Boys walking between the Senior and Middle School buildings for lessons have found a spectacular new distraction to tempt them …. the sight of huge steel girders dangling in the air over Crossfield Road!
Following months of demolition of the old roof of the Wathen Hall by LifeBuild over the Summer months, it was exciting to see the safe delivery last week on a specialized cargo hauler, of over 20 huge steel girders, each 6 metres in length. Forming the base of the three new classrooms and the new Science lab, these girders each have to be hoisted by a massive crane up and over the Centenary Building one by one, then carefully lowered millimetre by millimetre into position on top of the Wathen Hall to form the new structure. It’s time-consuming and demanding work, dependent entirely upon verbal phone instructions to the crane operator sitting in his cab in Crossfield Road by the engineers who are out-of-sight on the Wathen Hall roof, as they position the mighty girders on the structure. We are being very protective of our beautiful old plane tree in The Yard, which many former Alumni will remember with fondness too.
The crane had to be partially disassembled and relocated due to the high winds of last Thursday and Friday but is back in place today as work continues. Crossfield Road will remain partially closed until the end of the week as the steel girders continue to be placed.