A time-honored ‘Topping Off’ ceremony was held to mark the latest milestone in the construction of the F.W. Webb Co. Central Distribution facility in Londonderry, N.H. Green Leaf Construction raised the final steel beam on the exterior facade of what will be a nearly 1 million-sq.-ft. building later this year.

The construction milestone comes five months after the official ground breaking last August. Prior to the last exterior beam – painted white for the occasion – being hoisted into place, it was signed by F.W. Webb Owner John Pope, F.W. Webb President Jeff Pope, Green Leaf representatives, and others in attendance who worked so effectively to bring the project quickly to this point. 

The hardworking construction team, including many New Hampshire subcontractors, was acknowledged by Jeff and Green Leaf Construction COO Thomas Dube, who impressively provided significant project stats in football parlance.

Dube said the design drawings themselves would cover 10 percent of a football field, “10 yards, first down.”

He said nearly a mile of concrete footing and more than 500 interior footings were in place: “Enough surface area to cover 80 percent of a football field.”

More than 220,000 square feet of precast panels, efficiently installed over a 35-day period, would “cover nearly five football fields,” Dube added, and 1,500 tons of joist, girders and columns “stretched end-to-end would span 80 football fields.”

The team is now turning the bulk of its time and energy to the interior work. Construction is slated to be completed in fall 2017.

Hailed as one of the largest facilities of its kind in the state of New Hampshire, the new CD will be nearly 1 million square foot and employ approximately 140 people.

The new facility will replace and be more than double the size of the company’s current CD in Amherst, N.H. It is being built to accommodate the company’s rapid growth and future expansion plans throughout the Northeast. It will provide F.W. Webb customers, serviced by more than 80 locations in nine states, full inventory of the products they need to build, maintain, remodel, repair and run homes, buildings, facilities, plants and processes.

The new CD is expected to be completed and opened in the last quarter of 2017.