Thursday, November 24, 2011

Construction Begins

The formal construction documents were delivered on Wednesday, November 23, 2011. It was a good day and everyone was quite happy. The initial cheque was written out to secure the mobilization on the construction site.
The director of the general contracting company received the cheque after presenting all required documents. The General contractor will be on site around midday of Thursday, November 24/11 to begin site preparations.








 The property was quite wet and overgrown at the early part of September. The rainy season was to have come to an end at the end of August but held on towards the end of October. It did stop raining in time to allow the site to dry up for the November 1 ground breaking ceremony.



Visible on the far side of the property is bush line, as is the overgrown and wet state of the site. The abundance of grass on the site brought numerous cows to the property for grazing
The site was also being well used by others. Piles of gravel, sand and bricks were stored on the site for use on neighbouring construction projects over the past year.











By the end of October the site had been cleared of all materials not belonging to the property, and the site had been cleared in preparation for the ground breaking ceremony.
On the far side is a rock retaining wall that forms the west boundary. The north boundary is defined by the access road for this property. In the NE corner is a steel post. The east boundary goes from this post to the bottom right hand corner of the picture. The south boundary is just north of the gravel pile seen on the left side of the picture.


As mentioned already, the general contractor will be on site as of November 24 to begin site preparations for the construction. The site will become messier and more unfriendly to begin with, and each day will bring changes to the view. Keep posted to see the construction progress.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Final Preparations for Start-up

November 1, 2011 was the day we held the Ground Breaking Ceremony for the new building. It was a most wonderful day filled with stories, laughter, encouragement, and many emotions, especially for those who have been involved in pursuing this dream from its earliest beginnings. There were around 300 people in attendance.

The people on the shovel were three patients that represent the various patient groups served by the patient service ministry.



 Later that evening we gathered with the ministry staff for supper. The time was filled with much laughter, a good opportunity to unwind.












Some gifts had been brought from Canada and were handed out. The cross will be placed within the walls during construction. The patient servers were given compasses and torches as they are called here (flashlights to those in North America). It is important that the servers not get lost and can clearly see their way as the patients really have no idea how to find their way around.











The contract document consisted of 72 pages with four copies of the contract for a total of 288 pages. Each page needed to be stamped by the patient service ministry and the contractor, each stamp needed to be initialed, and three pages required signatures.

Both representatives had tired hands when all the stamping and signing was completed.


Four packages of construction drawings, the contract and technical specifications were handed out after the sighing.
 The signing came to a close with the shaking hands. Then it was time for lunch.


The architect and engineering firm for the project has a wonderful cook and she makes the most delicious Dahl Bhat, and she always has a smile.

All in all it was a good day.

The contractor will take possession of the property on November 28/11 with construction to begin by Dec 12 at the latest. This is a very exciting time here as this day has been waited upon for quite some time now - about six years.