Birdsong has landed

 

I had just dropped off a package at our neighbourhood postal outlet when I saw the wrapped Birdsong Studio zoom by on Centre Street here in High River. I whipped out my phone and started recording. I then ran home to catch it as it traveled up 1st Street SE and then maneuvered its way on to our lot next to the huge McIntyre crane. 

Watch the arrival here.

It was an exciting arrival and then a whole lot of waiting as the crew figured out next steps. Safety is the number one concern when doing a significant lift. Everyone needs to be on the same page in terms of steps and safety protocols. After a short meeting with the gentleman from Fortis, reviewing how things were going to transpire to stay enough distance away from the overhead power line, they began all the required rigging. 

I sat ready with my camera chatting with Andy who had come to watch the excitement. The lift, when it eventually happened, was absolutely seamless. There was a little confusion as to the positioning of the buiding, owing to the location of the neighbour's fence. The position of the screw piles and the intended resting place of the house was designed to be four feet from the property line. On paper, it looked like the house was to sit four feet from the fence. Nowhere on the drawings did it differentiate between the two. The fence (not built by the current owners) was built a full foot too far east, encroaching over 12 inches on our property.

After a brief intervention, the house was correctly placed on the intended piles. Had I not come out, they might have made some unnecessary and potentially costly adjustments. 

The second flat bed arrived with all of the roof panels, internal walls and various other things required to finish the building. The crane lifted all those pieces off the truck and staged them on the adjacent lot while the SEED Homes crew tarped the entire studio building. Everyone was hyper aware of the incoming spring snow. 

We're a little uncertain how this unseasonably cold and wet weather will impact the next of couple of days. Will the unfold happen today? Time will tell.