Day 39 - Blue steel

I must admit I have been anxious about today for a while.  It was the meeting of the brickwork and the steelwork in our new home and my organisation and communication skills were being tested.  The beams that were to be installed went up to 11m long, the first would be the beam over the entrance.  It was hoisted up and aligned into place, it soon became clear that the gap was not long enough, fortunately the bricklayer, Tony was on hand to chip a few bricks off to make it fit.  The next beam was measured up to discover it was 1m too short! It went back on the truck.  The next beam was the big one, 11m weighing in at 450kg.  It got trimmed to size and hoisted up and welded onto its post - no dramas.  The lintels across the back were next.  These had to be cut to size again and after some measuring the steel supplier, Mark fired up the oxy torch and cut it to fit.  It found its home with no dramas.  The next one was a bit more wild.  The bracket it was resting on while welding dislodged and sent the beam swinging.  It narrowly missed Mark's assistant and then hit the wall, knocking a few bricks off.  Once it was back under control it was welded in.  The dramas were over and the remaining beams were put in their slots.  So even though the steelwork isn't quite finished yet with one beam to go, progress is always a good thing.