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§ 07 · Long read
The school that poured in the dry season
Four classrooms in Dala, a narrow lane and a roof that had to be on before the rains. Example story for this demo.
When a community school in Dala needed four new classrooms, the committee had a budget, a builder and a deadline: the roof had to be on before the rains. That meant foundations in January, slab in February and blockwork in March.
We sized the job together from the drawings: 140 tonnes of chippings, 90 of sharp sand, 60 of quarry dust for the blocks and a little base for the path to the gate. The calculator did the first pass and the engineer checked it, adding ten per cent to the dust because the block moulder on site was new.
The hardest part was access. The school sits down a narrow lane between family compounds, so everything came on 10-tonne tippers in the early window, before pupils arrived. Over six weeks that was 31 trips, every one on the dispatch board a week ahead.
The roof went on in the second week of April. The committee chairman sent a voice note to the dispatch desk, which is now played to every new driver.
“Thirty-one trips down a lane you could barely walk two abreast in. Not one scratched wall.”School committee member, example client
Six weeks, one lane
Example figures for this demo.
140 t chippings
Three-quarter inch for footings and the floor slab.
90 t sharp sand
Washed, from our partner pit.
60 t quarry dust
For about 5,000 six-inch blocks made on site.
31 trips
All on 10-tonne tippers, all in the early window.
What we learned
Small trucks, early starts
Where the lane is narrow, two small trucks beat one big one. Book the early window and tell the dispatcher about every gate, cable and gutter.