Welcome to the first blog of Project 2022! It can be very difficult to understand and visualise what goes on behind the hoardings of a construction site, but working alongside Site Manager Jacques Viviers hopefully this blog, through its words and pictures, will help to tell the story of this exciting build! Jacques explained to us that phase 1 of Project 22 includes the sports hall, shower block and changing rooms, 4 classrooms and also toilets.

Phase 1 is to the far right of the school as you look at the entrance. As some of you may know this area was originally the site of a waste dump from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. But as we discovered when we looked at the soil with Jacques, it’s very different from landfill sites today. There is NO PLASTIC! Up until the 1920-30’s very little plastic was used for packaging and manufacturing, with most containers and bottles being made from glass and china. The pictures in this blog clearly show this, and perhaps remind us that we can still learn a lot from the way things used to be done. Even in the 1960’s and 70’s milk bottles not only used to be made of glass, but they were often delivered by electric milk floats! 

Because part of the site soil came from an old landfill dump it must be tested for any contamination. The soil has now passed those tests and can be removed from the site. This process is called ‘muck away’. Any good soil from different areas of the site can be re-used, saving further traffic movements.

The land towards the back right hand side of the site is currently at a higher level, and this will have what is known as a ‘reduced dig’ over the coming weeks, to make the ground all one level. Once this is complete the new compound for site staff can be delivered. Staff welfare is an important consideration in the construction industry and the compound will be made up of 5 units to include offices, a drying room and canteen.

We really enjoyed our first visit to the site and are already looking forward to our next visit in April. By then work on the piling mat for the foundations will have begun, which we will explain all about in our next blog!