2/26 Beam Raising

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On the heels of the outdoor classroom project erecting their wood columns, members of The Camas Pedal Team spent a beautiful Saturday hoisting 14 beams in place at Camas Ridge (special thanks to Jesse Crupper for lending his Toyota Tundra for the job). Both projects are really starting to shape the school’s former blacktop and complement the garden area. This was a big step for the team, now a year and a half into the project. The donated doug-fir beams (courtesy of Zip-O log mills) are finished with the same wood stain used by the outdoor classroom to achieve some unity between the two projects. They look great against the galvanized steel and concrete. It’s hard to believe a year ago we were designing this thing, discussing its form and choosing materials, and now we’re seeing those decisions come to life.

We did have one hiccup which we will have to deal with over the coming weeks. One front column’s footing is higher than it should be, which throws off the repetition of the beams. This will have an impact on how the purlins will line up as they were fabricated based on specific dimensions. Aside from the adjustments we’ll have to make in the next phase of this project (placing the purlins), the angle of the beam is off, interrupting the repetition of the wood (which otherwise looks really nice). It’s frustrating when something like this happens during the construction of a model in studio (most noticeable in photographs), so one can imagine the impact of catching a mistake like this on a realized project, something that cannot be fixed. It will be one of those little things that only we will see, but we will see it every time we look. It was by no means a mistake to blame on any one, rather another valuable lesson in craft and the impact of small discrepancies that will make us all better for the next project.

Today was our last build day of the term, so we have a little bit of time to get some advice and reach out to some professionals who might be willing to lend a hand in our purlin process. Nate and Nick will be meeting this week to talk about the schedule and work out the next few milestones before the racks get installed in May or early June. Next up are the purlins, a roof with the help of the folks at Skyline Sheet Metal, another art tile workshop to plan, a couple of benches to fabricate, planters to fill, and if all goes well a big ribbon cutting to celebrate handing it over to the school.