Through winter weather disruption, Gilford public works building on track to open this summer

GILFORD — Construction on the new Department of Public Works building has continued through the winter, and Director Meghan Theriault said despite being slightly behind schedule due to Mother Nature, the department’s future home is taking shape nicely.

“The metal roofing is coming along great, even with the bad weather,” Theriault told the selectboard on Wednesday. “That crew is working extremely hard. They should be finished up this week, that is the hope, on the roof. That crew would then move to the siding.”

Chair Kevin Hayes asked how far behind the weather put the project, and Theriault said there was a two to three week delay at the start, as there was an issue with the hard rock ledge underground. The foundation design needed to be modified, which took the engineers time to complete.

Theriault hoped time would be made up by the crew, but only some areas of construction caught up, because of the snow. This didn’t affect the timeframe, however.

“We are no further behind than we were before, which is about three weeks behind, I believe,” Theriault said. “It’s like a dance of contractors, so that three to four contractors can be onsite at the same time, and kind of be doing different things.”

Theriault said some of the schedule overlaps jobs, and plumbing, mechanical, and electrical work will be started in late March.

Hayes said he hopes the subcontractors involved in the interior for plumbing and electrical will be ready to go when the exterior is completed.

“Oh yeah, they are ready to crank,” Theriault said. “They really just need the building enclosed enough that they can push heat in there and get all the interior. They said things will move really fast when the interior people come in because you can get multiple crews going, as well. With the weather and having to heat things up, that’s just some of the delays we’re dealing with.”

There are four crews actively working on the project. Theriault said the masonry team is already onsite, and has completed a 4-foot high wall that wraps around the building. They have completed the short side of the building, and are now working on the long side. She told the selectboard the area was heated to put waterproofing on the concrete walls, and there is now a membrane to catch water that bleeds down.

Another crew is working on light gauge metal, which creates the structure for the siding. The concrete walls on the administration side are also being framed. Lyman Construction is also back onsite, and the trees were cut for the pole barn area.

“They are going to be grubbing that out, and we will be able to use all that crushed glass in place there,” she said. “That will be great to use all that material for free.”

Theriault said they are starting to get into the “details and weeds of things” with the project, including tiles, carpets, furniture and outfitting with equipment.

Hayes asked how much frost there is in the ground inside the building, and Theriault said there is “several feet.” The hope is the pole barn area will have less, but there are heaters ready to go for that, as well.

“Be mindful that we don’t want to pour that slab when anything is frozen,” Hayes said.

Last Town Meeting, voters approved $11.2 million for design and construction of the new public works facility. This included demolition and temporary location of operations, as well as a pole barn, equipment, furnishings, and site improvements.

The old building was 50 years old, and only 13,000 square feet, compared with the 22,000-square-foot new building. The building is expected to be a major upgrade, as there were aspects of the former structure that were unsafe. The roof, for one, had caved in from snow on three different occasions, and the heating and cooling systems weren’t working correctly. There was also inadequate storage for chemicals, poor air quality, and slippery floors in the service area.

That building was demolished on July 22, and excavation and construction began soon after.

Theriault said the new public works building will be completed sometime this summer.

The department has been posting updates every few months, complete with videos, on the town website. Information about the project can be found at gilfordnh.gov/entity/NEW-GILFORD-PUBLIC-WORKS-FACILITY-PROJECT-36.