One of the main driving forces behind our work is to keep site moving, when considering cost and time implications a busy site team is essential. Maintaining a high workload also helps to maintain site morale as teams move from one task to the next, while we all see the fruits of our labour embedding a sense of pride that uplifts standards.
Office work is then a game of shuffling, on many dimensions, working to ensure the readiness of future design elements while readying production information for work about to go on site and solving any problems that may occur with work as it unfolds. Scheduling has to be highly flexible often work does not proceed in order of an ideal sequence, unforeseeable events such as material supply delays, external contractor timetables and the weather all have an influence. We therefore aim to maximise the interchangeablility of the schedule, moving what is done when, to suit events as they happen.
Over recent weeks work to the main hall has been given priority to get the building ready for use as soon as possible, works to the periphery of the main program can then be carried out as the building is being used. However it was recently decided that the building would not only function as a day centre for village development but longer weekly programs for both village residents and NGO agents would take place.
With the idea of resident groups accommodation and dining facilities became a high priority. The kitchen originally intended for the day program had been taken to DPC level and work had begun detailing the next stages of construction.
Cyclone Thane hit Pondicherry on December 30th, in the aftermath it became clear that much damage had occurred to the Sharanam boundary with many trees being lost, what had been a thick wall of vegetation was now an open view into the heart of the site, exposing the vault to the surrounding area. It was decided to restart kitchen works on site as soon as possible as the kitchen walls will help to screen the main building.
CSEB [compressed stabilised earth block] has to be handled and laid quite differently to a fired brick. Our first task was producing detailed layout drawings showing the exact position for individual blocks for the masons to follow. FB [full block] modules are 240×240 x90mm resulting in course patterns quite different to a typical brick wall.
After initial calculations we rang the block-making yard to place an order, to find that his operation had closed down over the monsoon so new blocks would not be ready for two months. Taking stock of the blocks on site we found we had 250 FB, 1500 HB [half block] and 1200 3/4B.
With a detailed breakdown of each wall we were able to see what walls could be built using what brick modules, focusing on the main servery wall as this is to be earth plastered allowing for a less precious approach to the wall construction to be adopted. Costing implications, in terms of increased mortar and labour time for a HB wall were also accessed.
Overseeing the initial courses we were worried to see that the masons had picked up bad habits laying fly-ash bricks and had forgotten or were ignoring what they had been taught regarding CSEB and needed reminding.
CSEB are laid individually dipping each block in water before laying and then quickly leveling the block once in position. The most difficult skill when laying a wall is keeping the face of the brick clean, which comes from developing a sense of how much mortar to lay and a knowledge of how to handle a trowel. With CSEB laid with an earth rich mortar however the face of the block is easily cleaned with water afterwards, so work progressed slapping mortar everywhere with the wall being cleaned by a helper after finishing each course. This same approach is undertaken when pointing, plastering the wall and then washing down the brick.
You can instantly read the skill of a mason by how they handle a trowel; highly skilled tooling reduces labour, time and costs while improving quality.
Work progressed unusually slowly and returning to site we discovered why, the majority of the Blocks were totally skew, the masons cursing the block maker. Fortunately the wall is to be plastered which will hide any irregularity, we did however have to devise a strategy to minimise the effect of the rhomboidal blocks through consistently placing each block with the irregularity in the same direction throughout each course.
Aurospace ARC 