HTC school construction ahead of schedule

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BY CHUCK VANDENBERG

PCC EDITOR

WEST POINT - Construction crews with SG Construction out of Burlington hoisted a 46-ton slab of concrete and metal into place on a chilly Thursday morning as the sun peaked over the houses south of the square in West Point.

It took a five-story hydraulic crane and another smaller crane to pick the two-story wall off a truck bed and swing it into place. As the wall was lifted into place and about 50 people stood on street corners watching the work, the morning sun lit up the cross that was embedded in the precast wall. Video of crew lifting the slab into place can be found athttps://youtu.be/9D5lbyb4a9A

Dennis Menke, who chaired the committee that is raising funds for the construction of the building said crews are head of schedule.

"Right now there about two weeks ahead of schedule," Menke said. "We hope to keep it that way."

The building was constructed out of prefab two-story concrete walls that are shipped in on flat bed trucks and then lifted with the larger hydraulic crane into place where they are anchored with metal grips and then will be welded into place later in the construction.

Menke said he didn't know when the roofing would start but he said that work would take at least a couple of weeks, and then electricians and plumbers would be able to get in the building and start on that portion of the work.

The $6 million project kicked off with a private fundraising campaign in January of 2017 and will completely replace the elementary learning spaces and cafeteria. The new building is being built right next to the current gymnasium on the southwest corner of 4th and Avenue C in West Point.

In January, the committee indicated they were about $250,000 short of the needed funds to complete the project. The funds to build the school have come completely from private donations and commitments to the project.

The early morning sun peaking over West Point lights up the cross in a wall being lifted into place by a crane Thursday morning in West Point. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

A three-story wall is moved into place by crane Thursday morning in West Point at the new Holy Trinity Catholic Elementary School. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

A construction worker with SG Construction of Burlington anchors a 46-ton wall with cables before swinging into position on the new HTC elementary building Thursday morning. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

 

Catholic schools, construction, elementary building, fort madison, Holy Trinity Catholic, Pen City Current, west point

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