When we arrived at the job site (outdoors, 20 degree St. Louis weather, 15 - 20 mph wind gusts, minimal electricity), we found our trailer.  I was initially informed that the trailer dimensions were 16′ x 8′, but was pleased to see that we were actually working with a 20′ x 8′ platform.  I had to slightly alter my building plans, but that wasn’t a big deal.

In order to meet parade (and OHSA) guidelines, we wanted to make our railing 48″ tall.  I had a friend use my tape measure to mark our 8-ft. 2×4’s at the 48-in. mark so I could start cutting once I figured out how to run electricity to my Craftsman compound miter saw (more on that in a future post).

Once we had the boards cut to spec, we wanted to place braces two feet apart in order to secure the railing.  We opted to use metal braces because we could set up our railing support system very quickly and easily without having to cut additional boards with the compound miter saw.  After all, in 20 degree weather with a brutal, sheering wind, time really was of the essence!

With our braces in place, we inserted our 48″ supports and fastened them to the float decking.  Once we had all 20 supports installed, we were able to start work on fastening the railing.  We took our 3″ drywall screws and drove them through the railing, making sure to countersink them as deep as possible to avoid injury (while still making it easy to pull them up when it came time to strike the float).  The end result looked like this:

That concluded day 1 of the float construction.  Day two to follow…