Our Building Better Schools construction team have made great progress on site at Saltpond in the Mfantseman district of the Central Region.

The team completed their site storeroom and carpentry shelter which you can see in the photos below and it is exciting to see the main school building developing.

Some of the key activities that have been carried on the main building, which features two classrooms, a storeroom/office and a toilet block include:

1. Concrete pouring for the foundations
An important part of pouring the foundation is curing – you can see in the photos the plastic sheeting (damp proof membrane) covering part of the poured concrete. This will help to preserve the newly poured concrete so that it can achieve its maximum strength.

2. Concrete pouring for the classroom columns
Firstly plastic formwork is erected into which the concrete will be poured. The formwork includes locks to hold it into position, ensuring the columns are in the correct place.

The concrete is subject to an important quality control measure called a ‘slump test’ which determines the workability of freshly made concrete, and therefore the ease with which concrete flows.

Once the concrete is poured it is vibrated to remove trapped air bubbles, thereby improving the compaction and strength of the concrete.

The foundations and columns are now complete for the main building, watch this space for more updates from our site team…