13 February - erection of first beams

This summer has been exceptionally wet and misty. To erect the beams needs dryer weather and today, 13 February, the builders and volunteers were up at 4am to enjoy the first reasonably clear day in a week. It got clearer as the hours went by. The first beam (consisting of 2 parts - as seen in the first photos below) needed to be very precise and a second beam needs to be up within a few hours so that "cross-beams" can be fitted to stabablise the huge structure. Fortunately, the fire did not destroy the fantastic foundational structures designed by Mr Philip Stott (a structural engineer who spent over 10 years here giving voluntary expertise for the building of the previous auditorium.) His foundations (32 of them) are about 3 metres deep and each contain about 50 tons of concrete and steel. It is upon this structure that the laminated wooden beams can be fitted. Without these foundations it would probably take years and not months to erect the new auditorium.