Victoria’s Story Construction has been busy this week with some “extreme engineering” as the company erects the new Crag X climbing gym downtown on Pandora Avenue.
The work involves an intricate ballet of placing 30 pre-cast concrete panels — each 15 metres high and weighing 34,000 kilograms — within a few centimetres of a neighbouring building. The project includes one of the largest cranes on the Island and will take about three days, according to Story Construction’s Stewart Story.
“It takes planning, timing and great teamwork,” says Story. The precast concrete panels arrived from Nanaimo Pre Cast, were lifted off the truck, temporarily braced and then lifted into their final location, where 225-kilogram steel braces hold them in place. Once the steel roof structure is installed later this week, the braces will be removed.
In preparation for the installation, Story crews poured an engineered concrete slab with extra rebar to handle the weight of the crane. Extra concrete columns where also poured in the slab to accommodate the weight of the crane’s outriggers.
The company worked with a team of architects, structural engineers and crane company Advantage to ensure that erection day came off without a hitch.
“Safety has been the main priority, so the production and erection of these panels has taken that into account every step of the way,” said Story. “It’s a busy day when those panels arrive at 7 a.m., and the Story crew and crane operators are a well-oiled machine with every one knowing their role.”
Crag X is expected to open this year. The new facility, designed by Chandler Architecture, will replace the current climbing wall on John Street in the Rock Bay area, which is still operating.
Construction of the 15-metre-high building featuring a glass front will let in the light, showcase the efforts of climbers from morning to night and perhaps tempt sedentary types to give it a try, according to co-owners Ken Cronin and Nikolai Galadza. Rock climbing is “a serious kind of fun,” Cronin said.
“Our goal is to build the best climbing gym that has been built,” he said.
“We’ve picked downtown because we believe in downtown. We’re an urban activity.”
The duo bought the Pandora property for $1.14 million in 2013 and will be investing “well over a million” in the building and fitting it out.
Previously, a decrepit pink building dating to 1895 on the site housed a traditional Chinese medicine establishment.
Other courses will be added involving self-rescue and hanging belay, along with a studio for yoga, stretching and training to tempt those who aren't on the walls.
Story Construction, a family-owned firm with more than 30 years of technical construction experience, has a number of interesting projects happening around the city — from a church renovation in Cadboro Bay to the renovated Archie Browning Sports Centre.
