arches

Real progress at last

This was the first day when Brian and I were able to work in parallel rather than waiting for each other. We got 8 of the eleven voussoirs framed up (at last). The last three should not take long tomorrow. We have been thinking about the problems of assembly by unskilled labour and how the arch will be supported. The cantilever idea is nice but allows no leeway. We have sketched out an idea but you will have to wait for a photo. There isn't time to draw it. The main frame needs to be handed over to the painters in a couple of days or we will run out of time. That should now be OK though we will need some more wood to make frames for supporting the voussoirs and to tie the abutments together.

Just occurs to me though that we might find something to do the job in that great pile under the carport. Time to look at that again tomorrow.

This has been a good day for me. My screwdriver battery ran out of steam before I did. I went to the surgeon's clinic without the rest I had promissed myself and still seem to be going strong at 8pm. Off now for a Pizza. A test of my digestive system.

More pictures in the gallery but no time to link them. Sorry

How to build an skeletal arch!

Sometimes you just need to sleep on things. It has been too long since I worked on a construction site. I have been worried for several days about the problems of getting the two sides of each voussoir properly registered. Of course, the only way is to match build them, and preferably to build the whole arch rather than just matching pairs together.

Tomorrow I will try to finish the abutments as they will be needed. On Monday, if we can find a flat floor to do it on I will set up the abutments, properly spaced, then fit sheets of ply or other board along the outside where the arch faces are going to go. The faces can then be temporarily screwed into place and the cross pieces positioned in situ. It will also be useful to fasten on the deck while the vousoirs are up there to make sure things stay square and parallel.

That should be the last tricky part. If we can get the pre-assembly finished on Monday, the rest can be left to the team and I can take a rest.

If I thought I could draw this in a way that was understandable I would do so. I think that, if you don't understand the above, you will have to wait for the photographs.

Thinking as I write, it might be easier to make a frame on which three voussoirs would sit properly aligned. Then we would build three together, move them along one and build the next one on the end. Again, I guess a photo is needed, but not till it has been done.

Slow Friday

We had great plans for friday, but rather less was achieved. We began by collecting a lot of spare mateials from Bruce Duncan but when we got to the lab we found it in turmoil and full of new and old equipment being moved. We got an hours work done, and the abutments are partly assembled, but then we had to retire.

We stacked as much as possible in the trailer and took it to my carport which is now full. That left me exhausted and I retired to bed for a couple of hours. At 1500 Brian came round and we unloaded and returned for the rest of the gear.

Not much to show for the day then. I think I must take a rest this weekend!

A small step for man!

Not a hugely productive day but I did get the angles worked out and the abutments cut. Laid out on the floor it begins to look like a biggish bridge.

The next step, and I hope the last difficult one, is cutting the spacers and getting the vousoirs set up parallel and square. After that it should be relatively straightforward work to dack it and put on handrails. I doubt though that we will get that far tomorrow. We will have to see.

A wooden arch, setbacks and progress

When an arch is to be built without mortar, the fit has to be perfect. Not an easy job for a group of amateurs.

We began by cutting the ply sheets into 400mm strips. We made a simple jig and cut the pieces in pairs, but then the pieces got shuffled. A trial assembly this moring showed a very poor fit so we had to try again.

I made a new jig about 2mm smaller than the original. I spent some effort setting up the saw and we screwed the pieces together in pairs, then recut all eleven pieces on both mating edges.

To allow for any slight misalignment of the saw (it is VERY difficult to get the blade set vertical) we alternated the direction of the pairs. Carefully lining up the pieces produced a much more encouraging result and gave our first clear impression of the size of the finished job.

That took all morning, but at the end we had an arch that fitted.

Tomorrow I will need to re assemble it and set out the end angles for the abutments. I guess it will take an hour or so to get that to the state where I can relax and actually cut it.

From there on the job should be much easier, but watch this space. The Chaplains would like to use the unfinished bridge on Monday at a freshers induction then finish it and finally use it for the service on 9th October. I hope to get a video of the final assembly. whether it can be displayed here is another matter.

A start has been made

This morning my colleagues, the Chaplains of the University of Exeter, collected a load of second hand wood begged from the various construction sites on campus. The measuring and cutting is begun. We hope to have something like a bridge by Monday, and to have it beautified and decorated by the end of next week.

I will try to take some photos of the work in progress tomorrow.

I think this suggests I am recovering too, though an hour on my feet was enough!

Thoughts from a sickbed

On Monday 1st September I had a major operation. It was a strange sensation being wheeled down to the theatre, knowing that there was some risk I wouldn't come back.

On friday 6th Sept, the Guardian Friday Review carried an article about the epigrams of martial, including this gem, beautifully translated by Brendan Kennelly.

What constitutes a happy life?
Enough money to meet your needs
steady work
a comfortable fire
a clear distance from law
a minimum of city business
a peaceful mind and a healthy body
simple wisdom and firm friends
enjoyable dinners and plain living
nights free from care
a virtuous wife who's not a prude
enough sleep to make the darkness short
contentment with the life you have,
avoiding the sneer, the poisoned sigh;
no fear of death
and no desire to die.

The whole thing is so succicnt and so complete, but the last two lines so telling. It is surely a measure of contentment to have no fear of death but no desire to die!