Taking the Benches Apart
You may have noticed that in coordination with and using funds provided by
the Friends of Schuylkill River Park, volunteers have begun replacing the
Park's Benches. Noted in 2008 was substantial degradation of the benches,
including several that had broken boards. In response, the FSRP began
planning to repair the existing benches, a project that officially began in
Spring 2009. The procedure includes complete removal of all old wood and
bolts. This is the most challenging portion of the project as most bolts had
severe rust, which prevented unscrewing the bolts from the nuts. Instead, a
grinder was used to cut through bolts - a laborious process.
Trying to unscrew rusty bolts
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Cutting the Old Wood off
Using a grinder to cut through the bolts
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Preparing the Frames and Replacing the wood
After bolt removal, the bench frames were primed and painted using a product
designed for metal surfaces. New boards were then cut to size and secured
using hot zinc dipped galvanized bolts and nuts, which are the most rust
resistant materials available for this application. Thus far 19 metal framed
benches in the park and 6 in the Garden (using Garden funds) have been
replaced - for a total of 26 benches. Additionally, we have begun replacing
the wood on the concrete sided benches in the dog run. Thus far we have
replaced the wood on all benches in the small dog run (3 in total) and
continue to work on the benches in the large dog run (7 in total). Once the
wood on all benches has had sufficient time to dry, it will be sanded and
sealed with a wood preservative product.
Derek is building a catapult |
Cutting the new wood
Drilling holes for the new bolts |
