Site Update: Freezing Temps and Focus on Foundation
Work is moving along steadily here at the Mosaic Centre. The freezing temperatures over the past few weeks have allowed us to work without fighting the mud and soft soil conditions. This has improved efficiencies as well as the general mood onsite; nobody likes playing in the mud for 10 hours a day. Who would have thought the return of winter would be such a blessing!!
With the 73 foundation piles complete, the forming of the concrete grade beams is progressing well and we hope to be pouring concrete for the east half of the building late next week. The accuracy of these foundations is critical to the successful construction/assemblage/formation of the Western Archrib structure. With over 40 bolted connections between the wood structure and our concrete foundation, it’s crucial that each one of these connection points is installed with pinpoint accuracy. Accurate surveyance and a series of double- and triple-checks ensure that each bolt setting is placed correctly.
Other activities onsite include the installation of the main electrical duct bank, which will house the main electrical service to the building. This installation required trenching of approximately 62 lineal meters to a depth of 1.5 meters and a width of .750 meters wide. Ideally we would like to complete these major ground disturbances before the wet months of May/June/July. We will be concreting this duct with red-coloured concrete to not only provide protection to the installed piping, but also make it visible in case future excavation occurs in the vicinity of the duct bank.
The foundation work is our main focus onsite for the next couple of weeks. Another important site activity commencing soon is the drilling of 31 geothermal boreholes. These boreholes will be drilled down to a depth of 70 meters and are an integral part of the geothermal heating system. This system is just one of the unique features of the Mosaic Centre. Watch for a separate blog entry detailing the construction and installation of this system coming soon!!
The installation of the drainage services will also start in the upcoming weeks. We hope to have all of our deep services and rough grading of the site ready for parking lot construction in early/mid-June.
The momentum and excitement onsite is building as things get busier and busier. All of the team members are excited to be part of such a unique project and the collaboration between the different trade disciplines is starting to energize. Workers are being challenged to “think outside of the box” and analyze tasks to ”lean-up” processes that some have been performing the same way for years. There is always room to improve efficiencies onsite, but the focus needs to be on cutting the waste in everything we do. In some cases, “reinventing the wheel” may be the best approach to performing certain tasks. Construction practices in North America have been performed relatively the same way for decades. There are a lot of inefficiencies in our industry and it’s very exciting to be part of a team that is looking to change and improve the way we do our work.
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