Steel and Concrete - Best Friends Forever

Day two .

After having dug out the foundations yesterday, we needed to prepare the metal reinforcement that goes into the concrete footing. The metal arrived at the construction site just 5 minutes after we did. Talk about good timing! The first task involbed cutting part of the metal into 20cm (approx.8 inces) long bits which then had to be wired to the 6 meter (approx.18 feet) long steel bars. We prepared five of them and then cut three into shorter pieces to fit into the foundation where they were tied together and connected to verticals. Although very basic, these houses are very sturdy and will withstand minor earthquakes which can be caused by the active volcanoe.

While the metal was put in place we prepared the concrete for the footings, which is done in a quite interesting way that is custom to the area. Sand is piled up, cement added on top and then the whole pile is shifted to the side. This happens two to three times until everything is mixed. The pile is then flattened, crushed stones are put in the middle and a moat is being created which is filled with water. Then you let it set until it is needed at which time some more whater is added, it is mixed in needed quantities until the pile is gone. Sounds like cooking, but we lost a lot more sweat over it than i do baking a cake!

By the end of the day all the footings were poured.

Wednesdays volunteers take a break in order to regain some strength and to have the opportunity to exploring the local sights and at the end of the day i and my muscles were very much in favor of that policy.

I am anxious to return on Thursday to see the progress that was made during my absence.

I didn't want to bore you guys too much with all that architecture talk of construction and building, and added some pictures of Antigua. I hope you enjoy them. This is really a beautiful place! Not all pics are in sequence, but i think you can figure it out!

Thanks for checking in!