New Build Update – February 2009
Looking forward to our new build, construction work on the new Darwen Aldridge Community Academy site at Redearth is progressing well.
If you have caught a glimpse of the development recently, you will notice significant progress has been made. Not only have the structural frameworks been implemented, the excavation works to re-landscape the site are now complete, and the foundations for the staircases are advancing ahead of the floors being installed.
The lower and upper ground floor drainage systems have also been completed and the floor slabs have been laid. Concrete columns are now in place to support these sections. The temporary support structure is well underway and this will allow the construction team to build the upper floors.
To enable the designers to keep the number of columns in the building to a minimum and create larger, uninterrupted floor space, the floors are ‘post-tensioned’ using high strength wires inside the concrete to reinforce their stability.
The construction team is also building a ‘green’ wall along Redearth Road – a natural, living retaining wall which will be planted with shrubs and will be one of the focal points of the new building.
The concrete structure is due for completion in early May 2009, at which time the steel structure to support the roof will also be built.