Sorry I didn't get here yesterday. I had an outing to Bristol for an I Struct E meeting on the amazing glass roof to be put on the dock around the SS Great Britain. Then had dinner with Hamish which is always a pleasure.
Back today and seeing some serious progress. Brian worked on after I left yesterday and was back long before I returned today. That meant there was much for me to see when I did get back. Brian had finished the vousoirs and fitted all the uprights and Felicity was busy painting them. This and this was the sight that greeted me.
Soon, Derek arrived and we started assembly. Once four voussoirs were up it became clear where we were heading. The fifth forms half the bridge We will cut the keystone to fit when the two sides are fully assembled. This setup confirmed the stability of the cantilever and of our assembly scheme with light rope tie backs at the top of the handrails. We may need to relieve the joints slightly to get things to assemble easily, but the general impression was excellent. I was very pleased to find that the edges of voussoir five were exactly plumb so we should be able to get things to fit as required.
There are a few bits and pieces to clear up in the other half, but there is nothing to prevent me finishing those in an odd hour over the weekend. As I said above, the keystone needs to be cut to fit, unless I recut the abutments slightly. It is interesting that the first voussoirs cut, where the angles were wrong, almost fits in the current bridge.
Painting day is Monday. Where that will be is not yet certain. In clearing away this evening, I found that we could stack three voussoirs high under the carport. That means only four piles, and I think they can be painted like this, or at least restacked when partly painted and finished in the stack. If that is so, we can do the painting here at a push, but the exposed situation is asking for holdups and other problems.
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