Foresight and Foundations

Tom describes himself as a “low-life foreman” on the foundation work at the new school site. Tanned, lanky, and leather-skinned he told me we were really lucky that we had chosen to go ahead on “shelling in” the cafeteria. In moving ahead with it, they had discovered that the load of the additional roofing was greater than one of the planned footings in the commons would have been able to support. The change in design has been made and it is all okay now, but wouldn’t have been if we had decided to add the kitchen later.

Tom also told me that there was a lot of “overkill” on this project. I asked him why all the forms were being built under the shower rooms. He grinned and said, “See, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. Normally, you’d just pour thicker slab under each stall, but your architect is putting in a footing and foundation under every single stall. I’m not saying that’s bad: ‘When in doubt, build it stout. Don’t cheapen it out.’”

Tom thinks our design shows the cautious planning of a woman. He's wrong, but I'm glad he noticed the care in our plan. (PS, if you want to see photos of the building project, click the link in the sidebar.)