Taconic High Construction: Precast Concrete Begins; Steel Going Up
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The first precast concrete beam for the vocational shops at the new Taconic High School was placed on Tuesday.
Construction has been ongoing since March. It began with site work by J.H. Maximillian, who leveled the area, set up drainage, and blasted out rock ledge. Once that was completed, the foundation work started.
David Tierney Construction has so far completed the foundation in what is known as "area A" and steel work — the upward construction of the bones of the building — began in early October. Foundation has been laid in nearly all areas of the site, with just the final of four areas still being complete. That area, on the far eastern part of the site, had large amounts of rock in the ground which had been blasted. The foundation is filling in progress.
Meanwhile, the precast concrete work for the area which will be the vocational shop section has begun by a tandem of Coreslab and Unistress. The steel work, being completed by Norgate, has started in the main classroom section.
Site work is continuing with drainage and Maxymillian rebuilding the wetlands — particularly eyed to be in place for the spring when melting snow and heavy rains will soak the site. The drainage is planned to direct water toward the eastern part of the site, and new wetlands are mostly completed there.
The wetlands are replacing areas taken for the construction of the entrance for workers, which will later be the entrance for buses. The outline of the road can be seen wrapping around the site and connecting to the existing entrance. When the projected is completed, the buses will enter from the new road on the northern side of the property — between the track and current building — and connect to the front of the building.
As the winter rolls in, parts of the site are expected to be heated so that underground plumbing and such can progress.
In all, Skanska, which represents the city in overseeing the construction, expects the structure of the building will be completed by the end of the year. Then the walls can start to be built. The project remains on schedule with an expected completion date of June 2018. That fall, students are planned to occupy the new building while the old one is razed and turned into playing fields.
There are about 60 workers on the site currently but Skanska says that will likely jump to 120 workers per day in the coming months.
iBerkshires will be following the construction of the $120.8 million high school throughout. Below are photos of the ongoing construction, which we will add to on a periodic basis. More information about the project can be found here.
Tags: school project, Taconic school project,
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