Big doings at the JHU library construction site

Uncle Jack's last post presented a brief pictorial history of the progress so far of the men and machines who are building the new Brody Learning Commons adjacent to the Eisenhower Library on the Johns Hopkins campus.  A major development occurred a few days ago which he deems worthy of special attention.  He has been waiting for this shoe to drop for months and the fact that it finally has indicates that some serious new work on the building is about to begin.

Uncle Jack was baffled a couple of weeks ago when workmen poured this concrete slab on the upper level of the construction site.  He was unable to discern any possible use for it given its size and location.

Now he knows.  It was the base for an enormous construction crane that was assembled with help of a very large portable crane last Thursday.

Here the portable crane is lifting the operator's cabin into place on the top of the tower.  Several very brave men are up there bolting things together in a nasty wind.

Up goes another piece.  This was a fascinating process to watch.  (This photo was taken from the comfort of Uncle Jack's living room so you can get an idea of how far he has to walk to the construction site).

And here is the completely assembled crane ready to go to work.  Assembly took only one working day which Uncle Jack thought was amazing.

Meanwhile, down in the hole, infrastructure work goes on.  Horizontal pipe has been laid and covered and the first stage of piping for wastewater collection has been installed in a couple of places.  Every day it gets a little more complicated and he still has no idea how they will get that big shovel out of the hole when the time comes.

All around the campus and the neighborhood in general leaves are turning and presenting beautiful bursts of color everywhere.

These trees are in Uncle Jack's backyard, so to speak.

    And these are on the JHU campus. (top photo).  The mural is painted on the side of DiPasquale's Italian grocery, a fixture in the Highlandtown district of Baltimore since 1914.  A culinary treasure.

Sunset a couple of days ago.  There have been some beauties lately.  Happy Thanksgiving to all.

A Library Grows in Baltimore

     Nearly every morning Uncle Jack and Mrs. U.J. start the day with a brisk walk through the beautiful Johns Hopkins University campus right across Charles Street from their apartment.  One day back in July they encountered something new as they climbed the hill toward the Milton Eisenhower Library---a sign announcing the forthcoming construction of a large addition to the library to be called the Brody Learning Commons.  Chain link and plastic fencing was already in place to keep students and gawkers like Uncle Jack out of trouble and earthmoving equipment was already at work.  Uncle Jack took some pictures that day and has continued to take pictures at intervals ever since.  He hopes to live long enough to follow the construction process with his camera until the building opens for business sometime in 2012 if all goes well.  It's fascinating to watch a major building project like this unfold and he marvels at the ability of the engineers in charge to plan every last detail in advance and then make it happen in the correct sequence.  Look for another set of pictures in a couple of months. (Click to enlarge the pictures).

The existing Eisenhower library (Milton was Ike's brother and president of Johns Hopkins after WWII) is at the extreme right of the architect's drawing---with the arch. The new building will be attached to the old but will mostly be underground.

One lonely shovel has begun the noisy task of knocking down an existing reinforced concrete wall.  Students and faculty are already complaining about the racket but they ain't heard nothing yet.  This was taken on July 27, 2010.

A month later a lot more equipment is on hand, a lot of earth has been moved and a drill is making holes for steel pilings.  It will drill a lot of holes in the next few weeks, hopefully in all the right places.

Meanwhile work proceeds at another level with much moving of earth and installation of infrastructure like stormwater drainpipes.

Down in the hole another section of concrete wall is hammered into submission and the amount of machinery on the premises continues to grow.

Two months after construction began the first retaining walls are beginning to appear but there's a lot more dirt to be moved as you will see.

On the upper level the drill is making big holes for big pipes and more retaining walls are under construction.

The big hole gets deeper every day and the retaining walls follow suit.  Enormous amounts of dirt have been hauled away in trucks but there is much more to come.

While the diggers have been digging other workmen have been drilling holes in the retaining walls and somehow dragging what look like electrical cables into the space.  Where they come from is a mystery to Uncle Jack.  The last of the reinforced concrete walls lies in pieces at the left. This picture was taken on October 8.

On the upper level preparations are made to pour concrete into this hole full of rebar.   What it's for is anybody's guess.

After the pour.  The first of many thousands of cubic feet of concrete that will go into the new building before it's finished.  This picture was taken on November 10.

The pit as of November 11.  How will they get that big shovel out of the hole when the time comes?  Stay tuned.

Glorious Fall on the Outer Banks

    Uncle Jack has always thought that October was prime time on the Outer Banks and his recent two-week sojourn in Nags Head did nothing to change his mind.  The last two weeks were about as perfect weatherwise as one could hope for in these troubled meteorological times and he and Mrs. U.J. enjoyed almost every minute of their stay, the exception being their disappointment in the hushpuppies at Darrell's which didn't seem to be quite as delectable as he remembered them. (They will try again on their next visit---a hushpuppy is a terrible thing to waste). Baltimore has its charms (they wouldn't call it Charm City otherwise) but there's no place he would rather be in the month of October than the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
    While they mostly hung around home and walked on the beach they did make a few excursions and took a few pictures, a few samples of which you will find below.  Click on the pictures to make them larger if you wish.

South Nags Head on Dwellable

      The Currituck Lighthouse-Whalehead Club area has metamorphosed into a major (and lovely) tourist attraction since the last time we visited a few years ago.  The Wildlife Museum was closed on the Sunday we were there but the entire outdoor complex is visually pleasing and the late-October crowd was thin enough to allow visitors to enjoy it.  Deer no longer wander the lighthouse grounds but it's probably just as well, both for them and their tormenters.  The keepers' houses, one of which is shown above,  have been lovingly restored and the landscaping around  them is a treat for the eyes.

It was a great day to climb to the observation deck from which a great view of the rampant over-development of the northern Outer Banks may be had.  Uncle Jack's acute acrophobia saved him from that prospect but he later saw an aerial photograph by Eve Turek at Yellowhouse Gallery that covers the same ground.  Unbelievable.

An oasis of peace and quiet at the foot of the lighthouse.  That's the old keeper's house, now a gift shop, almost hidden in the lush vegetation.

We saw this woman swimming on our first beachwalk in Sonag. She was only one of many intrepid swimmers as it turned out.

Jennette's Pier is coming along nicely.  The wind generators have been operating just long enough to produce the first complaints from nearby residents about how much noise they make when spinning at full speed.  Sigh.

Two new structures have appeared at the base of the pier.  The one on the left will be a bath house for users of the public beach and the other is a pumphouse for pushing wastewater across the street to a new disposal plant out in back of Sam and Omie's somewhere.  There is a very impressive website about the Jennette's Pier project if you want to learn more. Google Jennette's Pier.

The condemned row of derelict houses fronting what used to be Seagull Drive remain in place.  You could perhaps call them the Unpainted Aristocracy if the name were not already taken.

                              This "planter" might turn up on Craig's List one day.

The beach in South Nags Head was extremely wide during our entire visit.  A great time to try to sell oceanfront property to the unwary.

What could be more fun than a trip to Ocracoke on a gorgeous fall day when you don't have to wait in line for the ferry for two hours?

A great place to sit in the sun for a couple of hours.  The docks on Silver Lake never seem to change very much.

The venerable Island Inn was sold at a foreclosure auction the day before our visit but Uncle Jack doesn't know who bought it or for how much.  Many island residents fear that it may be torn down.

                        From a distance Bodie Island lighthouse looks a bit fuzzy these days.

Up close you can see the scaffolding required for the two-year preservation project now underway.  Your tax dollars at work in a worthy cause.

The gigantic wind-blown dune that nearly engulfed the old lifesaving station at Oregon Inlet a year ago has been removed and the building extensively refurbished.  It belongs to the North Carolina Aquariums now but Uncle Jack is not sure what they have in mind for it.

Uncle Jack never did manage to get up early enough to take a picture of the sunrise but he thought this sunset over Sonag was rather pretty.