Roof over our heads

A fine stretch of weather helped get the first stage of the roof on. Then.... wet, wet, wet winter brought progress to a halt.

Flat roofs over the studio en suite rooms.

Framing contractors complete the light timber frame

The out of season Ski Patrol chippies have completed the wall and roof light timber framing and timed it well with winter snow and patrol commitments just over the horizon.

All framed and ready for a roof

Up go the roof frames

Hired a crane for the day, had the bolt holes all pre-drilled and from dawn to dusk got the whole frame

tied together before sunset. 

The Barwon Heads bridge timber settling into it's new role.

The final piece slips in on dusk.

Kitchen frame

Before the heavy trusses can be placed into position, the support structure needs to be braced, by leaning on the braced up light timber kitchen frame. By next summer this will be the engine house for the some great meals and long lunches in the completed riders lounge.

Kitchen frame takes the load

View from the staff room

Putting together the big frame

Working with heavy salvage timbers can still be an exercise in carpentry. As my chipie mate Andy says, carpenters work in millimetres and plasterers in centimetres. Joints are checked out to allow for variations in timber sizes, steel plates bolted on and the whole thing bolted together like a portal frame.

Posts are checked out to a common thickness

Plates bolted on with M20 bolts

 "Roger" the beam to the left is named in honour of the source, regular rider Roger the Gippsland Dentist. 135mm x 390mm x 5400mm solid WA Jarrah.

Plates of steel

Our special heavy timber trusses, built on site from the Barwon Heads bridge timbers, are to be assembled using 10mm steel plates cut to engineers plan using laser cutting technology.

Plates made from black steel and allowed to rust.

Toolbox

Because we are heading into winter we have created a little toolbox to keep the tools dry when the weather comes in. It will probably retire to a second life as a new chook shed.

The little toolbox that will be a chook shed