crane will arrive Tuesday afternoon, and drive across the lawn to its position near the tower (special mats will help protect the grass). A trailer or two of counterweights will accompany the crane.
Preparations will begin early Wednesday morning with the lifting up of long bearing timbers (see photos below). These will rest on metal brackets attached to the belfry, and the Preservation Timber Framing (PTF) crew will through-bolt them to the belfry wall to support the top during the lift. The crane will be rigged to the timbers, and the top lifted off.
Because the belfry has long timber "legs" that nest down inside the tower base, the crane must actually lift it up very high. (The weathervane on top is firmly attached, and most likely will stay in place for the ride down.)
The crane will slowly lower the top down to timber cribbing waiting on the ground. The crew will attach side braces to safely hold the top in place while the crane still supports its weight. Once the top is secured to the cribbing on the ground, the crane will be released and move on to its next job.
That next job is to fly up the new roof that will seal the open top of the tower base. That roof is covered by a rubber membrane roofing material that will provide excellent weather protection for the two years it should take to return the restored top to the rehabilitated tower. (Batten strips on the roof surface, decorative gable/side panels, and other work will be done in time so that the roof looks a bit better than it does this week.)
After the new roof is flown up and secured, the crew may use the crane to remove the bell (which probably weighs about 1,200 pounds). This will depend on how much time is left in the day, and how quickly the tower top rigging can be changed for safe bell removal. If there's not enough time left, PTF will remove the bell another time (with a much smaller crane!).
Tower Takedown: Aug 27–31, 2015
Timbers, a roof, a tree, and clockworks.
Catching up here on recent work (as recorded in Facebook posts and copied here).
MONDAY AUGUST 31 — Preparations for the FPC Tower Takedown continued today. The top should "fly down" between 10:00 a.m. and noon on Wednesday Sept. 9th. The public is welcome (though safe viewing areas will be limited). It's rain or shine; only thunderstorms will delay things till Thursday,
The crane will arrive Tuesday afternoon and move in place on the front lawn (mats will help protect the grass). Wednesday work will begin early, with the lifting and setting of the long rigging beams through the belfry and other preparations for the lift. After the top comes down and is set in place, the bell will be removed, and then the new roof flown up to seal the tower base,
FRIDAY AUGUST 28 — At the FPC Meetinghouse Tower Takedown project, we sadly had to remove a maple too close to the Meetinghouse. The building looks happier without it, though. Read more in the captions.
THURSDAY AUGUST 27 — The beautiful E. Howard & Co. clockworks in the FPC Meetinghouse Tower is now protected for the Takedown. Brian Cox and others on the Preservation Timber Framing crew designed and built a custom, ventilated plywood box for this purpose.
Tower Takedown: Days 7-9, Aug. 24-26, 2015
More trim removal, and Takedown rescheduled to Sept. 9,
This week Ed Bell and the team from Preservation Timberframing continued the careful removal of the trim and damaged elements from the top sections of the tower.
This process has uncovered more of the tower's "guts," and the news has not been very good. The structural condition of the belfry and lantern is even worse than estimated, and so fairly extensive reinforcement work will soon commence.
Between the need for this extra work and challenges scheduling a large enough crane, the Takedown Day is rescheduled to Wednesday, Sept. 9th.
We will publicize a firm schedule for the day once the logistical plans are worked out, but it's looking like the flying down of the tower top will happen between 10:00 am and noon.
Tower Takedown: Day 6, Thursday Aug. 20
Today the Preservation Timber Framing experts focused on removing the bed and cove molding covering the joint between the belfry and the tower base.
First they had to adjust the staging platforms to work at this lower level, not easy 65' in the air. Then they very carefully removed each piece of trim to keep it intact. As with all the old elements of the tower, every piece of molding gets numbered and cataloged and will go into storage for its eventual refurbishment and placement back on the finished tower.
The crew also began to plan and build the new roof cap that will seal the tower after the takedown. They'll build it on the ground, and the crane will fly it up after lowering the top. (Unfortunately there's still not a firm commitment date from the crane company, but we're aiming for around Sept. 2nd.)
Ed Bell and the PTF crew must work at another job site tomorrow and will return to FPC Monday. They secured the scaffold ladder and covered the tower window openings with plastic for the long weekend.
FPC volunteers have also been hard at work. Paul Dionne led the effort to remove the pulley and cable for the clock-driving weight box. That pulley was attached to the clock room ceiling/belfry floor, and had to come down for the top separation. We unfortunately won't be able to keep the clock running during the rehabilitation work, so restoring its function in a couple years is an exciting milestone to look forward to.
Thanks also to volunteers Ken Gould who cleared the brush from the mound of dirt sitting right where we'll probably place the tower top, and to Bill Wheeler and Harry Carter who are making that dirt mound disappear.
Tower Takedown: Day 5, Aug. 19
Uncovering hidden timbers and continuing the great disconnect.
The heatwave continued today, but the powerful fans and emptied window openings help make the tower interior a little more tolerable. The seven-person Preservation Timber Frame crew led by Ed Bell continued working inside and out, removing more trim, siding, and other materials, to preserve them and expose the timber frame structure underneath (which none of us in recent years have ever seen).
FPC volunteer and clock works master Paul Dionne removed the shafts that drive the hands on the three clock faces. These will be stored safely with the clock works inside the tower. Later this week he'll remove the ceiling-mounted pulley and cable for the rock weight box that drives the clock, and then construct a box around the clock works to protect it.
Meanwhile volunteer Harry Carter has removed nearly all of the electrical system wiring so that the tower top will be free to fly away. He also installed a new outlet box at PTF's request (they have learned not to trust existing ancient outlets for their tools and lights). Bill Wheeler from the FPC Facilities Board also helped prepare for the takedown by coordinating the moving of fire alarm gear with the fire department.
PTF's extensive work is on track. But it turns out a larger crane is needed than originally expected, and so the Tower Takedown will probably happen around Sept. 2nd (rather than Aug. 26th).
Tower Takedown: Day 4, Aug. 18
The PTF crew continues to prepare the top.
Work continued on the rigging and preparation of the top for its removal.
PTF workers disassembled components and lowered them to the ground, including the belfry screening, railings, and its roof/floor. That roof originally consisted of cotton fabric that was shellacked and covered with wooden shakes. Later the shakes were replaced with copper. Today they took the copper off, and found it was placed over the original fabric. PTF will take the copper to a reclamation center, and the church will get some funds from i for future rehab!
New weight estimates for the Tower Top (37,000 pounds!) and its considerable height require a larger crane than originally thought. Reps from the new crane company visited today to check out the site, and we should have a date for the Takedown soon. (It very likely will be more like Sept. 2nd than August 26th.)
Tower Takedown: Day 3, Monday Aug. 17, 2015
PTF begins rigging and takedown prep.
Preservation Timber Framing began work to prepare the tower top for removal, investigating the structure and beginning to remove elements that are loose or otherwise should come down in pieces.
They brought in some large timbers for the cribbing that will hold the top securely on the ground, and lumber for internal reinforcements. The reinforcements are necessary because they found the condition of the top to be such that it needs help to stay intact during its removal.
Editor Julie Huss from the Derry News interview Arron about the project. She had interviewed Pastor Deborah last week, and will probably publish an article on the takedown effort this week.
