Sydney Layover

On my way to meet up with Holly in Melbourne, I had a day stopover in Sydney. It was fun to play the tourist (which I most definitely was) for the day and go see a number of classic Sydney locations. It was such a huge change from being in Bangladesh. Simply put... ORGANIZATION vs the typical chaos - uncrowded metros/busses, crosswalks, working street lights, almost no honking, English, high prices, cooler temperatures, no litter, no aggressive beggars...

We had a great time away to refresh. Now back to construction.

Jon checking out the Sydney sites just after landing

Sydney Opera House and Bridge

View from the Bridge Pylon

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Opera house is actually tiled on the exterior, which I found interesting

Jon

The Great Ocean Road and the Twelve Apostles

 

Jon and I are back to work in Malumghat, Bangladesh but we still have a few posts to share from our time in Australia.  Jon made a quick stop in Sydney before flying to meet me in Melbourne.  After a canceled flight and sleepless night he eventually made it to Melbourne where we headed west with my sister Katie and her husband John to drive The Great Ocean Road and see The Twelve Apostles.  Thanks for making the trip again and hosting us in Melbourne Katie and John!

 

The beginning of The Great Ocean Road

 

 Beach at the beginning of the Great Ocean Road

 

Katie and Holly at a view point along The Great Ocean Road

 

 Aire River

 

 The Twelve Apostles (west view - some apostles have crumbled)

 

  The Twelve Apostles (east view)

 

 The Twelve Apostles (another west view)

 

The Grotto (sinkhole formation)

 London Bridge (the natural archway between the two formations collapsed in 1990)

 

Loch Ard Gorge Area

 

Thunder Cave, Loch Ard Gorge Area

Huge waves in the Loch Ard Gorge Area

 

 Loch Ard Gorge Area

Holly

Snowy Mountains, Australia

My sister Katie and I traveled to the Snowy Mountains this weekend for a day of horse back riding.  This is the setting for the film The Man From Snowy River (and The Return of the Man from Snowy River) which I have been a big fan off since childhood (horses + mountain scenery are a big win for me).  The trip was beautiful and a fun experience to share with Katie.

We took the coastal route to reach the Jindabyne (day trip from Melbourne) where we started our ride and for the return trip we drove through the mountains and high country.  The drive was very scenic as we traversed winding roads,  crossed over the crest of the mountain range and passed through green valleys.

 

 

 A lookout point

 

 

 About to run up the hill at the end of the day.

 









The road close to Jindabyne

 

 Katie at the high point of the mountain pass at an elevation of 1580 m (on the Alpine way).

 

 Green pastures in the valleys

 

 Approaching the Hume River

MCHRP - Winter 2014 Timelapse

Timelapse video of the project since piling works (Winter 2014).




Visit youtube for higher definition video (720p).


Jon

Ground Floor Slab (Basement Ceiling) Casting - Completed

Over the past two days we were able to complete the Ground Floor casting over the basement.  It took over 240 workers on site a total of 15 + 11 hours over these days. The hot season is now definitely upon us with high temperatures and humidity (39C/102F). This completes the second of a planned 12 major slab castings.

Site overview day one casting

Head loading the concrete to be placed

Completed retaining wall with slab casting ongoing above (First layer of bitumen, poly then Platon installed on exterior of wall)

Site overview on casting day two

Completed casting - preparing for ponding

 

Jon

 

Basement Ceiling Slab - Ready for Casting

The basement ceiling slab is ready for casting.  Additional workers are due to arrive Friday night so we can start early Saturday morning. The electrical conduits for lighting, fans and outlets took a few more days than anticipated to complete. Similarly with the through slab plumbing - the workers took longer to mobilize than expected. The on site workers are currently focusing their attention to the grade beams in the Southeast wing of the building.

 

Site overview from South (April 6, 2014) 

 

Reviewing the slab reinforcing rod and electrical conduit work

 

Waterproofing basement retaining wall

 

Finishing the last of the steel tying

 

 Steel work around a column 

Opening for the main central stairway

 

Jon

Malumghat to Melbourne

Holly made her journey from Malumghat to Melbourne last week to visit with her siblings who are living there. I was surprised to find out that it is still a 4 hour flight to Kula Lumpur Malaysia then another 8 hours to Melbourne, despite feeling like we are both on the other side of the globe. Thankfully there are some good discount airlines that service these major Asian routes.

Holly catching the local bus from Chakaria to Chittagong (the most difficult part of the journey through the crazy Thursday evening traffic -start of the weekend).

 

Holly, Katie and Zach in Melbourne

 

Holly at a wildlife sanctuary with kangaroos, Koala bears, etc.

 

Once we get the ground floor slab casting completed and finalize the plans for the next slab casting I will head off to Australia for a week to meet up and hopefully visit the great barrier reef.

 

Jon

 

 

 

Basement Ceiling Slab - Prep Work

We are quickly getting ready to cast the basement ceiling slab (ground floor slab above the basement) which is roughly 14,000 sq feet. This section of slab will contain 40 tons of steel rod and 10,000 cft of concrete. We are scheduled to have everything complete for casting early next week.

Basement ceiling slab - bottom steel

Progressing on top steel placement 

 

Other work is ongoing around the site. Mass fill work is starting to make significant progress within the building area. The primarily below grade brick retaining walls are taking shape. These walls will ensure the newly compacted soils do not slowly migrate away from under the slab as well as providing a surface to install an exterior stone veneer.

Masons laying the soil retaining wall

Retaining wall and backfill work ongoing 

A lot of fill still required in the central courtyard once the ceiling slab is cast and basement retaining wall is waterproofed 

 

One of the many local inhabitants checking out the building progress

Jon Barrett