Kleiner Park---Heavy Fabrication

Work is moving right along on the Kleiner Park project.  Beams are cut, parts have been assembled, heavy fabrication has begun...

punching bolt holes in one of the gusset plates....

Welding up the support beams for the base of the sculptures: the base alone is 18 feet tall & made of 1/2 inch steel plate :)

More bolt holes; each piece will have over 200 structural tension-control bolts....

Moving pieces into place for welding....

measure twice, cut once; making sure everything is going to line up...

welding....

more welding....

cutting the upper beams; these will be attached to the larger support-structure....

Looks like my foundations will be poured ahead of schedule; within the next few weeks; hopefully the installation will take place in about a month; wow!   Still lots of work to do, but it's moving fast...

I cant wait to see them  out there with the wind turbines spinning; today was soooo windy, & I was wishing they were done already!  Each sculpture will be 45 feet tall, and will be very visible above the trees for a long time... Look for them next month!

amber

June 3rd: Mark your Calendar!

More details to come....

Amber

Albert Mead - Enquiry

came across your website whilst searching for information about J Stone & Co, the former engineering company at Deptford. My maternal grandfather, Albert Alfred Mead, used to work with them between the wars, possibly as company secretary. He seems to have been a self-made man, and since we know rather little about his professional life I thought it would be interesting to see if we can find any records that might throw light on his involvement with the company. Albert Mead also appears to have had his own company, Mead Mclean, under which several patents have been recorded. Any information about Mead Mclean would be of great interest as well. I wondered if your Society has any medium via which I could post this enquiry?

The Mead family lived at Lee and Blackheath (South Vale House, until around 1939). My father's family, the Eden-Greens, also lived locally and my grandfather Samuel worked at Johnson & Phillips between the wars. We moved away from Blackheath around 1965.

GLIAS 253

Tbe April issue of the Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society newsletter has a lot in it about Greenwich - so much that I can only summarise.

The main item is a long article by Bob Rust - which needs to be read to be appreciated. It runs to three pages and gives the sort of detail which can only come from personal knowleddge. He knows the local names of operations, smells, and what the local kids got up.

Bob Rust - if you are out there and reading this - please get in touch - we would like to talk to you!

GLIAS also notes the local plans for the old coaling jetty on the Greenwich Peninsula and the plans for it as a 'public heritage facility'.


A smaller item laments the imminent demise of John Humpheries House and notes it as the home of the fourth Leo III and refers us to www.leo-comouters.org.uk


GIHS would also like to hear from Chris Lewis who gave the GLIAS lecture on 20th April. He spoke about William Henry Barlow, who was born locally - there is a plaque to him on the presbytery of Our Lady of Grace in Charlton Road. we understand this was an amazing lecture - and - please Chris, we would like to know more.

I'm in the Paper! lol

Yep; in the Idaho Statesman today :) 

Me & Rod, lol: love the look on my face... : )

Amber

Idaho Botanical Garden: Art Install today...

This morning, we met out at the Botanical Garden for the sculpture install.  I had to call in a bigger crane to lift the pieces into their spots; my little crane wouldn't reach....  Thanks so much to Steve at ISE Cranes for the help!

hmmm, my little crane truck looks scrawny next to his, lol

Rigging the first piece for the move; this one is made all from 1/2 inch steel plate; very heavy!

No problem for the big crane, though: it was lifted up & over the water & in between the trees to the left

Me, talking to Steve in the crane: even though I know he can't hear me, I kept talking to him, along with hand signals, lol :)

Almost.... 

 btw; that's Rod from the Botanical Garden helping :)

"hmmmm, what do you think?"

In about 20 minutes we were done & on to the big one...

Me & Dad getting the lifting straps ready to attach to the crane hook

up it goes : )

& down into place

We had to do a bit of adjusting to make it sit level...lots of up, down, up, down, try again, up, down...

In the end, we got it to set right.  I think it looks sooo nice in it's new home...

Me & Steve--crane operator extraordinaire : )

The whole install took less than 2 hours, & went really smoothly.  I'm so happy with the way the pieces look in their new setting & can't wait to see the garden come to life around them : )

Thanks to everyone who helped out today!

Amber

Botanical Garden: Install #2

Today, I spent a lovely spring afternoon preparing sculptures for installation at the Idaho Botanical Garden: tomorrow I will be delivering the pieces...  I had to do a bit of welding & cleaning to prepare them for their permanent home.

This one; the Machine was out by the road in front of the house, & I had to move it back behind to shop to work on it: I'm sure the neighbors were wondering what was going on with the girl & the crane, lol

It's rather tall; over 15 feet; so I have to climb up on a ladder to hook lifting straps to the crane hook...

 The view from the top :) 

Looking back down....

The best self-portrait I could get while hanging onto the ladder with the camera, lol

After a couple hours of work, both pieces were ready to go; I just had to lift them onto the back of the truck with the crane.

And here we are: all strapped down for the ride downtown; kinda an odd looking load...

I'll be meeting out at the Gardens at 10; anyone who wants to come along & watch the install is more than welcome : ) 

ISE Cranes will be lifting the sculptures into place (my little crane doesn't have the reach to place them in the spots we have picked out)  It should be quick & easy; will probably take about an hour...

Plans are coming along for the big event on June 3rd, when the 3 sculptures will be officially unveiled.  We will be celebrating with food, drinks, music, art, entertainment & more; so mark your calendars: it's going to be an amazing evening!  Look for invites soon...

Amber