Adding to History

Occasionally we get to add our products and touch to historical sites. We have manufactured masts for historic ships, billets for shipwrights to carve and shape for tugboat repair, and beams to help shore up existing historic structures. In this case, we get to add a whole new building to a historic site.

Hildene is former home of Robert Todd Lincoln in Manchester, VT – the only child of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln to survive to maturity.  And they are expanding! On top of the 14 historic buildings, formal gardens, observatory, and solar powered goat-dairy they are adding an event hall. 

Our previous post “Taking the Plunge” showed how we fabricate the concealed connections for the columns. Now we can show you the pre-fit for the flat top trusses to accommodate the hip roof. 

Using our overhead hoist system and some trusty saw horses we’re able to put the parts together. We do this to make sure the steel and glulam fabrication line up and to avoid any field modifications. You can see that the steel on the trusses will be fully exposed side plates that will be finished once fully installed on site.

The steel plates here will connect 5 different beams, so it’s important we get it right!