Becker’s Blog: The Columns are Coming!

Since it wasn’t finished in time to make the container, the last column came to Sioux Falls via air freight. The whole quarry block delay put us behind the eight ball; back in November, Sioux Falls Construction gave us a firm date the columns needed to be on site, since other trades needed to work once the baldacchino columns were up.

Click on photo to enlargeWe had no choice but to air-freight at our expense. Air-freighting is like being dumped by your girlfriend years ago – it’s tough to swallow, embarrassing to admit, but it happens to the best of us.

INSTALLING THE COLUMNS

I’m not going in-depth here on how we raised the columns; the process took a week to bring them into the church, raise and trolley into place, and then install the white marble capitals on top.

We detailed our anchoring in shop drawings last yea so that, once a column was suspended on the scaffold, the architect could rotate the stone at 90° increments so that the desired veining could face forward.Click on photo to enlarge

This forethought paid off, as the Verde St Denis columns contained dramatic veining. By rotating the front columns, it appears they’re book-matched to each other.

Raising the columns was a milestone for the project team. It completed the toughest and riskiest install of the project; now the project team can look forward to an optimistic June 1 completion of the project.

The columns ran the table for emotions for all involved. From the selection to the disappointment of changing colors, and then seeing the actual column being raised (red color or green, it was pretty cool to watch). Most importantly, the customer is happy how it ended.

As the stone contractor, we usually don’t get emotionally involved like the customer does, but these four pieces of stone had a life of their own. I think I’ll always tip my cap every time I see them.

Thanks for reading,

Joe Becker
Twin City Tile and Marble Co.
St. Paul, Minn.

Joe Becker has been in the natural-stone business for 26 years. He started with Cold Spring Granite as a draftsman and spent time in their stone installation and estimating departments. He is currently Vice President of St. Paul, Minn.-based Twin City Tile and Marble Co. and oversees their stone operations.

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