Shelving progress

 

It isn't just the shelving that's moving along now, although there has been significant progress on that front. Windows and doors are up in the facility. The mezzanine floor has been poured and is cured so the  mechanical room is being framed in (the prelude to our phone and internet connections being wired in). The facade windows on the exterior of the building have been placed - siding should start going up next week. We have several items of equipment under consideration and some already on order. 

Next week we look forward to introducing the facility to some of the neighbors who have had to deal with this construction for the past seven months, and we'll be fortunate enough to have a local member of City Council in attendance. We're down to our last projected month of construction now and it's starting to feel like it - we look forward to finally opening our doors in July!

Mobile shelving base

 

Spacesaver has started to install the base of the mobile shelving units onto the embedded tracks. Here you can start to see how the shelving will take shape. Each carriage has two motors that will power it, hooked up to controls at the end of the carriage. At the press of a button, the carriage will move to the left or the right and the lighting above the open isle will be triggered to go on. What you see here is only half the full length of an isle - you can see the tracks in the floor where the base will be laid down just in front of where this picture was taken. 

The stairs to the mezzanine and the mezzanine floor have been poured. The ramp and stairs in the hall adjoining the Museum and the Sustainable Archaeology facility have been poured. The doors are up. There has been a flurry of tradesmen and contractors on site this past week working on everything from electric hook-up, fire safety and security, to HVAC, plumbing and insulation. With just a little over a month left to substantial completion, there is still a lot to accomplish, but we're full steam ahead!

2nd concrete pour

 

The second concrete pour has almost been completed. It had to be poured in stages as finishing along the shelving rails had to be carefully troweled by hand. There is one section that is left to be poured to complete the floor. Then the stairs to the mezzanine, the mezzanine floor, and the accessibility ramp that adjoins the two facilities will be poured. Next week, the folks from Spacesaver shelving will be back on site to install the mobile shelves. That will take about a month to complete. We've gone from snow on the ground just a few weeks ago straight into summer temperatures - so the ground has thawed and the mud has dried up and we can shortly turn our attention to finishing up the exterior of the building and landscaping.

Shelving track

 

The track has been laid for the shelving and the second pour of concrete will secure them in place. Shelving should start going up on the 15th.

The Mez

 

Here is your first peek at the mezzanine space above the image and data laboratories. It overlooks the storage space. This is where guests to the facilities, students and affiliated researchers will have some space to work on desks and layout tables. We'll have some book cases up here as well and some map and filing cabinets. 

The shelving company, SpaceSaver, is starting to lay out the track for the shelving. They'll fix it in place next week and a final concrete pour will set them on May 9th. Tonda, the general contractor, is seeing to some finishing touches to the HVAC and electrical systems and bricking in doorways and girders. The temperature has been slow to warm up this spring and it's been wet out there, but landscaping should start by next week.

Digital X-Ray

The Sustainable Archaeology facility at the University of Western Ontario is seeking bids from vendors for a Digital X-Ray Cabinet System for the Ancient Images Laboratory. The radiography system is required for non-destructive 2D examination, identification and reconstruction of archaeological artifacts and organic remains.  Examples of applications include the biomechanical and morphometrical analysis of bone, the deposition patterns of enamel, cementum and dentin in teeth, identification of rusted or corroded artifacts, the material composition of earthenware ceramics and mineral inclusions, and the characterization of source morphology and inclusions in stone tools. The Request for Proposals (RFP) has been published on the WEsternBUYs website,UWORFPAL-01105 and MERX. The Senior Buyer contact for this proposal is Andrew Lazarito - alazarit @ uwo.ca. Closing date for proposals is 13 May 2011.

Parking Lot Expanded

 

Looking east of the museum, towards the Lawson Village palisade, you can see where the parking lot is being expanded. This will provide several new parking spaces to accommodate the increased traffic at the new merged facilities (Sustainable Archaeology & the Museum of Ontario Archaeology).