Superior Scaffold – Firestone Library, Princeton Univeristy (Last Phase) Scaffolding the entire building

This is the last phase of the scaffolding and exterior renovations.

It’s also a follow up to our original post.  (scroll down for link)

Princeton University has committed to a comprehensive renovation of Firestone Library
and Superior Scaffold has been there every step of the way.  The entire building is scaffolded
and debris netting has been added.

Superior Scaffold was selected to help in the renovation of Princeton’s Prestigious Firestone library because of its long history working with historic buildings on the campus.

Superior Scaffold provided netting around the entire structure so that the Firestone Library could remain open during renovations

The renovation is a long-term project that is being done in multiple phases and will take almost 10 years to finish, during which time the library will remain open, and its collections available during normal hours of operation.

This the back of the library. You can see just how large the scope of this scaffolding job is.

Superior erected as system scaffold allowing crews to get access to all areas of this monumental restoration.

This is directly above the main entrance.

As stated above, the library has to remain open while crews do the work.

This is the right side of the Firestone Library – scaffold continues all the way around.

Superior also provided a series of debris netting and trash chutes to the project.

Directly above the main entrance. The masonry work is outstanding. Everything will look like new when crews are finished.

The Harvey S. Firestone Memorial Library opened in 1948 as the first large American university library constructed after World War II.  Roughly 1.5 million volumes were moved during the summer of 1948 from Pyne and Chancellor Green Halls, which until then had served as the University’s main library.  The library building was expanded in 1971 and again in 1988 and currently has more than 70 miles (110 km) of bookshelves, making Firestone one of the largest open-stack libraries in existence.  Though not the largest university library in the world, the library has more books per enrolled student than that of any other university in the United States.

A view of the entire Firestone library from the back.

You can keep tabs of the multi-phase renovation here:

The stair tower up to the top.

You can see our original post about the Firestone library here:

Renovation at Princeton University Firestone Library

For all of your scaffold and scaffolding needs call Superior Scaffold today (215) 743-2200

or visit http://www.superiorscaffold.com

http://libblogs.princeton.edu/renovations/

http://library.princeton.edu/

Superior Scaffold Shoring up the Mid-Atlantic

Can you say needle beam?  I just love that word.  Needle beam, needle beam, needle beam.

Did one just appear?

It did.  (See the photos below.)

That is a needle beam.  I know, like me, you probably thought it would resemble an actual needle but no.  It’s just a term that the engineers like to throw around loosely anytime a beam needs to be put through something for support.

Here’s the actual definition of needle beam from the free dictionary:  in shoring, the horizontal cross timber which goes through the wall or a pier, and upon which the weight of the wall rests, when a building is shored up to allow of alterations in the lower part.

Well that makes sense.  So now look at the picture.  You see the needle beams?

A store in the Hillview Shopping Center in Cherry Hill, NJ wanted to expand the front entrance to their building so the call went out to Superior Scaffold, who are experts with all things shoring by the way (shameless plug).  So the grand wizard of engineering, Bob Robinson, devised this nifty bit of shoring using 20 kip heavy duty post shores to support the exterior walls with needle beams sticking through.

And on the inside, Superior used their hi-load shoring frames with aluminum joists to support the bar joists.

How about that?  I just realized that I’m going to have to do a post just dealing with scaffold terminology.  Kind of like the urban dictionary for scaffolding.  I’ll get to that so you all know what 20 Kip means, and what Bar Joists are, etc.

Anyway, the job went swimmingly and the client was thrilled.  And I am happy to report that there were no Beetlejuice sightings or random appearances of needle beams either.

Needle beam, needle beam, needle beam….

Poof.