So a short while ago the Students at Highbury College prepared the base for the Bandstand with a concrete blinding. This was followed up very recently with a second trip by Highbury to pour the concrete foundation slab. This is a steel reinforced concrete foundation 300mm deep with steel bars for the perimeter walling and a good long days work to install it!
Whelan and Grant very kindly sponsored the steel reinforcement for the slab as well as the spacer bars while Midwest donated the concrete which came in 3 full size concrete lorries. Midwest also helped with two specialist concrete placers who showed the Students how to tie off reinforcement, use a concrete poker to vibrate the air out of the concrete, and to trowel the concrete about to get a good level finish.
The days work was perhaps a bit ambitious for a group of young students, and we had to work through any lunch break to make sure we were ready for the concrete. This is the first time that the group have worked with reinforcement or concrete so was a first class learning opportunity. The final quality was also spot on and hopefully the next article will explain how well the steel frame went onto the base!
