Due to funding we are now creating a 1-storey library instead of 2, so I had to re-do the drawings for the building and re-calculate the foundations, footings, re-do the roof plan, and sort out another rebar schedule. I also discovered I could put wire mesh in the floor slab instead of rebar which does the same thing but it is easier because you buy it in sheets and have it sized to your needs, it is then laid in the concrete. Also because it is a 1-storey building I was able to reduce the rebar, which means less worry for me and a more guaranteed quality of rebar. So everything had to be re-worked and re-planned. This needed to be done in a span of 24 hours so we could go back to council and talk to them about the underpinning of the existing building. So we did an exploratory dig. This includes digging around the existing building at a few points to see what the foundation looks like. So we dug at 3 points the north, east and west walls. The north wall had a rock foundation with mortar to hold it together, there was no footing and the mortar was disintegrating into dust so I could scrap it out which caused holes. The foundation at the north wall was about a metre deep. The west wall had a tree root growing into the building, which was causing it to bulge, the foundation is about .75m deep and again no footings and the foundation was rock with disintegrating mortar. The southeast corner had NO FOUNDATION!!! The building was sitting on the ground and that’s it! How this building is still standing I have no idea. So the front (south end) of the building had no foundation as you moved along the east and west walls to the north end of the building the foundation gradually increased to a metre. We found that just underpinning the building was not going to be enough, when you underpin a building you do it a metre at a time so that the foundation is never fully exposed. So after the building is underpinned we’ll wrap the foundation in chicken wire to hold it all together and plaster the chicken wire to the foundation. I met with someone from council and took them to the site and showed him the foundation and my plan to fix it, he smiled, nodded and said, “Sounds good”. My biggest concern was that I would become liable for the existing building if I fixed it, which is a common practice and I didn’t want to become liable for a building I didn’t construct that is over 50 years old. I was worried about excavation of the new building without looking at the foundation of the existing building. Council wanted me to attach the existing building to the new building, which I refused to do unless I saw the existing building. We also laid out the building using pegs so I was able to see what my building is going to look like.

Tuesday this week we are having a groundbreaking ceremony. This includes important people from the Nyanga Rural Council, School Districts and Library Committee. The District Council has asked me to help inspect and train their building inspectors for this project, as they have no structural professional on staff.

So by the end of the week, we’ll have a final budget, the existing building sorted (hopefully) and a plan for construction!!!!