Construction of the Revolution Hospital in the Dominican Republic: September 2015

No more mañanas to report!

(well, for a good while anyway :)

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,

to them who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

(I like an interpretation of this I came across: "A pillow for the weired soul")

The surveyors started today locating the corners of the building and platea (foundation slab) first, and then will locate the 89 columns inside the building.
This will be a super-fun time when we finally see the footprint of the Clinic and can wander the floorplan.
There are many points to be located, so this will take several days.

Wood has been delivered and is being prepped to be used to form the perimeter of the platea.

Wood to be used to form the perimeter of the Platea.

Security cameras have been set up on the site so we can keep a close eye on activity and materials.
Lighting is in place for the night guard, including an inverter we purchased from a 2nd Pres Roanoke family who owns an inverter company here in the DR.

Clinic mascot Maximus checking out the pins defining the
southeast walls that step their way from front to back.

Maximus has endured many issues in his short life so far and so we thought it fitting that he be named after an enduring, persistent character. (kinda fits the clinic building process now that I think about it!)

Several truckloads of 40' rebar are scheduled to arrive late Tuesday or Wednesday. This will be used to make up the 89 columns, each requiring 10 pieces of 1/2" rebar and a great deal of "cages" that hold the 1/2" in place. Of course, the entire platea will have two grids of rebar, each tied 15cm apart.

At last.

Locating corner pins at the front Northeast corner.

Ezequiel (our day guard and more man) running the skid steer - moving block out of the way
in order to create a place to tie the column rebar..

.... don't even THINK of stopping your prayers ...

Since arriving last November and throughout winter and spring I was told about the upcoming "rainy season" in the late spring and summer ... well, we never had rain a rainy season this year. Santo Domingo at one point only had 35 days of water remaining in their reservoirs. After tropical storm Danny only brought false hope, Tropical Storm Erika actually delivered some desperately needed rain. Oh wait, you aren't interested in the drought, you'd like to hear about the Revolution project ... so, here you go:

The title is a metaphor of course, I am very excited to inform everyone that our construction drought during the last four months is over, Erika brought the rain and Eduard has delivered the information we have been waiting on, and so our drought is over.

Four Months ago we completed a large site preparation phase that resulted in 3,025 truckloads of fill material delivered and compacted on the jobsite. This will serve as a stout base for the foundation because the soil below is great for agriculture, not so good for construction. After completion of this phase we made a very deliberate decision at that time to hold off starting the next phase until we felt many issues were worked out and more information investigated.
There is a different mindset here in the DR when it comes to many things socially and in the business world, and although we respect those differences Solid Rock needed the tools and information going forward that would provide to us the best methods and information to very intently control how funds were estimated to be spent and actually spent. This took some time.
We also spent time thoroughly investigating design options of our foundation to be assured it will provide a stout foundation in the most cost-efficient manner. The Haiti earthquake has dramatically changed the building standards here in the Dominican and we needed to be sure all options were looked into.
We now have full confidence in the foundation design and have the tools and reporting in place to allow us to carefully estimate and monitor our costs.

So we are ready to start our "platea", known in the States as a mat foundation. In summary, the building will be built on top of this platea which will in essence work like a large tray that will evenly support the building and also hold the building during an earthquake. It is a single gigantic footer. After two layers of rebar are tied and installed, the rebar for 90 columns is assembled and stood in place and 1,300 cubic meters of concrete is placed we will have one great foundation. It will take about 60 days to complete this work.

Good things take time - the last four months have allowed us to time to get all of our ducks in a row. Sometimes progress needs to be looked at from a different perspective.

I am happy to let you know there will be constant reports from me on our progress .
Stay Tuned!

If you are bored, below is a time lapse I did the afternoon Erika arrived: