We met with the structural engineer for the kitchen building yesterday. The meeting went very well. The building is small and relatively uncomplicated, so it should (hopefully!) be simple to finish detailing and build. The kitchen was added back on to Phase I, so we are looking to complete it as soon as possible.
Progress has continued on the design of the kitchen. We will be meeting with the structural engineer next week to discuss the kitchen. We are very happy to have a structural engineer to work with!
The historic preservation and renovation of ISPAN building is also moving forward. We are meeting with another structural engineering firm next week to have them assess the state of the historic building.
From our talk with Soeur Josette about the kitchen requirements, we have been drafting up preliminary building plans. We are using passive cooling and a large north facing clerestory opening to light the space without adding heat to the already hot kitchen. The kitchen is located to the left of the cafeteria building.
Today we had many tasks to do at the site. First Soeur Josette signed FAES contract (Fonds d’Assistance Economique et Sociale).
Soeur Josette showed us the recent break-in into the administration building. All of the school computers were stolen. Security is constantly an issue here.
Right now the drop off from the cafeteria building is ~430mm to grade, so stairs are a must. We will take advantage of the shady spot and extend the stair area into a platform with bench seating to create a space for the students to hang out.
At the greatest distance, the drop off from the bathroom building is ~440mm to grade so stairs will be built to enter the building.
Metal privacy screens and bathroom partitions are being designed for the bathroom building.
Download the 23 July, 2012 Update
Reported by Kate Evarts
Cafeteria
On July 14, a Catholic mass was held in the new cafeteria to celebrate the graduation of the class of 2012. The service included singing, praying and good advice for the graduates. The room easily held the 250 participants who were delighted to be in the new building for the first time. Kesler Bien-Aimee, Natalie Desrosiers and I attended the service with great pride on this day, special for all of us.
To prepare for the event the workers began installation of the moveable temporary walls. The room will be used as three classrooms as well as a big open space. The graduating students pitched in to move some of the garbage and fallen trees from the garden.
The building needs the finish coat of paint and the light fixtures need to go in. The cistern needs to be installed. The new exterior doors are not finished. AFH would like to participate in the planting of the areas around the walkway as soon as it finished. The design and detailing of the walkway will include design discussions with the students.
Bloc Sanitaire
The roofing material has been installed. The enduissage is complete. The building will be painted. Grading around the building is complete and one step will be made at the front entrance. The plumber is installing the toilet piping.
Viva Rio came to review their work and have scheduled the correction of the inlet box. They will do all the work themselves at no charge to Elie. The footing for the tower for the cistern has been made. The following work still needs to be done: complete installation of the toilets and accessories, installation of light fixtures, installation of cubicle partitions and doors and guard rails.
Color
We will paint the new buildings with one color palette for thematic consistency across the site. We will match as closely as possible the original historic colors. We intend to add a few highlighted colors in some of the details which will be used on all the buildings.
Schedule: Phase 1
Change Orders #5- #6 for the additional scope of work have been approved and the money will be wired this week. This approval process took far longer than anticipated and the builder ran short of funds and called a halt to the work on Monday July 16th. We have reviewed the punch list ( small items that need to be finished) with the builder who is ready to complete the job, once the money arrives. We expect to limit the time this work takes so that we can start the additional scope of work for Phase 1A.
Schedule: Phase 1A
The scope of work for Phase 1A includes the new kitchen, a large reservoir, generator installation, pump for the water systems, louvers for all the buildings, and landscaping. This work will be negotiated with M+L Construction, and if the price is right we will continue with them with a contract that specifies damages and incentives. The work must be finished by opening of school.
Main Historic Classroom Building (B1 - Phase 2)
Architecture for Humanity received the final version of the contract with FAES on June 22, 2012. The contract was signed and scanned and sent to FAES who refused to accept electronic versions or copies. We will get the originals signed by hand and delivered from San Francisco to Haiti this week.
Once the contract has been signed by both parties and the first payment issued, the schedule for the design work is for 90 days. The construction phase is slated for 8 months. By this calendar the new classroom building will be ready for occupancy for the fall of 2013, the 100th anniversary of the school’s founding.
The full design team is in place and we should be able to meet our 90 day deadline. The on site construction storage building will hold the equipment and furniture from building one. The large tent will be removed, to the great relief of all.
Download the 16 June, 2012 Update
Reporting by Kate Evarts
Cafeteria
The enduissage has been finished and it looks really good. The Lateral bracing has been partially installed; there was a misunderstanding about the exact detail. The engineer has clarified this and the work will be done on Monday. The main gutter needs some corrections to ensure the smooth flow of water. It is a very long run and needs to work flawlessly. The electric outlets, switches and panel have been installed; the light fixtures need to go in. The cistern needs to be installed. The ceramic tile has been selected and the installation is underway. The demising classroom walls and blackboards will go in once the tile work is completed. Great care will be taken not to damage the new floor with the installation of the temporary walls. The building will be painted: inside, outside and trusses. A discussion of the colors is ongoing. The new doors will begin fabrication on Monday. The site grading and clean-up is underway and a new concrete walkway will cross the site for the students to walk from the UNECSO campus to the new buildings. AFH would like to participate in the planting of the areas around the walkway as soon as it finished.
Bloc Sanitaire
The roofing material has not arrived on site. The work must be finished this week. This is holding up some of the interior finish requirements. The following work still needs to be done: complete installation of the toilets and accessories, installation of light fixtures, installation of cubicle partitions and doors and guard rails. The enduissage is almost complete. The building will then be painted. Grading around the building is complete and one step will be made at the front entrance.
Perimeter walls
The school requested that the perimeter wall of the entire campus receive improvements. This means in some of the worst sections new walls will be built, and for the entire site the walls will be capped with razor wire. The constant intrusions of bandits and vagrants onto the site must stop, and the condition of the current wall is deplorable. This work is underway.
Schedule
We have completed review of the Change Orders # 1-#4 and the money has been released to the builder. The scope of this work is underway. We are currently reviewing Change Orders #5- #7 for additional scope of work. We are pleased to be able to fund this additional work through careful budget management. The funders have supported a truly wonderful project as we complete Phase 1. Yes, it has been slow, but good things take time, even in Haiti.
UNESCO Classrooms
No work this week.
Main Historic Classroom Building (B1 - Phase 2)
Architecture for Humanity was assured, by FAES, on 4 June that there were just a few internal corrections being made to the contract, but we have not had any communication with FAES since.
We have received numerous requests from builders to be included in the bidding process for this project once it gets released. Still tantalizingly close, but we will soon lose our planned July start date.
Download the "March 27 2012 Update" PDF
Phase 2 construction
Cafeteria: 21 March. Walls up
Cafeteria: Slab is placed. Perimeter wall is up, it needs a cap. The cafeteria building walls are up, with the exception of the two short shear walls which are being formed today. Electric conduit was installed. The columns are almost all complete, with forms staying on the required 7 days. Next is the ring beam and central beam steel work. We have made some adjustments to the depth of the center beam and will include slightly more lateral bracing to the trusses when they are installed, following advice of the structural engineer RAE.
Cafeteria: 21 March. Column steel
Cafeteria: 27 March. Columns formed
Cafeteria: 27 March.
Kitchen: Excavation for the perimeter wall along the back of the kitchen has begun. There was a lot of underground concrete in the form of cisterns and channels to be removed. The fill, placed behind the original wall by the neighbor, will be cut back, with their informed consent, obtained by Soeur Josette. The wall will be built in sections to keep the site secure. The existing kitchen will be fully demolished and removed. The one historic door has been safely stored.
Kitchen: 27 March. Excavation for perimeter wall and kitchen footing.
Bloc Sanitaire: The footing concrete was placed, the foundation walls installed, the earth was removed as backfill to the west end of the sous sol. Next is the placement of beam and slab steel and formwork. The plumbing piping should be reviewed and the exact location of the fixtures determined as this is being done. One course of block was added to the foundation to make the height of the crawl space higher, and to alleviate any issues with the elevation of the outlet pipe to the Bio-digester.
Bloc Sanitaire: 21 March. Foundation footings.
Bloc Sanitaire: 21 March. Foundation walls.
Bloc Sanitaire: 27 March. Foundation backfilled.
UNESCO Classrooms: The rain this season has been heavy and everything gets wet. The roofs are not actually the problem – it is the open grilles in the walls that let in most of the rain. The GC still needs to finish the roofs, and this work has not yet been started.
UNESCO buildings
Schedule: We have released payment #2 as the slab has been completed. We have asked the GC to confirm that he is on schedule as we believe the work is behind by a few days. We have also asked the GC to warn us earlier when he needs more cement.
Main Building
(Phase 2)
The construction documents for Phase 2 are awaiting structural review. We worked with representatives from FAES on Friday March 23rd to finalize all the required documents which were to be submitted to the Director that same afternoon. The contract between FAES and AFH is pending the ‘non-objection’ letter from IDB, which should now be requested by FAES. FAES confirmed that the Phase 2 budget will include all of the work for the rehabilitation of the main historic classroom building plus allocation of funds for the completion of the Phase 1 scope of work, which will include the kitchen among other scope. This budget is set at $400,000.US.
We have developed the work schedule and budget for the rehabilitation of the main classroom building, and have a short list of contractors we will invite to bid on the project. We are still hoping to get started by July 1.
Building 1 second floor interior
END - Kate Evarts
Not enough form work material, no sand or gravelon site. Materials to arrive this afternoon. This project is moving too slowly.
FIELD REPORT #13
PROJECT: École Elie Dubois
PROJECT NUMBER: 7216
DATE: 03-07-2012
WEATHER: Sunny 30C
________________________________________________________________________
WORK IN PROGRESS:
-cafeteria ground floor steel corrections
-excavation and steelwork in footing for toilet
_______________________________________________________________________
PRESENT AT SITE:
-Kate Evarts (AFH)
-St. Jean Marc Henry (AFH)
-Natalie Desrosiers(AFH)
-Jessica Linzey (AFH)
-claudia Juhre (AFH)
-Field Engineer, Foremen, workers (M & L Construction)
___________________________________________________________________
MATERIALS ON SITE:
-Cement
-Gravel and sand
-Vibrator
_______________________________________
OBSERVATIONS:
CAFETERIA:
- cafeteria ground floor steel cage shimmed
- Fill re-compacted manually
- Bar spacing: 200 x 200 mm
- Formwork in place
- Corrections in steel work being made
BLOC SANITAIRE
http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/sites/default/files/active/48/Slide1....
- steel in strip footing being placed
- Preparation for columns placement
- New drawings of foundation layout issued to CO and M&L field supervisor
________________________________________________________________________________
INFORMATION OR ACTION REQUIRED:
-AFH to provide updated drawings of Bloc Sanitaire and Cafeteria to Marc Henry.
- Excavation for perimeter wall near future kitchen needs to be started. AFH to give the go ahead note to GC.
- GC to provide updated construction schedule.
- More excavation for Bloc sanitaire ahead. Change of scope of work.
________________________________________________________________________________
REPORT BY: Natalie Desrosiers
We met with Anthony Kilbride,on Feb 8,2012, to review the inlet box of the bio-digester.
The issue is two fold: The box was placed incorrectly both in plan and elevation, and the box would not accommodate the double outlet pipes of the toilets. Anthony came up with a solution which they will install as soon as the foundation walls are in place.
our GC has agreed to demolish the box. Viva Rio has asked that our GC construct the new box under their specs, at their cost, to be deducted from the next payment. Viva Rio has been very helpful in correcting this mistake. The problem has been largely due to a lack of communication on their part which they have readily admitted. We sent all our technical documents to their engineers, and they never gave us a technical scope or drawings. Recently it seems that V. Fachhini's laptop was stolen with all the tech files, and he doesn't have copies. What a tragedy indeed.
Update February 8, 2012
l’Ecole Elie Dubois
Phase 1 Construction
The new contractor, M+L Construction, has been working seven days a week and has accomplished the following since starting on January 24, 2012:
Repairs to the previously installed rebar/steel work, including installation of new steel where it had been stolen, cleaning out of the footing trenches, setting the rebar at the proper height above the grade, aligning column rebar, and re-establishing grid lines, pouring the concrete footings for the cafeteria and for the perimeter wall including the placement of the trench drains, , completing the excavations for the perimeter walls, placing block and rebar for foundation walls of cafeteria, back filling at the foundation walls and leveling the area for the floor slabs, excavating the footings for the new bloc sanitaire, and for the perimeter wall in this area, and removing the unusable excavated material from the site.
There are regularly 15 – 25 workers on site, with a site foreman on site every day. Our construction outreach supervisor, Mark Henri has been on site every day and has only had to make minor corrections and clarifications to the work. The Devalus brothers (the owners of the contracting company) are a constant presence on site ensuring that the work is going according to plan and done well.
The work is currently three days behind schedule. Issues that have slowed down work are:
Need to remove a large tree too close to excavations, discovery of three buried concrete cisterns which required demolition and removal, need to remove the excavation debris left by the previous contractor.
All of this work was done at no extra cost, except for the tree removal which cost $400. USD
We expect the contractor to make up time on the schedule as they move into work that is above ground where many surprises have been lurking.
Main Building (Phase 2)
Work on the main building documents continues. We are scheduled to have a 75% CD Draft set by February 15.
We will need an engineer to review many of the structural details before we go much further, and certainly before we start the BOQ process.
We have a list of historic consultants and General Contractors and specialist foremen who will be asked to bid on the project and to provide consultation going forward. The Goal is to complete work on the historic building by the end of the year.
Civic Art in Schools program
The artist Fremont visited the school last week. He talked at length with the teachers and the students about the Civic Art project and about his ideas and the students were asked to write an essay about art in schools. The artist has sufficient direction to create a successful piece that responds to the setting. He has visited the quarry to select the stone, and will begin work on the piece at the quarry where we will visit him next week or so.
END
Kate Evarts
Elie Phase 1
We have made some revisions to the Bloc sanitaire and the excavation is underway. The revisions will result in a more efficient and cost effective structure. It should cut a few days off the schedule too.
More block was delivered this morning and the grade level slab of the old cistern under the new bloc sanitaire is being removed.
In general the work has been well done, and we have had merely to make small corrections and answer questions. There are many hands on site and the work is going smoothly, and they work is continuing through Saturdays and Sundays.
We are meeting Viva Rio on site on Wednesday to move the inlet connection to the bio digester that was placed incorrectly.
Elie Phase 1
The construction has started up. The footings for the caféteria have been poured and the foundation walls are rising. The excavation for the Bloc Sanitaire is underway. There is a large crew on site. It is interesting to note that the contractor has not yet received any money, and that HQ has not approved the grant amendment yet. The transaction request sits somewhere under spider webs on the boss's desk. For a project that has the tag ‘high profile’ added to it at every turn, it begins to sound like a condemnation rather than a help.
Schedule: The work on the cafeteria is on schedule. The Bloc Sanitatire is a day or two behind due to some revisions to the footing details. The GC expects he can catch up the days. The change will result in cost savings.
It sure is nice to have work going on, decent work at that.
FIELD REPORT #12
PROJECT: École Elie Dubois
PROJECT NUMBER: 7216
DATE: 02-02-2012
WEATHER: Sunny 30C
________________________________________________________________________
WORK IN PROGRESS:
-Mixing concrete
-Concrete pouring in foundation wall columns at Classroom
-Breaking existing slab at Classroom
_______________________________________________________________________
PRESENT AT SITE:
-Kate Evarts (AFH)
-St. Jean Marc Henry (AFH)
-Anne Hake (AFH)
-Katharine Maclean (AFH)
-Foremen, workers (M & L Construction)
___________________________________________________________________
MATERIAL ON SITE:
-Cement
-Gravel and sand
-Vibrator
_______________________________________
OBSERVATIONS:
CAFETERIA:
-Block foundation wall built up from 4 to 5 courses
-Some areas in block wall noted where mortar is unevenly applied or there are gaps in mortar.
-Formwork for some columns started.
BLOC SANITAIRE:
-No work being done on bloc sanitaire during site visit.
-Trench for perimeter wall has been started but not finished. There is an existing septic tank underneath part of this area, which has not been excavated.
-Required trees have been removed and are on site.
-Distance from new perimeter wall to biodigester seems small for a cistern. When perimeter wall is completed this distance will be verified.
_________________________________
INFORMATION OR ACTION REQUIRED:
-AFH to provide updated drawing of long section through shear wall in Bloc Sanitaire to Marc Henry.
-Marc Henry to find out exact location of septic tank under new perimeter wall.
____________________________________
REPORT BY: Anne Hake
a link to the schedule
http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/sites/default/files/active/35/Elie%20...
FIELD REPORT #11
PROJECT: École Elie Dubois
PROJECT NUMBER: 7216
DATE: 01-25-2012
WEATHER: Sunny 31C
CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE: 24%
-UNESCO roofs est % completion: [85%]
-Cafeteria est % completion: [29%]
-Bloc sanitaire est % completion: [0%]
________________________________________________________________________
WORK IN PROGRESS:
-Formwork placement for strip footing and column base
- Concrete pouring in foundation footing
_______________________________________________________________________
PRESENT AT SITE:
-Kate Evarts (AFH)
-Natalie Desrosiers (AFH)
-St. Jean Marc Henry (AFH)
-Anne Hake (AFH)
-Katharine Maclean (AFH)
-Meret Devalus (M & L Construction)
-Foremen, workers (M & L Construction)
___________________________________________________________________
MATERIAL ON SITE:
-2x6, 2x4 pressure treated lumber
- #4, #5, & #6 rebar (9 meter segments)
-Cement
-Gravel and sand;
_______________________________________
OBSERVATIONS:
UNESCO CLASSROOMS:
• Fasteners (clips, angles, screws, anchor bolts) to be installed.( Angles to be purchased at Alliance)
• Ridge beam / truss joint to be remedied.
• Shim condition at rafter / baseplate to be remedied.
• Louvers are not to be installed for now.
• Remaining roofing sheets to be installed.
CAFETERIA:
-Footing, column base, and wall steel in place
-Formwork for foundation footings is being placed. Additional steel was needed to replace bars that have been stolen in trenches.
-Trench bottom cleaned out
- Concrete pouring in foundation footing
-Drainage pipes are being placed
-Earth at east perimeter wall not removed
-Trees by cistern foundation not removed
BLOC SANITAIRE
- Layout for bloc sanitaire coordinated by AFH crew. New dimensions and building placement were allocated.
- Trees by toilet placement to be removed
- Existing cistern plinth and tank placed where new sanitation building is to be erected
_________________________________
INFORMATION OR ACTION REQUIRED:
-AFH to provide revised drawings for bloc sanitaire
-AFH to provide answers to GC’s connection of east perimeter wall by kitchen placement with existing portion of wall.
-GC to submit cost of tree removal
-GC to relocate existing cistern plinth and tank
____________________________________
REPORT BY: Natalie Desrosiers
Construction, yes I said construction ...!
M+L Construction began work on Saturday January 21,2012. They discovered that some of the re-bar steel sitting in place in the foundations has been stolen. They will purchase and install new steel. They have been cleaning the base of the footing excavation and expect to pour concrete on Wednesday morning.
AFH will stake the latrine building on Wednesday so that the bio-digester inlet junction box can be moved to the correct position, and work on the latrine can begin.
Mark Henri is back on site and making frequent reports.
Update January 23, 2012
Following the winter holiday we are pleased to offer an update for the Elie Dubois Reconstruction project.
Phase 1
Bidding and Negotiation for new Contractor:
The bidding firms were narrowed down to two finalists for the new General contractor for construction of Phase 1, based on budget, schedule, experience and recommendations. The Finalist firms are M+L construction and Batir et Restaurer. Sister Josette and Sister Terese interviewed Marcul Devalus of M+L Construction on January 20th. They asked hard questions and will continue to be demanding clients. The firm Batir et Restaurer, after much negotiation, was not able to bring their price to our budget (over by $10,000.)
Selection
The firm M+L Construction was selected. The budget, milestones and schedule were confirmed. The firm has the recommendation of some of our valued clients. Mr Devalus agreed that he would start on January 21 with construction of a water collection pool for the duration of the construction. This solves the problem of providing enough water for the construction process, and the pool can be removed at the end of construction. He also stated that they would begin construction on January 23 without the first payment in hand as there was enough material onsite to get going. (The CINA cement was delivered in November, and we stopped EF Construction from using it). As of today this is indeed a project under construction!
Contracts
Sister Josette, for Elie Dubois, signed the revised grant agreement which reflects the budget for the new contractor, and the revised schedule. Elie Dubois will sign the contract for construction with M+L Construction on Monday at 3:30 pm.
The scope of work for the new contract includes:
• Perimeter wall at the cafeteria, kitchen and latrines where it has collapsed.
• New cafeteria, temporarily designed as three classrooms
• New toilet building ( to be connected to the new bio digester)
• Finishing the roofs of the 3 UNESCO classroom buildings
• Associated electric, plumbing and site work.
Excluded from the scope of work :
• Kitchen
• New roof on UNESCO office.
The reason for the scope changes are the result of existing site condition discovery:
1. The kitchen initially appeared to be sufficiently stable to warrant minimal reconstruction. After selective demolition it was determined, by the structural engineer, to be unsalvageable, in total. The kitchen building will be part of Phase 2 construction. We will work with Sister Josette to determine the requirements for a new building.
2. The enclosing wall of the site was integrally attached to actual buildings that were demolished (caféteria and kitchen) and found to be totally unstable in some sections ( latrine areas). This was not foreseen in the planning stages and a full wall is important for site security in this challenging neighborhood.
3. The roof of the administration building by UNESCO is underbuilt, but is not dangerous and can remain. The hurricane uplift connections might be improved at such a time as funding is available.
Budget
The budget for the Phase 1 construction is unchanged. The budget dollars that were earmarked for the kitchen have been moved to the perimeter wall construction. The funds for the kitchen could come from Phase 2 monies.
Schedule
From the date of the signed contract the work is scheduled to take 7 weeks, (Jan 23 to March 12, 2012). The contractor states that they will meet this schedule with some night work.
Phase 2
Following several communications between Julien Haultier of IDB, FAES and MENFP,Eric and Kate set up a meeting with M. Sony Antoine at FAES DPS to discuss the status of Phase 2 of the reconstruction of Elie Dubois.
Mme Liburd is on vacation. The Director of FAES Mme Josepha Gauthier is away until Monday.
We met M. Antoine on January 19, and submitted a copy of the document that is making its way through the system. The information required to write a contract between AFH and FAES for the reconstruction of the Main classroom building (Building 1) is in this document. Julien agreed that he could help FAES write the first draft of the contract.
At the meeting M Antoine agreed that he would
• Obtain the non-objection notice from BID,
• Contact M. Presume and Vanneur to track the original dossier
• Write the draft contract between FAES and AFH
• Present the draft to Mme Gaulthier on Tuesday, at which point I should call him to confirm.
• Communicate with AFH on Tuesday
AFH submitted a copy of the original document to M Antoine. This along with the June 9 2011 AFH proposal, and the letter of confirmation from IDB, has all the information required for writing the agreement.
We discussed the process of the construction, that it should be by open bid process and that we should have 5 or 6 firms to interview. We will need to find firms that specialize in this kind of work. We have already established a good list of firms.
Kate Evarts
Contractors
M+L construction have reviewed the work completed on site and have agreed with our estimation of the value. Their price is in line with what we were expecting. They are ready to go.
We are meeting Design Action and with Batir et Restaurer tomorrow in a final review.
We plan to select a new contractor on Saturday.
We reviewed some construction numbers from the American company CSS which help to confirm ours.
Fortin of EF Construction ( terminated contractor) visited the school and spoke to Sister Josette, telling her he really didn't want any problems with the unpaid workers.
Approvals
I met with M. Antoine and mary Liburd of FAES on Monday. They gave me a copy of a letter from IDB confirming their support of the project. The suggested that I contact M. Vanneur at MENFP, which I did.
He is kindly looking into the lost trail of the Elie reconstruction document.
Funding
HQ is clarifying the grant agreement to reflect the correct phasing, and funding, of the project.
Documents
We are working on making a smooth and thorough transition from team members who are leaving, and new ones, as the Christmas break approaches. Specifically Dot Miller who has done a fantastic job on Building One reconstruction documents, and Ben Gordon who is the rock star who has made the first phase construction docs work. You will both be missed (oh,you'll be back....)
Yesterday we were informed by HQ that the project is on hold. The funding for the project has been divided into two phases, and there appears to be some confusion as to which funds are allocated to Phase 1.
Sunday night thieves came through the low wall and tried to break in to the depot. Unsuccessful, they tried to steal the tied rebar in the trenches. Justin chased them away.
This project really shouldn't be so difficult!
12.8.11
EF Construction
Fortin Exene of EF Construction dropped by and I spoke to him briefly. I made it clear that we were not going to give him any more money. I told him it was his responsibility to pay the workers, not ours. He said he wouldn't pay them unless we gave him more money. I asked him how much he owed them, and he didn't answer. He said that the reputation of AFH would be ruined, and that he did not want to see the students and the nuns get into any difficulties because the unpaid workers would be unhappy. I told him he had caused us enormous problems by his ridiculous work ethic, and that he had better not threaten us, or Elie Dubois in any way He said he would get his lawyer involved and that this would cost us lots of money. I said that he should contact our lawyer if he wished.
M + L construction
We met again with M + L construction who brought in a revised bid that reflected our numbers very closely, as we had discussed. The numbers look good. We will wait to hear what the other firms offer. M+L is ready and eager to go. They said they could start right away , and could do the job in 7 weeks.
Approvals
The first dossier was submitted in June 2011. We submitted the finished, revised dossier to the MENFP in September 2011. It was approved by MENFP in early October.
On October 13th, we received the following email from Michel Presume.
“The document…. has already been processed and submitted for signature of the Minister of TPTC Jacques Gabriel in his capacity as Vice President of the du Comite de Facilitation de Reconstruction du Centre Ville de Port-au-Prince.
I hope the response of the committee will be communicated to the MENFP at the beginning of next week.”
Oct 13
Ms. Evarts,
Le dossier de rehabilitation et de construction du Lycee Elie Dubois a deja ete traite et soumis a la signature du Ministre des TPTC Jacques Gabriel en sa qualite de Vice president du Comite de Facilitation de Reconstruction du Centre Ville de Port-au-Prince.
Je souhaite que la reponse du Comite pourra etre communiquee au MENFP d'ici le debut de la semaine prochaine.
Bonne soiree
Michel Presume
CT du CFRCVPAP---
We asked for confirmation from the MENFP 10 days later, and they sent out his email:
“Please urgently verify with MMe Guillaume if the Minister has already received the dossier ( about Elie Dubois) from MTPTC…”
Oct 26
Bonjour Ahn, creutzer
Merci de verifier en urgence avec Mme Guillaume si le Bureau du Ministre a deja recu du MTPTC
le dossier de rehabilitation et de construction du Lycee Elie Dubois (Voir la correspondance ci-dessous).
Bonne fin de journee,
Carole
Sister Josette and I exchanged several calls with Mme Sassine trying to track to dossier.
Mme Sassine sent this out Dec 8 to Me,ahnibfenelon, Fcasseus, Creutzer
Thank you for checking again with the Ministry for the authorization of the construction of Elie Dubois.
It might be necessary to make copies of the emails from the previous administration to Mr. Baudin and start again with Minister Paul.(the new Minster of Ed)
Dec 8
Me,ahnibfenelon, Fcasseus, Creutzer ( from Carole Sassine
Bonjour Mme Fenelon,
Merci de voir encore avec le Secretariat du Ministre pour
l'autorisation de reconstruction sur le site d'Elie Dubois.
Il faudra peut-etre faire une copie du courrier de l'Administration precedente
a M. Baudin et tout reprendre avec le Ministre Paul.
Merci encore et a plus tard,
Dec 8 and 9:
I spoke to: Mary Liburd, Mr Antoine at FAES, Mme Sassine at MENFP, Anouk Ewald at IDB who are in turn talking to FAES, HIRC, Min of Finance,and ministry of public works. I am meeting with FAES on monday to see what they have. We are trying to figure out where it is stuck.
I will report what happens on Monday, when I visit FAES.
KE
Saturday 12.3
We met with Fortin Exene of EF Construction to review his receipts. We understand that he probably has not paid the workers, and he stated that he would not pay them unless we gave him more money. We looked at the project from several different metrics and conclude that we do not owe EF construction any money. We will have to deal with getting the workers paid. We did not go to the site as Fortin said that he owned the 2 concrete mixers and didn't need to move them right away, and that he would pick up the worker's personal items later, at a time to be approved by AFH.
Tuesday 12/6
I spoke to Soeur Josette at length to explain what transpired with EF Construction. She was relieved and reported that no one from the construction has tried to enter the site.
Wednesday 12.7
We met Steve Coe and Fevry Pichonneau of today at the site. CSS is a large American construction and logistics company working in Haiti. They walked through the work that has been accomplished and looked at the areas of work remaining. They commented that the work so far looked ok. The steel work was well done, but they would like to see the bottom of the excavation a little cleaner, and the form-work a bit more substantial. We toured the biodigester and the Classroom building and talked about possibilities for finding economies for the kitchen building.
We understand that they could do the project in its entirety, provide Construction Management of Haitian contract crews, or simply advise us going forward. They were enthusiastic about helping the project, and they expect to get back to us with a detailed response by Friday. We were pleased to make the connection.
We met with M+L construction in the afternoon and reviewed the proposed budget and came to a good understanding of where we stand and what needs to be done. They will return with their revised price tomorrow. They agree with our material unit prices, which we have spent some time researching.
We have meetings scheduled with 3 other contractors in the next few days to work through negotiations and vetting.
Thursday.
We had several conversations with Sister Josette about the need to remove the contractor immediately instead of allowing him to continue. Every day he spends on site puts us behind by two days. She realized this had implications beyond her, and the school's patience.
We have a letter signed by Sister Josette agreeing with AHF's decision to fire the contractor. ( written together with us, dated and signed Dec 1, 2011). We have formally told the contractor he is fired. He understands and does not question the decision. We gave him a letter outlining the terms, one of which is that the first (and only) payment he has received covers all his expenses and more, and that he is not owed any money. We did not ask for money back from him. He did not sign the termination letter as he stated that he has already spent more than this amount. We asked for proof. He is bringing in whatever documentation he has tomorrow morning for us to look at. We have reviewed the work and materials installed and on site, and find him to be in a position to owe us money back. After the meeting we will escort him to the site where he has agreed to remove his personal and rented equipment and leave the site. We made it clear that the storage shed must remain. He gave us the key to it.
We visited the site on Friday and checked the contents of the locked storage shed to make sure nothing was missing.
We have begun negotiations and interviews with four of the contractors who entered the second round of bidding. We expect to enter into a contract with one in the next 10 days. We will include Sister Josette in the interviews and make sure she is a party to the selection, and confident in signing the new contract.
We would like to get the footing concrete poured by Dec 16th at the latest so that the new GC can continue with uncomplicated work during the Holiday break. This work could include the demolition, footing excavation,installing footing and foundation steel for the latrine block and the kitchen, and the perimeter walls. This would mean we could pour slabs in the first week of January.
We will move as quickly through the selection process as judiciously as we can.
We would also like to complete the steel and masonry training sessions before the 16th with the structural engineer,Rick Ehlert.
Friday
We met with the team from Viva Rio to review the installation of the bio Digester. They agreed that the intake manhole was incorrectly placed and they agreed to move it. Luckily there is space to re-locate it, and there is enough depth to the intake pipe that it can be lowered to meet the required level of the outlet pipe exiting the toilet building. We are all pleased with how well the work has gone, and this has turned out to be a minor problem.
Viva Rio will fix the problem as soon as we can stake the new building and give them the exact level of the required outlet pipe.
We also discussed the irrigation piping that will be installed in the kitchen garden. They agreed that the filter garden needed an overflow outlet as it is open to collection of rain water.
Viva Rio has agreed to provide drawings for us of all the technical details. They have had problems with autocad software, and we said we would accept hand(not CAD)drawings.
The school hosted a Francois Xavier mass on Friday which we attended, and there were several prayers offered for the reconstruction, the donors, the new builder, and AFH. It was a joyous and hopeful occasion. We feel a cautious optimism.
The contractor arrived at the RBC with a sample louver for the UNESCO clerestory openings. They had not looked at the drawings and essentially made it backwards. We went through how it should be made correctly and they left saying they understood perfectly. They also showed us photos of the work of the footings. A call to our CO man , Mark Henri, confirmed they are not quite ready for the inspection.
Yesterday we had gone to Alliance hardware to see if they had the clips that the GC has said for months that he could not find. Of course we found exactly what was needed and confirmed with Alliance that they had 66 boxes of 10 each ( 660) and we need about 500. We gave this information to GC who said he would buy them tomorrow.
We are also hearing that he cannot find more of the Ondule Common Blanc roofing sheets. We made some calls and found it could be available, if ordered, in 2 weeks.
L’ecole Elie Dubois
Update November 29, 2011
Phase 1 Construction
UNESCO Roof Rebuild
The white roofing sheets have been installed and about 60 of the tie down bolts have been inserted. The trusses should all be completely fastened in the next week.
The sample louvered panel should be finished 11.30.11, and the wood siding installed at the roof gable ends installed by next week.
Cafeteria
On 8 November the structural engineer ran a 3 hour workshop on reinforcing steel for concrete with the builders to explain exactly what was supposed to be done, and why. The metal workers, job supervisor and GC all attended and asked lots of questions.
The excavation is finished and the foundation steel rebar has been successfully installed. This has taken more time that necessary due to the many questions and mistakes and lack of manpower. The structural engineer has been called down to inspect the work several times, and each time has issued instructions for corrections. As of today, Nov 29, the work looks complete. The work must be approved before the concrete is placed. We expect to pour concrete November 30.
We are not satisfied with the work of the contractor. He is behind schedule by at least 49 days and has more excuses than workers on site. On November 11, 2011 we presented the contractor with a written notice of the deadline we all verbally agreed upon on October 28, 2011. The contractor must achieve completion of the floor slab of the Cafeteria by Nov 18, 2011. We had all agreed that this was entirely achievable. The terms are that if this work was not completed we would terminate the full contract for construction. It was clear, by the 15th, that this would not be achieved.
In order to have the time to negotiate a contract with another builder, we gave the contractor a week extension on this deadline on 11.18.11 to 11.25.11. We are currently in the process of ascertaining that all of the trades and workers have been paid, and that the GC has spent a sufficient amount of the money that was issued in the mobilization payment. We have issued a list of specific materials that we need to see on site for him to move ahead.
The extended deadline was Nov 25, and the GC signed a letter to this effect, while asking for an additional 2 days extension (Nov. 28).
On Monday, November 28, the structural engineer, the Architecture for Humanity construction managers and architects went to the site to inspect the work completed, and to deliver the letter of termination. We spoke to Sister Josette over the weekend and planned another conversation with her for Monday. The contract for construction is between the school Elie Dubois, signed by Sister Josette and EF Construction, signed by Exene Fortin. The letter of termination must be signed by the school.
Sister Josette expressed her reluctance to sign the letter of termination with the contractor for two reasons. She felt she had not been sufficiently involved with monitoring his performance, or lack thereof, and was not able to confirm that he should be fired, and she wanted to give him one last opportunity to redeem himself. She agreed that he was enormously behind schedule, and that he had made promises to her that he had not met, but she is firm in her decision that we give him until January 3, 2012 to complete a specific scope of work to everyone’s satisfaction. We gave her our best advice, that he would only continue to be a problem, but she was firm in her refusal to sign the letter to fire the company. It is true that EF Construction has rallied in the last few days, but we are not optimistic. We extended this last chance to Fortin Exene who promised that he would submit a schedule and scope for the work to be completed by Jan 3, 2012. He promised to show us that he would earn the right to continue.
On Nov 30 we will all meet to agree on the scope of work that EF Construction must complete before January 3, 2012. We will make a schedule that accommodates the holidays. The letter will be signed by Ecole Elie Dubois, EF Construction and Architecture for Humanity. We will include Soeur Josette in all our meetings with EF Construction and make sure she is involved with the process of the work. She has been on the site every day, but she has not spoken to the contractor, preferring to leave that to us. We meet with her at every visit to the site.
On November 18 we issued a call for bids from 5 contractors of repute to finish the work. Their bids were due on Nov 24 following a visit to the site on Nov 23. The bids we received were above our budget and we have begun negotiations with the firms to prepare for a smooth transition in January, if necessary. The contractors know of the situation and seem eager to take on the job. We have a very specific budget to which they must adhere. The current GC is working within this budget so far.
We have every intention of firing the contractor at the next deadline if he does not meet the proscribed scope of work. If we do terminate and hire new, we could lose an additional month of work, and will certainly it will incur extra costs.
The schedule will be amended.
As of today the projected schedule shows completion as follows:
Cafeteria: December 30, 2012
Latrine building: Jan 31, 2012
Bio digester: Dec 12, 2011
New Kitchen: January 31,2012
This schedule would be possible with a capable contractor.
Schedule if we hire a new GC:
Full completion could be on February 22, 2012, if the work goes on simultaneously.
CINA cement:
CINA delivered 669 bags of cement on the afternoon of Nov 23. Mark Henri (our Construction Outreach man) made sure that the construction shed was cleared out for the delivery, and that the cement was loaded inside, and locked.
THANK YOU CINA!
Thieves came in the night to steal the cement. They couldn't get in, so they stole some things from the little kitchen instead.
Kitchen:
After the initial partial demolition of the kitchen building it was determined that none of the existing construction could be salvaged and the kitchen building must be built entirely new, an unforeseen scope change. The budget included $7,842.13 for the renovation. For a new kitchen with a slightly reduced scope (size) we project a budget of $18,000 – $25,000.total. We could design a smaller but functional facility for less.
Bio Digester
The Viva Rio engineer for the Bio-digester visited the site Nov 3, to set out the work. The hole was dug and de-watered on 8 – 12 November. The slab was placed on the 15th. The dome was started on the 21st and completed on the 24th. The over flow tanks and piping were completed on 28th.
Even after repeated complaints, Viva Rio did not submit correct technical drawings for the work, as required in the contract. As a result, the system extended 1.5 m into the site of the latrine building. The result is that the latrine will be moved to align with the classroom building. Not a big problem but not a good way to work. We have noted this to the foreman, and in emails to the engineers.
Phase 2
Building 1
Additional measured drawings have been made to ensure that the details will be replicable with the new roof construction. The details of the new porch and new stairs are being designed to fit within the Haitian Gingerbread style. Inspection of the viability of the foundations should begin within the week
We have received enthusiastic and positive feedback from ISPAN on our process and decisions so far. They have asked us to provide them with drawing
FIELD REPORT #10
PROJECT: École Elie Dubois
PROJECT NUMBER: 7216
DATE: 11-28-2011
WEATHER: Sunny 31C
UNESCO ROOFS EST % COMPLETION: [70%]
UNESCO ROOFS SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (-53)
CAFETERIA EST % COMPLETION: [5%]
CAFETERIA SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (-58)
________________________________________________________________________
WORK IN PROGRESS:
-Biodigester infill
_______________________________________________________________________
PRESENT AT SITE:
-Kate Evarts (AFH)
-Natalie Desrosiers (AFH)
-St. Jean Marc Henry (AFH)
-Rick Ehert (AFH)
-Ben Gordon (AFH)
-Fortin Exene (EF Construction)
-Lucenson Duroseau (EF Construction)
___________________________________________________________________
MATERIAL ON SITE:
-2x6, 2x4 lumber
- #4, #5, & #6 rebar (12 meter segments)
-Column ties
-200mm CMU approx. 40 m2
-Gravel and sand; approx. 15 m3 each
_______________________________________
OBSERVATIONS:
GENERAL:
-Under orders from Sister Josette, the GC remains employed; GC will be fired unless specified milestones are reached (TBD) by January 3rd 2012; Sister Josette will be more involved in construction meetings from this point forward so she can make an educated decision come January 3rd.
-Biodigester built approx. 2.5 meters to far west; latrine building will have to be resited
-UNESCO CLASSROOMS:
-No further fasteners (clips, angles, screws, anchor bolts) installed
-Ridge beam / truss joint not remedied
-Shim condition at rafter / baseplate not remedied
-GC stated he would provide sample clerestory louver for review
-GC again stated he could not find roofing sheets to match what has been purchased and installed
-GC again stated he could not find angles for roof structure; AFH found acceptable angles at Alliance (600 count)
CAFETERIA:
-Footing, column base, and wall steel in place
-Trench bottom not cleaned out
-Footing steel at shear wall columns too close together; upper steel must be raised to have 80mm coverage from top of footing
-No formwork in place
-Drainage pipe not in place
-Two concrete mixers on site
-Binding wire at columns not flattened
-Earth at east perimeter wall not removed
-Trees by cistern foundation not removed
-AFH agreed gridline 9 could be moved 250mm west to avoid existing foundation wall
_________________________________
INFORMATION OR ACTION REQUIRED:
GENERAL:
-AFH to provide revised grout mixure ratio
-AFH to provide revised drawings showing value engineered elements contained in 11-18-2011 set (bidding docs for new GC search)
-AFH to ask Yves about roof sheeting availability
CAFETERIA:
-GC to submit a change order request for the cafeteria revisions (material quantities of revisions provided by AFH)
-AFH to investigate possibility of constructing east perimeter wall to withstand lateral loading from earth on adjacent property
KITCHEN:
-AFH to submit revised drawings and CO quantities for kitchen revisions
- GC to submit a change order request
____________________________________
REPORT BY: Ben Gordon
Of note today:
1.We have issued the new appel d'offres and 4 different construction contractors came to the site this morning. Bids are due back Thursday afternoon.
2. CINA delivered 669 bags of cement this afternoon. Mark Henri ( our CO man) made sure that the shed was cleared out for the delivery, and that the cement was loaded inside, and locked.
THANK YOU CINA!
3. Thieves came in the night to steal the cement. They couldn't get in, so they stole some things from the little kitchen instead.
FIELD REPORT #9
PROJECT: École Elie Dubois
PROJECT NUMBER: 7216
DATE: 11-21-2011
WEATHER: Sunny 32C
UNESCO ROOFS EST % COMPLETION: [70%]
UNESCO ROOFS SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (-46)
CAFETERIA EST % COMPLETION: [5%]
CAFETERIA SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (-51)
________________________________________________________________________
WORK IN PROGRESS:
-Cafeteria foundation excavation
-Cafeteria footing and column steel placement
-Biodigester masonry dome
_______________________________________________________________________
PRESENT AT SITE:
-Kate Evarts (AFH)
-Natalie Desrosiers (AFH)
-St. Jean Marc Henry (AFH)
-Rick Ehert (AFH)
-Dorothy Miller (AFH)
-Ben Gordon (AFH)
-Fortin Exene (EF Construction)
-Lucenson Duroseau (EF Construction)
-Pierre Paul (EF Construction)
___________________________________________________________________
MATERIAL ON SITE:
-2x6, 2x4 pressure treated lumber
- #4, #5, & #6 rebar (12 meter segments)
-Column ties
-200mm CMU approx. 20 m2
_______________________________________
OBSERVATIONS:
GENERAL:
-Biodigester brick masonry dome construction (inlet el. flexible to approx. 1m below grade)
-UNESCO CLASSROOMS:
-No further fasteners (clips, angles, screws, anchor bolts) installed
-Ridge beam / truss joint not remedied
-Shim condition at rafter / baseplate not remedied
-Roofing sheets complete on 3 classroom buildings
CAFETERIA:
-Foundation excavation ongoing
-approx. ½ of column cages and footings placed
-Vertical column steel hooks above footing steel; approved by AFH structural engineer
-Several columns needing extra vertical steel for horizontal wall steel hook anchorage missing; structural engineer stated these verticals did not need hooks, meaning foundation steel would not have to be taken apart
-Wire fasteners at column ties must be flattened against steel to assure proper concrete coverage
-GC to check column tie spacing following foundation wall construction prior to column base concrete placement
-GC must scrape mud out from below foundation footing just prior to pouring concrete
-GC to remove existing trees by cistern foundation
-No cement or aggregate for foundation on site
_________________________________
INFORMATION OR ACTION REQUIRED:
GENERAL:
-AFH to submit new site plan including grading information, new water recharge zone, and underground piping connection between unesco classroom roofs and new latrine building cistern
- Viva Rio to provide Biodigester drawings for structural review
-AFH to provide revised grout mixure ratio
CAFETERIA:
-GC to have foundation steel in place Wednesday November 23rd 2011
-GC to complete cafeteria foundation and slab by 11-25-2011
-GC to purchase concrete aggregate
-GC to submit a change order request for the cafeteria revisions (material quantities of revisions provided by AFH)
-AFH to arrange procurement of cement for foundation and slab construction (700 bags)
KITCHEN:
-AFH to submit revised drawings showing thinner slab and lower building elevation and CO quantities for kitchen revisions
- GC to submit a change order request for the 8-30-2011 and slab revisions
____________________________________
REPORT BY: Ben Gordon
Last week we presented the contractor with a written notice of the agreed upon deadline: achieving completion of the floor slab of the Cafeteria by Nov 18, 2011. We had all agreed that this was entirely achievable. The terms are that if this work was not completed we would terminate the full contract for construction. It was clear, by the 15th, that this would not be achieved.
We gave the contractor a week extension on this deadline today (11.18.11) in order to have the leeway to negotiate a contract with another builder.
We are currently in the process of ascertaining that all of the trades and workers have been paid, and that the GC has spent a sufficient amount of the money that was issued in the mobilization payment. We have issued a list of specific materials that we need to see on site for him to move ahead.
The extended deadline is Nov 25, and the GC signed a letter to this effect, while asking for an additional 2 days extension( Nov 28). We did not agree to this.
On another note:
we requested the delivery of cement several weeks ago, and it was arranged for Thursday morning, Nov 17. It did not arrive. Today ( Nov 18) is a national Haitian holiday so it was not delivered today. We hope it will be delivered on Monday so that we are not responsible for holding the contractor back in any way.
We do not expect that the steel work of the foundation will be ready, but he might surprise us.
Dirt
The contractor has piled all the dirt from the excavation in the middle of the area of the work of the slab. It is quite high ans because of this he has not verified the locations of the columns across it. He also asked to be given a time extension for his work because the dirt was going to be difficult to remove. It is true, but it was his own poor planning that led to this.
FIELD REPORT #8
PROJECT: École Elie Dubois
PROJECT NUMBER: 7216
DATE: 11-15-2011
WEATHER: Sunny 28C
UNESCO ROOFS EST % COMPLETION: [70%]
UNESCO ROOFS SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (-40)
CAFETERIA EST % COMPLETION: [5%]
CAFETERIA SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (-46)
________________________________________________________________________
WORK IN PROGRESS:
-Cafeteria foundation excavation
-Cafeteria footing and column steel cutting and tying
-UNESCO roof sheeting installation
-Biodigester slab
_______________________________________________________________________
PRESENT AT SITE:
-Kate Evarts (AFH)
-Natalie Desrosiers (AFH)
-St. Jean Marc Henry (AFH)
-Ben Gordon (AFH)
-Fortin Exene (EF Construction)
-Lucenson Duroseau (EF Construction)
-Pierre Paul (EF Construction)
___________________________________________________________________
MATERIAL ON SITE:
-2x6, 2x4 pressure treated lumber
-Approx. 100 white steel roofing sheets
-Approx. 200 bars of #4, #5, & #6 rebar (12 meter segments)
-Column ties
_______________________________________
OBSERVATIONS:
GENERAL:
-Biodigester base slab being poured
-UNESCO CLASSROOMS:
-No further fasteners (clips, angles, screws) installed
-Ridge beam / truss joint not remedied
-Shim condition at rafter / baseplate not remedied
-Roofing sheet installation ongoing
-Observed that top truss gusset plates had been salvaged from originally incorrect framing; these plates had been notched at the top to allow ridge beam to continue through truss; a plywood shim had been inserted to fill this notch rather than cutting new plates; structural engineer stated once angles are installed the joint will be acceptable
CAFETERIA:
-Foundation excavation ongoing
-No cement, aggregate, or CMU for foundation on site
-GC stated they could not find 30cm square column block for foundation; decision made to substitute concrete
-Column rebar cage fabricated to short; decision made to cut off top hooks and add new hook with longer leg to make up the difference
_________________________________
INFORMATION OR ACTION REQUIRED:
GENERAL:
-AFH to submit new site plan including grading information, new water recharge zone, and underground piping connection between unesco classroom roofs and new latrine building cistern
- Viva Rio to provide Biodigester drawings for structural review and confirm specified inlet elevation
CAFETERIA:
-GC to complete cafeteria foundation and slab by 11-18-2011
-GC to purchase necessary foundation materials
-GC to submit a change order request for the cafeteria revisions (material quantities of revisions provided by AFH)
-AFH to arrange procurement of cement for foundation and slab construction (700 bags)
KITCHEN:
-AFH to submit revised drawings showing thinner slab and lower building elevation and CO quantities for kitchen revisions
- GC to submit a change order request for the 8-30-2011 and slab revisions
____________________________________
REPORT BY: Ben Gordon
FIELD REPORT #7
PROJECT: École Elie Dubois
PROJECT NUMBER: 7216
DATE: 11-12-2011
WEATHER: Sunny 29C
UNESCO ROOFS EST % COMPLETION: [70%]
UNESCO ROOFS SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (-38)
CAFETERIA EST % COMPLETION: [5%]
CAFETERIA SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (-43)
________________________________________________________________________
WORK IN PROGRESS:
-Cafeteria foundation excavation
-Cafeteria footing steel cutting and tying
-UNESCO roof sheeting installation
-Biodigester excavation
_______________________________________________________________________
PRESENT AT SITE:
-Kate Evarts (AFH)
-Natalie Desrosiers (AFH)
-Ben Gordon (AFH)
-Lucenson Duroseau (EF Construction)
-Pierre Paul (EF Construction)
___________________________________________________________________
MATERIAL ON SITE:
-2x6, 2x4 pressure treated lumber
-Approx. 100 white steel roofing sheets
-Approx. 200 bars of #4, #5, & #6 rebar (12 meter segments)
-Column ties
_______________________________________
OBSERVATIONS:
GENERAL:
-Written warning delivered by Kate Evarts (AFH) and signed at site by Lucenson Duroseau (EF Construction); warning stated if cafeteria foundation and slab are not satisfactorily completed by November 18, 2011, EF Construction will be fired
-Biodigester pump broken; excavation half filled with water
-UNESCO CLASSROOMS:
-Minimal progress made
-No further fasteners (clips, angles, screws) installed
-Ridge beam / truss joint not remedied
-Shim condition at rafter / baseplate not remedied
-Roofing sheet installation begun during site visit
-Threaded rod segments for base plate anchorage cut too short (200 vs 250mm)
CAFETERIA:
-Foundation excavation ongoing
-No cement for foundation footings on site
-Laid out steel incorrectly for first typical column footing (dimensioning and bar count); corrected by AFH
-Column ties correctly fabricated
_________________________________
INFORMATION OR ACTION REQUIRED:
GENERAL:
-AFH to submit new site plan including grading information, new water recharge zone, secondary cafeteria cistern, and underground piping connection between unesco classroom roofs and new latrine building cistern
CAFETERIA:
-GC to complete cafeteria foundation and slab by 11-18-2011
-GC to submit a change order request for the cafeteria revisions (material quantities of revisions provided by AFH)
-AFH to arrange procurement of cement for foundation and slab construction (1,000 bags)
KITCHEN:
-AFH to submit revised drawings showing thinner slab and lower building elevation and CO quantities for kitchen revisions
- GC to submit a change order request for the 8-30-2011 and slab revisions
____________________________________
REPORT BY: Ben Gordon
FIELD REPORT #6
PROJECT: École Elie Dubois
PROJECT NUMBER: 7216
DATE: 11-9-2011
WEATHER: Sunny 28C
UNESCO ROOFS EST % COMPLETION: [70%]
UNESCO ROOFS SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (-35)
CAFETERIA EST % COMPLETION: [5%]
CAFETERIA SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (-40)
________________________________________________________________________
WORK IN PROGRESS:
-Cafeteria Foundation Excavation
-Biodigester Excavation
_______________________________________________________________________
PRESENT AT SITE:
-Kate Evarts (AFH)
-Natalie Desrosiers (AFH)
-Jeanty Gerald (AFH)
-St. Jean Marc Henry (AFH)
-Rick Ehlert (AFH)
-Ben Gordon (AFH)
-Fortin Exene (EF Construction)
-Duroseau (EF Construction)
-Pierre Paul (EF Construction)
___________________________________________________________________
DELIVERIES TO SITE:
-2x6, 2x4 pressure treated lumber
_______________________________________
OBSERVATIONS:
GENERAL:
-Biodigester excavation at approximately 3 meters
-Rick Ehlert conducted training session on reinforced concrete construction; all mentioned above “present at site” attended
-UNESCO CLASSROOMS:
-Minimal progress made
-No further fasteners (clips, angles, screws) installed
-Ridge beam / truss joint not remedied
-Shim condition at rafter / baseplate not remedied
-No roofing sheets on site
CAFETERIA:
-Foundation excavation ongoing
-Water found at approximately 1.2 meters below grade
-No rebar or cement for foundation footings on site
-Contractor stated that the foundation of the existing perimeter wall at North side of building could not safely be chipped away in order to allow new perimeter wall construction where originally planned; decision made to move new perimeter wall 25cm south to clear foundation
_________________________________
INFORMATION OR ACTION REQUIRED:
GENERAL:
-AFH to submit new site plan including grading information, new water recharge zone, secondary cafeteria cistern, and underground piping connection between unesco classroom roofs and new latrine building cistern
UNESCO:
-Rafter clips and truss angles still to be installed
-Truss joints loose and need more fasteners; need to be properly secured
-Some rafters and trusses have been shimmed at the base plate; shims must be replaced with continuous 30cm long wood support screwed to base plate
-Ridge beam to truss connection shimmed with plywood; RB must bear fully on truss edge
-Roofing sheets to be G20 galvanized steel with white factory applied finish; bought and available for pick-up; GC stated roofs could be completed by end of week
-GC to continue working
CAFETERIA:
-GC to submit a change order request for the cafeteria revisions (material quantities of revisions provided by AFH)
-GC to continue excavation and purchase foundation steel
-AFH to arrange procurement of cement for foundation and slab construction (1,000 bags)
-Date for completion of foundation and slab set for November 18th 2011
KITCHEN:
-AFH to submit revised drawings showing thinner slab and lower building elevation and CO quantities for kitchen revisions
- GC to submit a change order request for the 8-30-2011 and slab revisions
____________________________________
REPORT BY: Ben Gordon
04/11/11
at AFH offices
Dot Miller
Kate Evarts
Daniel Elie of ISPAN
Meeting this morning with Directeur Ganerale of ISPAN (Institut de Sauvegarde du Patrimoine National), The National Institute for Historic Preservation about Building 1 at Elie Dubois.
We had a series of questions and some drawings to describe our approach. The meeting went well and he seemed happy with the direction we have chosen to take.
He agreed that the internal stairs were of no historical importance or interest and we should try to locate the stairs elsewhere, he was positive about the plan to include these in the porch. He understood that the porch had a detrimental effect to the building during the Earthquake. He encouraged us to look at more modern materials in the replacement and re-design the porch. He was not precious about the porches at all. And he agreed that replacing aspects for the sake of aesthetics, ie the urn to the principal elevation was not important.
Daniel also commented that he was not precious about the materials used, the important thing is to preserve the building in a structurally stable way. We described that we would refurbish as much as we could and keep the Principal elevation true to its original look as much as possible.
He was very enthusiastic and would like us to provide a report for their monthly bulletin newsletter. We hope to be included in the nest issue, December.
DM
11/03/11
at AFH offices
Kate Evarts
Rick Ehlert
Fortin Exene (EF Construction)
EF foreman
Jeanty (AFH Outreach) had called to say the GC was having trouble finding the correct dimension of specified rebar ( #3 and #4).
We met with the engineer (R.Ehlert)to find a solution to this common, in Haiti, problem. We asked EF to bring us samples of the bar that was available so that an engineered solution could be devised.
We also discussed the threaded anchor bolts required for the UNESCO roof attachment. AFH had found, quite easily, threaded rods with washers and nuts at 5/8" x 16" and 1/2" x 40". RE stated that the less expensive 1/2" rods would suffice. GC was to go to Alliance and buy them, and return with the rebar samples so that they could all be purchased today.
EF also brought a sample of roofing sheets for approval. We re-stated that the roof material was specified at G20, factory applied white, in the profile that matched the translucent material that will go on the cafeteria roof.
AFH reiterated to Fortin and foreman that if the slab if the cafeteria was not completed by November 18, they would no longer be on the project.
ALSO:
The Viva Rio engineer for the Bio-digester planned to visit the site today, to set out the work.
KE
FIELD REPORT #5
PROJECT: École Elie Dubois
PROJECT NUMBER: 7216
DATE: 10-31-2011
WEATHER: Sunny 31C
UNESCO ROOFS EST % COMPLETION: [70%]
UNESCO ROOFS SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (-25)
CAFETERIA ROOFS EST % COMPLETION: [3%]
CAFETERIA SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (-35)
________________________________________________________________________
WORK IN PROGRESS:
-Cafeteria Foundation Excavation
_______________________________________________________________________
PRESENT AT SITE:
- Kate Evarts (AFH)
-Jeanty Gerald (AFH)
-St. Jean Marc Henry (AFH)
-Ben Gordon (AFH)
-Fortin Exene (EF Construction)
___________________________________________________________________
DELIVERIES TO SITE:
-2x6, 2x4 pressure treated lumber
-(50) bolts for base plate anchorage
-5/16” rebar
_______________________________________
OBSERVATIONS:
GENERAL:
- UNESCO CLASSROOMS:
-Class in session; no work being done
-Class not in sessions Tuesday and Wednesday (11-1 & 11-2); work may proceed
-Concrete in place for 6 of 6 column tops
-AFH explained ridgebeam and rafter bearing issues (plywood shims) and how to remedy
-GC pointed out that wood connections at truss splice locations were not included in the original BOQ; AFH stated he could request a change order for the approx. 6 meters of 2x6s
-AFH found Alliance hardware store carries 5/8” diameter 16” threaded rods which can be used to bolt down roof baseplates
CAFETERIA:
-Foundation Excavation Begun
-Clarified to contractor correct depth of footings
-Submitted CO quantities and dollar amounts to contractor; GC pointed out excavation amount in original BOQ was too small
-AFH pointed out the cost for 30cm block was way too high and will have to be corrected; this will be taken into account in the kitchen foundation change order (pending)
_________________________________
INFORMATION OR ACTION REQUIRED:
GENERAL:
-AFH to submit new site grading plan
UNESCO:
-Rafter clips and truss angles still to be installed
-Truss joints loose and need more fasteners; need to be properly secured
-Some rafters and trusses have been shimmed at the base plate; shims must be replaced with continuous 30cm long wood support nailed to base plate
-Ridge beam to truss connection shimmed with plywood; RB must bear fully on truss edge
-Roofing sheets to be G20 galvanized steel with white factory applied finish
-GC to continue working
CAFETERIA:
-GC to submit a change order request for the cafeteria revisions (material quantities of revisions provided by AFH)
-GC to continue excavation and purchase foundation steel
-AFH to arrange procurement of cement for foundation and slab construction (1,000 bags)
KITCHEN:
-AFH to submit revised drawings showing thinner slab and lower building elevation and CO quantities for kitchen revisions
- GC to submit a change order request for the 8-30-2011 and slab revisions
____________________________________
REPORT BY: Ben Gordon
FIELD REPORT #4
PROJECT: École Elie Dubois
PROJECT NUMBER: 7216
DATE: 10-27-2011
WEATHER: Sunny 32C
UNESCO ROOFS EST % COMPLETION: [70%]
UNESCO ROOFS SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (-18)
CAFETERIA EST % COMPLETION: [0%]
CAFETERIA SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (-28)
________________________________________________________________________
WORK IN PROGRESS:
-UNESCO classroom roof construction
_______________________________________________________________________
PRESENT AT SITE:
- Natalie Desrosiers (AFH)
- Kate Evarts (AFH)
-Jeanty Gerald (AFH)
-Ben Gordon (AFH)
-Fortin Exene (EF Construction)
___________________________________________________________________
DELIVERIES TO SITE:
-2x6, 2x4 pressure treated lumber
-(50) bolts for base plate anchorage
-5/16” rebar
_______________________________________
OBSERVATIONS:
GENERAL:
-Septic tank removed
UNESCO CLASSROOMS:
-Concrete in place for 4 of 6 column tops
-Ridge beam and rafter installation complete
-Clerestory framing complete
CAFETERIA:
-Old slab and debris removed; site leveled
-Workers on site but not working
_________________________________
INFORMATION OR ACTION REQUIRED:
GENERAL:
-Meeting scheduled with GC 10AM 10-28-2011 at AFH office to go over scheduling and delays
-AFH to submit new site grading plan
UNESCO:
-GC to submit suggestion for baseplate anchoring to concrete beam on remaining 3 UNESCO buildings ILO of finding acceptable bolts
-Rafter clips and truss angles still to be installed
-Truss joints loose and need more fasteners; need to be properly secured
-Some rafters and trusses have been shimmed at the base plate; shims must be replaced with continuous 30cm long wood support nailed to base plate
-Ridge beam to truss connection shimmed with plywood; RB must bear fully on truss edge
-Roofing sheets to be G20 galvanized steel with white factory applied finish
-GC to continue working
CAFETERIA:
-GC to submit a change order request for the 8-30-2011 revisions
-GC to submit a change order request for rev. 3 issued 10-13-2011 (credit?)
-GC to start excavation
KITCHEN:
-GC to submit a change order request for the 8-30-2011 revisions
-AFH to submit revised drawings showing thinner slab and lower building elevation (credit)
____________________________________
REPORT BY: Ben Gordon
We are finally down to a buildable site. The cafeteria has been completely removed and the site leveled. Excavation for the footings and walls began on Friday and is scheduled to be complete on Monday when the steel will be started for the footings. The contractor, as instructed, mustered 20 workers to be onsite for the trenching work on Thursday, but they waited in the shade for us to arrive before starting work. We met with the foreman on Friday and gave him a schedule to which he must adhere or someone else can do the job.
The septic tanks, and concrete, have been removed so the BIO Digester may now get started as well.
FIELD REPORT #3
PROJECT: École Elie Dubois
PROJECT NUMBER: 7216
DATE: 10-17-2011
WEATHER: Overcast 31C
EST % COMPLETION: [0%]
SCHEDULE [+/- days]: (0)
________________________________________________________________________
WORK IN PROGRESS:
-UNESCO classroom roof construction
_______________________________________________________________________
PRESENT AT SITE:
- Natalie Desrosiers (AFH)
- Kate Evarts (AFH)
-Jeanty Gerald (AFH)
-Ben Gordon (AFH)
-Fortin Exene (EF Construction)
-Marc Duplan (demo)
___________________________________________________________________
DELIVERIES TO SITE:
-2x6, 2x4 pressure treated lumber
_______________________________________
OBSERVATIONS:
-Marc Duplan was on site to discuss demolition and excavation of the existing septic tank, cafeteria slab, and latrine site.
UNESCO Classrooms:
-Roof removed from 3rd classroom; contractor stated he had nothing else to do since he could not begin excavation for the cafeteria construction until the existing slab is removed
-Contractor submitted epoxy type (CIA-GEL 7000) for attaching base plates to concrete building frame; it is acceptable
-AFH stated base plate bolt holes must be cleared of all dust and debris prior to bolt installation
-AFH submitted SK-2 on how to alter and install the 50 bolts the contractor was able to find; these bolts will cover one classroom
-Work on ridge beam to column anchor begun; contractor stated the combined cost for 8 such anchors was 500 United States dollars; AFH does not believe it should be responsible for this cost as these anchors were in the original contract drawings and any alteration that is necessary from these drawings is due to the fact that the columns were damaged by the contractor during roof demolition work
-Structural engineer stated that the anchor construction was unacceptable; AFH submitted SK-1 for the necessary revisions
-Rafter clips and truss angles still to be installed
-Truss joints loose; need to be properly secured
-Truss joints do not have enough fasteners; the contractor may continue to use nails, but must use twice as many as what is drawn as the drawings call for screws
-Clerestory ridge is interrupted above truss locations and toenailed to adjacent rafter; structural engineer stated this is acceptable
_________________________________
INFORMATION OR ACTION REQUIRED:
UNESCO:
-Contractor to submit suggestion for baseplate anchoring to concrete on remaining 3 UNESCO buildings
Cafeteria:
-GC to submit a change order request for the alterations covered under rev. 3 issued 10-13-2011
Kitchen:
-AFH to submit revised drawings showing thinner slab and lower building elevation (change order request to follow)
Other:
-AFH to sign contract with Marc Duplan for septic tank demo, cafeteria slab demo, and excavation at cafeteria and latrine sites
-AFH to submit new site grading plan
____________________________________
REPORT BY: Ben Gordon
FIELD REPORT #2
PROJECT: École Elie Dubois
PROJECT NUMBER: 7216
DATE: 10-10-2011
WEATHER: Overcast 23C
EST % COMPLETION: [0%]
SCHEDULE [+/- days]: ()
________________________________________________________________________
WORK IN PROGRESS:
-UNESCO classroom roof construction
_______________________________________________________________________
PRESENT AT SITE:
Natalie Desrosiers (AFH)
Kate Evarts (AFH)
-Jeanty Gerald (AFH)
-Ben Gordon (AFH)
-Fortin Exene (EF Construction)
___________________________________________________________________
DELIVERIES TO SITE:
-2x6, 2x4 pressure treated lumber
_______________________________________
OBSERVATIONS:
-School back in Session; Students sent home at noon to allow work on UNESCO roofs to continue
UNESCO Classrooms:
-rafters installed : no ridge beam clips; not notched at base as per drawings (structural engineer stated they were acceptable as installed); base plate clips installed one on either side of base plate rather than one on either side of rafter and truss.
-trusses complete
-clerestory construction begun
-Ridge beam (but not angles to truss) installed between trusses, but not between truss and end column
-Review of pre-construction photos shows no damage to top of columns prior to roof demolition
-Baseplate bolts not installed; contractor stated he could not find bolts long enough
-With baseplate, truss, and rafters in place it will be difficult to drill holes for bolts and clear the dust out of them
Cafeteria:
-Existing slab collapsed where contractor drove truck on it
-Decision made to abandon existing cafeteria slab; this allows the elevation of the cafeteria floor to be dropped in order to allow for the entire structure to be built on undisturbed soil; this eliminates the need for a thicker slab and extra beams at grade
-Workers laying out structural grid
-Electrical wires going through perimeter wall do not appear to be connected to anything on other side
-Sister Josette stated that second perimeter wall belongs to neighbor and was built after earthquake; the wall should remain if this does not create a safety issue
_________________________________________
INFORMATION OR ACTION REQUIRED:
UNESCO:
-Install missing angles and clips
-Contractor to submit suggestion for baseplate anchoring to concrete
-Contractor to submit epoxy type
-Contractor must stop making jagged splices in truss members; splices should be plumb cuts with gusset plate
Cafeteria:
-Sister Josette to notify neighbors that earth east of future cafeteria and north of future kitchen will be cut back to avoid lateral load on future perimeter wall; this earth cannot be allowed to pile back on the future wall
-AFH to provide revised cafeteria and kitchen drawings showing new elevation
____________________________________
REPORT BY: Ben Gordon
Elie Dubois UPDATE: October 5, 2011
Construction
The contracts are all signed and in place. The bank issue was resolved with the contractor and the first payment on the contract for construction has been transferred. Sister Josette had an appointment with Banque de l’Union to set up a new account for the school. She was able to open an account in the school's name today!
Work has begun.
The contractor built a secure storage facility on site and began work on the UNESCO classroom roof replacement. The lightweight roofs are being replaced with durable wood trusses with top linear lanterns for improved light and air.
The secure workshop
The durable new trusses
making sure the bolts are the right size
The excavation for the footings for the cafeteria and the new sections of the perimeter wall has begun. The new walls for the cafeteria have been located, and the cement and rebar should be onsite in a few days. A short-term solution for the access through the perimeter wall is being put in place, to forestall thievery.
The onsite training for the full construction team is on the schedule with Build/Change.
removed the old roofs
the 2 week tent and new roofs
Pastor Carl Harrigan has loaned the school a large 6m x 12m tent (2 classrooms).The team erected the tent last week, and the waterproof rain cover is now in place as well. The students’ furniture has been moved inside and a temporary room divider is being installed. If necessary we will get another tent from UNESCO. While the roof work is going on, classes had to be delayed until next Monday.
UNESCO has provided furniture for the administration office (chairs and metal file cabinets).
Bio-Digester
The Viva rio contract for the Bio Digester is in place, and the first payment for the work has been transferred.
Phase 2
The dossier submitted to the MENFP in June has finally been approved and was submitted to the Ministry of Finance, which also manages the committee of centre-ville approvals.
END
Kate Evarts
FIELD REPORT #1
PROJECT: École Elie Dubois
PROJECT NUMBER: 7216
DATE: 10-05-2011
WEATHER: Sunny 33C
EST % COMPLETION: [0%]
SCHEDULE [+/- days]: ()
________________________________________________________________________
WORK IN PROGRESS:
- UNESCO classroom truss construction
- Cafeteria slab and perimeter wall demolition
_______________________________________________________________________
PRESENT AT SITE:
- Natalie Desrosiers
- Kate Evarts
- Jeanty Gerald
- Ben Gordon
- Contractor not present
- aprox 20 laborers on site
___________________________________________________________________
DELIVERIES TO SITE:
- 2x6, 2x4 pressure treated lumber
_______________________________________
OBSERVATIONS:
- Work stopped; workers have not been paid
- No drawings on site (aside from AFH outreach)
_______________________________________
ITEMS TO VERIFY:
- UNESCO base plate and truss installation.
-Installation of temporary perimeter wall/fence.
_________________________________________
INFORMATION OR ACTION REQUIRED:
1. UNESCO base plate bolt length
2. Contractor only found 16mm 5” long bolts to secure the base plate into the UNESCO concrete ring beam. Options if longer bolt cannot be found?
3. Repair to top of UNESCO column at ridge beam anchor location
4. Contractor only found LFP 60 angle not LFP 70. Is this large enough to secure the UNESCO ridge beam to the trusses? Should we use two, one atop the other?
5. New splice detail at new/existing cafeteria slab joint.
6. Drawing providing cafeteria grid diagonals.
7. Revise cafeteria column footing drawings to show continuous footing rebar passing through.
____________________________________
ATTACHMENTS:
REPORT BY: Ben Gordon
PHASE ONE
Demolition of Building 2
The salvageable materials including wooden doors, iron hardware, furniture and light fixtures were removed before the demolition and stored in locked rooms in Building 1. Much of the metal roofing material was removed and salvaged by the demolition team. We were able to get up into the attic and see how the framing was put together. The old heavy timber construction was mortised and tenon with long wood pegs. The timbers were hewn and numbered to be matched during the framing.
Pegged timbers
The contract for the demolition of Building 2 was delayed by a mix up in the turn-around at HQ, followed by the repeated attempted transmission of the funds to the wrong account number given to us by the contractor. This wasted another 3 weeks of sending and resending before the contractor’s error was discovered by our accounting team.
The building was taken down over the weekend of September 9, and the site was cleared of rubble and demolition debris.
Building 2 gone
Thieves
There has been a constant infiltration of people coming through the damaged sections of the perimeter wall and stealing everything they can. Nothing is safe. We stood on site with sister Josette one afternoon and watched people climbing over the wall to search for things to steal, only to scurry away when they saw us.
UNESCO classrooms
The work on these buildings, by UNESCO, is finally finished. The openings have been fitted with neat metal bar grilles for a secure environment. The end panels between the buildings have wood panels, and all the painting has been completed. The teachers and students are using these spaces already as they prepare for the coming school year.
The work of reconfiguring the roofs will be scheduled for optimal use of the classrooms while construction is ongoing.
UNESCO buildings finished
Contractor
Bids were received from 6 qualified contractors. The bids were reviewed and AFH successfully entered into negotiations with EF construction. The approved contract was signed by EF Construction on Friday September 16.
The construction team was on site on Monday Sept 19 to start mobilization. Work was immediately started on the perimeter walls prior to digging the footings for the new buildings. The contractor agreed to start work without the first payment in place, but this will only last a short while. The money transfer needs to happen ASAP.
EF Construction signs up
Agreements and Banks
Sister Josette signed the Grant Agreement with Architecture for Humanity to start the construction thus establishing the process of fiduciary responsibility between the parties. One of the issues now about to hold up the work is the fact that the school has never had a bank account, and so a new one has to be established. This needs Ministry approval due to ownership issues. Sister Josette opened an account as a representative of the school and is attempting to have the name of the school appended to this account. The issue needs to be sorted out before money can be transferred. Lines of liability and taxation are involved. This should have been discovered during the initial vetting process, but who would have thought that the venerable school managed without a bank account for all these years.
Soeur Josette avec contrats
Bio-Digester
Architecture for Humanity signed the contract with Viva Rio for the construction of the bio digester sanitation system. The first Transaction Request for payment was submitted on September 15.
A full schedule for the work is forthcoming from the engineer for Viva Rio, Valmir Fachini. But first, the septic tanks must be removed.
Demolition of Septic Tanks
The septic tanks, there are 2 of them, have been emptied. It took so long to get all the material out, more than 40 barrels, that it was not possible to get the thick concrete vaults removed by the machines that were on site during the demolition of Building 2. We need to have the tanks removed by machine and will get this done in the next week. We need to negotiate a decent price for this work. The major issue with the tanks is the enormous amount of machine oil that had entered the tanks from the constant flow of oil from the very large tank on the neighboring site. The two large pipe openings in the perimeter wall will be sealed up completely and the oil intrusion, which is toxic and pervasive, will be stopped. This area of the site has been terribly contaminated.
Oil from next door
Schedule
A great deal of time has been lost due to circumstances that are typical here: The contractor giving us incorrect banking information, the lack of modern banking procedures within the school, discovery of more serious damage to perimeter walls and existing building construction slated not to be touched, the massive amount of oil that was poured into the abandoned septic system, and the constant shifting flow of information. This is, as we have learned, normal here.
Temporary Classrooms
We are currently looking for some temporary shelters to house classes if the new classroom building isn’t ready for the start of school. We have asked UNESCO and HABITAT for their help in borrowing tents and hope that we will not need them. We want to anticipate the worst case, and be prepared for the first few weeks if necessary.
Phase 2
Document for Approvals for Main Building 1
The document submitted in June for the MENFP, DGS, Ministry of Finance, FAES and the Downtown committee approvals was finally reviewed by the office of the Ministry of Education (MENFP) and their comments were received. Together with the MENFP office and Sister Josette, we made extensive revisions and additions and submitted the requisite 3 copies of the 52 page document on Monday Sept 19. We look forward to some action soon in a very frustrating process.
Main Building 1
The work awaits approvals from the Minstry of Education and the Minstry of Finance. The drawings and documentation of the existing conditions are complete so that the reconstruction of the historic exteriors can be made. The planning of the interiors and the exterior galleries will be reviewed with ISPAN. We expect to meet with ISPAN next week. The project will also be planned with civil, geo technical and and structural engineers to ensure that all seismic, hurricane, water infiltration and life safety issues are mitigated.
END
It didn't quite happen the way anyone expected, except it did happen fast!
The salvage work was done on friday and saturday. The machines arrived on Sunday afternoon at 2, and they worked all night, under kleig lights,taking the building down, and by the time anyone got there on Monday morning, which we all did, it was already gone. Neither AfH, ISPAN's Achilles Dwolling nor Sister Josette expected the work to be done on Sunday, but it was probably a good idea for bringing the machines and the trucks onsite and getting them out on the streets again, and keeping the site safe. On Monday,we all stood and watched the bulldozer for a while with our cameras ready, both elated and disappointed to have missed it. The main thing is that the damaged and dangerous building is gone, the debris is gone, and now the rubble is going. Everyone was excited to see this enormous step towards the making of something new and wonderful at this great school. Sister Josette was blessing the whole enterprise and already on to the next step reminding us that school starts on October 3rd.
The big machines for demolition of Building 2 arrive on site tomorrow morning!
The official announcement of the start of school names October 3 as opening day, a four week delay.
Today I received the signed and stamped letter of permission from ISPAN. Sister Josette delivered it personally. I jumped in the car and went right down to MENFP and delivered it into the hands of the secretary of the Minister. We hope this will finish this part of the process.
I also received confirmation on the contract signing from Viva Rio for the Bio-digester. We should have the signed contract tomorrow, delivered by their driver into my hands. They will start work within 48 hours of receipt of the money.
Sanco has been paid and should complete the work of emptying the septic tanks (surprise! there were two) by tomorrow. It is more oil than anything else.
The money for the demolition is on its way and this time we are sure it will get into the right account.
Just thought you'd like to know.
Elie Dubois Update 8.8.11
Demolition has been completed of cafeteria, kitchen, old toilets, pools and cisterns and site concrete. The rubble remains on site, to be fully removed by the machines that are demolishing building 2.
SITE VISIT
The bricks around the site have been salvaged and will be reused for pathways. The demolition of Building 2 will begin this week. The careful salvage of the tall wood doors and shutters, and iron hardware will take place first, along with the salvage of the large furniture that the school staff was unable to remove. The demolition of the sorely damaged building should take a few days with the complete rubble removal to follow.
Salvaged bricks
We found several large sections of the perimeter wall in the area of work which need to be demolished and rebuilt. This will be added to the scope of work.
The excavation for the Bio-Digester to be built by Viva Rio will begin as soon as the septic tank is cleaned and removed later this week. Contracts and transaction requests should be completed by 8.10.11.
The construction bids are in and are being analyzed. Full contract negotiations will begin later this week. As soon as the site is cleared the new construction will begin.
Contractors On Site
We have received approvals from ISPAN for the demolition of Building 2 and the other damaged structures.
We are working with the ISPAN (National Institute of Historic Preservation) Achille Dwolling during the project. We have the approved geotech reports in hand.
We submitted the project dossier to the MENFP (Minstry of Education) on June 20, 2011 and are awaiting final signatures on their approval.
AFH Organizational Breakdown
The demolition of Building 2 is critical to the project's progress.
A contract was signed with the Haitian contractor on July 15 and submitted to Headquarters for approval on July 18th, 2011.
For reasons I can't explain, 3 weeks went by before hearing back from headquarters.
Our Program Manager, after a trip to San Francisco, sorted out the problem.It was the story of one or more people dropping the ball!
I've now received confirmation on the approval of the transaction, the money has been wired to the contractor. I'm meeting with the contractor tomorrow to establish a schedule and put Elie back on track.
Reconstruction of Elie Dubois/ site visite with contractors July 18, 2011/ Bid opening July 25th, 2011
Location:
The Rebuilding Center, , Port-au-Prince
Present at site visite:
C.E.S GROUP (Contractor)
A.B Construction (Contractor)
DESIGN ACTION (Contractor)
E.F CONSTRUCTION (Contractor)
BATIR ET RESTAURER (Contractor)
TROGON INTERNATIONAL (Contractor)
J.B.I.C (Contractor)
Stephane Cherduville (SC) / Architecture for Humanity (AfH)
Rick Elhert (RE) / Architecture for Humanity (AfH)
Kate Evarts (KA) / Architecture for Humanity (AfH)
Ben Gordon (BG) / Architecture for Humanity (AfH)
Introduction:
Bid Procedures:
The fast past schedule was announced on the Bid Invitation. This was posted on a local newspaper during 4 non-consecutive business days.
Bid Package:
Construction Administration:
Staffing:
Action Items:
CONTRACTORS AT SITE VISIT 07/18/2011
Visit to Main Office of Viva Rio JUNE 30, 2011
Facchini (engineer, Vivo Rio)
Olrich (Viva Rio)
Drafter and other person (Viva Rio)
Nancy Doran (AfH)
Dave Gonzales (AfH)
Kate Evarts (AfH)
Keep Pipes from toilets as high as possible
Slope of 4” pipe to be 2% max slope( 1% least)
Bio d is 25m3 - 4m diameter and 2.40 m deep
Overflow caisse tank is right next to bio-digester and is 1m diameter and 1.5m deep ( cylinder)
The wetland garden is next to this and is 25m2 at a max of 0.5 m deep. This is the garden with the concrete bottom. It is filled with gravel or rubble etc ( could use some of the demo rubble about grapefruit sized) and the plants are special water plants that grow in water ( provided by VR). Then the water that comes out of that can go out into the garden in a distribution spine into a regular dirt garden with regular plants.
VR will do from connection of pipe to bio-d ( at the drop point) then from bio-digester to caisse tank and filter wetlands "tank" (fill and plants all included). Will do spine for watering but VR won’t build the further garden bed which will have any plants provided by owner…water is less rich in nutrients but good fertilizer and safe.
All the work happens in bio-d…the filter garden finishes it off and that is why it isn’t so big.
What about the 1m per user thing? What is that for ( 300 x 1m =300m2)Need to clarify this.
Note that demo of the entire area of the toilet and bio-d will be completed by July 11 (Monday) and that VR can begin after that. VR will do all required excavation and construction for bio- digester system. That VR will begin work after receipt of 1st payment ( not after the contract is signed only).
Terms of contract from their proposal.
Actions:
o Send Stephane (509 3 434 5090) and Carl contacts to Viva Rio
o VR to visit site next week (Friday july 8)
o Send drawings In pdf and dwg 2009 auto cad
o Send site plan
o Section with levels
o Sketch of the question of the heights…
o Send topo
Send contract
Site visit June 28,2011
Kate Evarts (AfH)
Jean Rene Lafontane (AfH)
Soeur Josette (Elie Dubois)
Walk site to look at demolition which began in earnest on Monday.
All brick removed from walkways and piled in garden
Walls of cafeteria down
20 workers (about) with sledgehammers and wheelbarrows demo cisterns
Everyone is very excited.
Side note: the UNESCO buildings have all now been painted ( white and blue) and we saw that a wood panel door and a window had been installed in the admin building.
Part 2: Visit to bio digester at Viva Rio complex
Kate Evarts (AfH)
Jean Rene Lafontane (AfH)
Soeur Josette (Elie Dubois)
Ulrich ( Viva Rio)
We went to the kay nou community center to have a look at the bio digester systems there installed by Viva Rio.
We were met by Ulriche of viva rio who led the tour.
We looked at the flush toilets (20) upstairs on second floor( 10 men/10 women)and quite a long distance from the bio digester. We were told that no toilet paper was to be thrown into the toilets, but the reason is that the pipes might get clogged, not that it would be a problem for the digester itself. They charge 1 Gourde per use and dole out small portion of very thin TP…otherwise it would be stolen or used too much. The toilets were regular Gerber 6.0 L/flush piped with plastic. They were immaculate and the tanks were like residential toilets.
We then saw the bio digester. It was a 50m3 unit with about 2’ showing above the ground. There is a caisse ( an adjacent concrete tank) for having a look inside and for maintenance as needed. The touyot ( pipes) from the toilets enter the dome at the bottom, the mix emits the gas, as pressure builds the gas is burned off or the water from about the middle of the tank is pushed out through a pipe to the filter garden….this is about 10 feet away….and extensive, but need not be. The filter garden is about 22cm deep and there is a hard ( concrete) bottom. The water goes in at the bottom and runs through gravel or other porous (?) material. Plants drink the nutritious brew and grow like crazy, the roots filter the grey water and the water that comes out can be used as fertilizer elsewhere.
Ulriche demonstrated the gas outlet. Turned the on lever and lit it - whoosh. It was a big bright flame. He said methane is safer than propane, and uses the same equipment / connectors to appliances as propane. He noted that water runs can be long as long as there is sufficient gravity flow, and that gas runs should be short. (at a later meeting this was said not to be an issue – gas runs can be long) This may affect the location of bio digester vis a vis kitchen and toilets. The garden…it was huge and magnificent, plants huge and happy. Ulriche said it need not be so big, and that it was pretty shallow, the roots grow horizontally. SJ asked if fruit trees would do well and Ulrich said yes. The garden need not be very large, but why not! We then looked at the small BD 10m3 they had just built for the kitchen. It was completely under the ground with a lid for access. We walked through the nursery garden which is watered from the run-off water.
Then we looked at the fish tanks set up inside the shell of an old building, very medieval, with big fishes painted on the walls. The water was rather green and milky – algae growth he said. He said there were 1000 fish in the pools, that they were healthy and provided good eating. Tanks are about 1m deep. Sister J was surprised at that, and added that she didn’t think they needed fish ponds at Elie.
Then we looked at the 50m3 BD for the dry system. This was attached to some cabines (port o potties) and had tanks on either side; one for the addition of poop (going in) and one for overflow and refill of water to BD as pressure changed. (in and out automatically). The tank with the water is required to be filled at all times. Poop is brought to the tank.. VR makes and sells cabines, and collect the poop, they bring it here and add it the the BD. pretty cool.
We asked about maintenance: most important is to have someone keep an eye on things to make sure it is running smoothly. There is no mixing or need to add stuff to a working system. One needs to check for clogged pipes and check pressure of gas. Too much poop or too little poop doesn’t seem to be an issue. He said from the day the thing is finished it might take 40 days to get gas.
Sister Josette was very pleased and said firmly that she would like the flush version thank you very much.
We asked about water…they have a big cistern on the roof of the toilet building, said they filled it by truck water every three days. They do not at the moment collect any rain water.
The fish pond is fed from BD runoff after filter garden water, and they add water and there is rain water too.
We asked Ulriche to mention to Mattia and Facchini that we needed to know the size for the filter garden by the Thursday meeting, and also the dimensions of the BD itself given that the site had shallow ground water issues.
Ulriche also mentioned that the BD itself needed to be round bottomed and round topped ( for pressure) and that it could be broad and shallow.
June 22, 2011
Site Visit to Elie Dubois
Kate Evarts (AfH)
Ben Gordon (AfH)
Stephane Cherduville (AfH)
Review demolition plans going forward
Met with Justin and …for site issues
After much discussion it is decided to keep the slab of the old cafeteria , as it is drawn.
Delineate the line of demo in garden, cafeteria and kitchen.
Talk to neighboring school about the bathrooms and the pending work…they are fine with it. Say the bathrooms are independent of elie.
Discuss the need to protect the plants, and move many.
Did not go inside bldg. 2, all of the Unesco materials in bldg. 1 have been moved out.
The Unesco buildings were being painted blue.
The septic tank and cistern –ish thing had the covers removed. It was difficult to see what exactly was in the one closet to the toilets, but it was full and dark and moist…no particular smell.
Ecole Elie du Bois Update July 9, 2011
Demo of small buildings on site
In an emailed follow-up (June 2, 2011) Sister Josette mentioned that she would like to add to the program for the school:
an auditorium with waiting room, and reception area.
"Merci encore pour la belle rencontre d'hier. J'ai oublié de mentionner dans le plan de reconstruction: un auditorium, une salle d'attente et un salon pour l'accueil des visiteurs. "
Project Name: Elie duBois, Site Visit
Date: June 1, 2011
Attendees: Soeur Josette Saint-Louis (SJ) L’Institution Elie duBois
Maitre Jessica (MJ) L’Institution Elie duBois
Kate Evarts (KE), Architecture for Humanity (AFH)
S tacey McMahan (SM), Architecture for Humanity (AFH)
Location: Rue de Centre, Port au Prince, Haiti
ABSTRACT:
Meeting with Sister Josette, school director, to discuss:
1. 2011- 2012 school schedule and program
2. Full program for school
3. UNESCO project
4. Demolition and salvage of Building 2
NOTES
1. Schedule
End of school this year: June 24, 2011
Start of school: September 12, 2011.
Absolute Minimum needs for the start of school, for the school year 2011- 2012:
• 6 classrooms
• Bathrooms
And, if possible:
• Kitchen
2. Program
Sister Josette wrote a description for the Ministry of Education (May 2011) of the school’s basic curriculum, which included the following program requirements:
• Classic Secondaire (from 7th fundamental to philo: prep for BACC II):
• 7 classrooms
• 2 classrooms for computers
• 1 science lab
• Library
• Superieur ( professional and technical prep for State diploma, university level)
• 3 classrooms for lectures and labs:
• Language
• Sewing lab
• Craft ( embroidery, macramé etc)
• For a total of 13 basic classrooms plus library.
We discussed additional program needs which include:
• Modern kitchen with food storage
• Cafeteria/ multipurpose room
• Administration building
• Teachers’ room
• Bathrooms
• Chapel
• For minimum 100 seats with ‘gallerie’ seating for a total of 300
• Nun’s residence ( 7 sisters)
• Workshop and shop for sisters work (at Rue Paul VI entrance)
• Small infirmary
• On site housing for
• 3 guardians
• 2 cooks
• Parking for 4 -5 cars (at Rue Paul VI entrance)
3. UNESCO Project
• The UNESCO project is finished. Sister Josette contacted them and was told that the work has stopped, no further work will be done and that no further approvals would be forthcoming. An email to AFH from Katharina Ehrmann (Unesco) stated that no work should be done to the buildings while they are under UNESCO auspices.
• Assuming that the final UNESCO project is 3 classrooms and 1 small administration building ( for a teachers room), the idea would be to use the new cafeteria building configured as 3 classrooms until more classrooms can be built.
• SJ commented that the UNESCO classrooms were on the small side and not a good shape. She would prefer better classrooms, but they would suffice for now. We thought perhaps that if the buildings survived the current hurricane season they would be useable for the next school year without modification.
• Jessica MJ said that school staff would remove the UNESCO materials that are currently being stored in the class room of Bldg 1.
• In general, it was agreed that:
• The entrance on rue Centre should be the main entrance.
• Parking for the 4-5 cars should be provided at the rue Paul VI entrance.
• We noted that there is ample space in the site area of the unbuilt UNESCO classrooms for larger 2 story classroom buildings.
• The Chapel is for religious occasions only.
• The chapel should serve a regular community of about 100 persons, with the ability to open up the building to serve an additional 200 or more in “gallerie” seating.
• We discussed the shape of the chapel building, which could be almost anything that would accommodate the required occupancy. It serves the nun’s daily needs, the school community, and anyone who wishes to worship there.
• SJ stated a firm reluctance to locate the nun’s residence along any of the perimeter walls, for reasons of security, noise, large neighboring buildings, and general distrust of neighboring activities. She prefers the location of the nun’s residence above the chapel, and expressed her confidence in the aging nuns’ ability to climb stairs. She also expressed their ability to wait for the time it will take to fund and build the new chapel/ residence building. They currently commute from Petionville.
• The cafeteria would ultimately serve as a multipurpose room and should be as large as possible to allow use by the entire school for events. The students eat in one shift, and many eat outside the café room.
• We discussed locations for the café, including possibly against the east wall.
• The existing administration building will serve their needs amply, when repaired.
• The nun’s workshop is an income producing activity and should be placed near the rue Paul VI entrance. It should be a 2 story building of about 50m2 footprint. It will include a public reception area and workshops for the nuns to do their work of embroidery, beading, and fabric repairs.
• The infirmary should be a private room with a small bed, and bathroom facilities. This should be separate from the administration building.
• We discussed the sanitation system – specifically the flush toilet bio-digester with accompanying filter gardens and rain water catchment system. SJ and MJ were very enthusiastic about the ideas.
• The onsite guardians also serve as the gardeners and general jack of all trades. The cooks and the guardians can share the same house. This house can be in the back of the site (near the bathrooms) and the guard station should be near the front entrance. The guardian can act as the sanitation supervisor.
4. Demolition of Building 2
• The building is dangerous and should be demolished as soon as possible.
• AFH should determine what permits etc are needed for this.
• AFH should make the schedule for demo/ salvage/ storage operation of bldg. 2.
• There will need to be a secure dry place to store salvaged materials. Building 1 classrooms would work.
• SJ and staff will go through the building to determine what items (ie, furniture, books) they want to save, and what to discard.
• AFH should designate what building materials might be saved and reused. This will be done with safety in mind.
• AFH should ask J/P HRO for help with salvage.
5. Questions:
• What are the options for the UNESCO project?
• What is the strategy for having 6 classrooms ready for September?
• What can we afford to build for school year 2011- 2012?
• Is the grant budget flexible ( in terms of scope, not $$)
• How can we accommodate the program changes per today’s conversation with Sister Josette?
History note
Building 1 and 2 received extensive renovation in 1977 which included the concrete porches and the interior concrete stairs and slabs in Bldg 1. Building 2 is the older of the two.
Re: Bring ISPAN into the current discussion regarding Buildings 1 and 2 on the Elie Dubois campus.
Present:
Daniel Elie - ISPAN Director - danielie@me.com
Colas Elsoit Dtai - ISPAN - coelsoit@hotmail.com
Eric Cesal - Architecture for Humanity
Sandhya Janardham - Architecture for Humanity
Stacey McMahan - Architecture for Humanity
Kate Evarts - Architecture for Humanity
Jeremy Warms - Architecture for Humanity
After the earthquake ISPAN (The National Institute for Historic Preservation/Institut de Sauvegarde du Patrimoine National) marked Buildings 1 and 2 as historically significant. Architecture for Humanity sought to meet with ISPAN to determine the fate of Building 2 (a structural assessment has shown it to be structurally unsafe) as well as consult with ISPAN concerning renovation for the rest of the campus.
ISPAN stated the following:
Architecture for Humanity explained plans for Building 2 and the rest of the campus.
Architecture for Humanity would like to continue working with ISPAN throughout the process. In ISPAN's opinion, the following process should be followed:
Respectfully submitted,
Stacey McMahan
Haiti Design Fellow
The Elie Dubois students and teachers, friends of Elie Dubois, and many diginitaries from the Ministry of Education and international community attended the funding dedication event held on the campus commons between the two historic Buildings 1 and 2.
Several dance performances were held and the Philo class presented IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno and Shakira with hand-made crafts (table cloths, etc.) for which Elie Dubois is famous. Diandine Emile, a graduating student and the student featured in the Students Rebuild video link on the overview page, also gave a heartfelt thankyou on behalf of the student body.
Approximately 300 paper cranes for Japan were made by the students with the help of Dorothy Miller, Stacey McMahan, Sandhya Janardham and Martine Theodore.
IDB President Luis Moreno and Shakira presented their pledge for $400,000 each in support of the school's reconstruction.
Location: Elie Dubois campus and College San Pierre
Re: Review updated plans and images for campus
Present:
Jessica Jacque - Elie Dubois teacher - mejy4@hotmail.com
Sister Joesette - Elie Dubois - smjosettesl@yahoo.fr
Stacey McMahan - Architecture for Humanity - staceymcmahan@architectureforhumanity.org
Presler Paul - UNESCO - p.paul@unesco.org
Sister Josette was overseeing exams and could not come to the Elie campus to review the drawings/plans which are in draft form.
The chapel occupying the ground floor of Building 2 seats approximately 250, it would be nice to seat 300 to accommodate students, teachers and families.
A stair should be added to the back of Building 2. The dorm on the first level will need to easily access the kitchen without going through the formal entrance of the building.
In consideration of the transitional UNESCO buildings, they will accommodate classes and students will during the renovation of the main campus buildings and grounds. Sister Josette expressed a preference for replacing them with permanent buildings after 3-4 years and the completed renovation of the main campus.
Both were very happy with the progress and proposed improvements.
ISPAN was contacted earlier this week and last week to set up a meeting, ISPAN has not replied and a time has not yet been set for review.
Next steps:
Review proposal with ISPAN.
Soil turning participants will arrive at 11:30, Architecture for Humanity will should be onsite at 9:30.
Stacey will send a list of Architecture for Humanity attendees to Jessica.
Respectfully submitted,
Stacey McMahan
Design Fellow
Architecture for Humanity
Location: Elie Dubois campus
Re: Review updated plans for Buildings 1 and 2 and followup actions
Present:
Jean Jacques Frero Dumete - Institut National de Formation Professionnelle (INFP) - jjfrerod@hotmail.com
Jessica Jacque - Elie Dubois teacher - mejy4@hotmail.com
Sister Joesette - Elie Dubois - smjosettesl@yahoo.fr
Sister Rousseau - Elie Dubois - estheresefdm@yahool.fr
Eric Cesal - Architecture for Humanity - ericcesal@architectureforhumanity.org
Stacey McMahan - Architecture for Humanity - staceymcmahan@architectureforhumanity.org
Dorothy Miller - Architecture for Humanity - dorothy.miller@hotmail.co.uk
Jeremy Warms - Architecture for Humanity - jwarms@gmail.com
Cancelled due to security concerns:
Julien Alexis Hautier - Education Specialist, IDB - julienh@iadb.org
Katherina Ehrmann - UNESCO - k.ehrmann@unesco.org
Presler Paul - UNESCO - p.paul@unesco.org
Eric reviewed the new project activity.
Architecture for Humanity's structural engineer reviewed Building 2 and the UNESCO construction for seismic. Building 2 would require a thorough and invasive structural retrofit to make it safe, likely costing more than the value of similar new construction. The recommendation is to replace the building. ISPAN is has been contacted by Architecture for Humanity for review. A report is available under the Files tab on this page (Open Architecture Network or OAN).
The three classrooms constructed by UNESCO appear generally safe. However, without any information about the quantity or quality of steel used, our structural engineer cannot determine whether these structures meet international standards for seismic and hurricane design. Full information on the construction must be provided to Architecture for Humanity for us to make a full judgment. A report is available under the Files tab on this page (Open Architecture Network or OAN).
Building 1 will require some reconstruction to include the upper wall portions of the top floor and a new roof structure. The report is also available on the OAN.
A concept floor plan option was reviewed for renovated Building 1 and new Building 2 to test program, and will be considered again with the finalization of next Fall's curriculum. The school would like to add additional professional/vocational program elements including Secretary, Computer Science, and Accounting.
Mr. Dumete was asked about support for the programs from the INFP - he replied that the programs are supported, but construction of space for the programs is not.
It is possible the second floor of Building 1 may be a good fit for the professional/vocational program and the UNESCO classrooms could accommodate the classical/secondary cycle program.
Proposed Phase 1 of work on the historic campus consists of demolition of existing Building 2 (this would entail salvaging as much material as possible for reuse in the new building), as well as the construction of a new latrine building and kitchen.
Construction on Phase I could be substantially completed by Fall 2011 school start in September, depending on factors.
Mr. Dumete noted the (Office of Water) will provide for water needs in the form of a cistern.
There will be a future connection to grid power but will need to have generator backup.
5 people (gardeners and others) currently live onsite and will continue during construction. Phasing and safety will have to be considered in the plan.
A Committee has been appointed by the MENFP to chaeffuer the plan for Elie Dubois consisting of Sister Josette (Elie Dubois), Fritz Louis Dorminvil (MENFP), and Stacey McMahan (Architecture for Humanity).
Next Steps:
Review plan with ISPAN.
Complete presentation package for review with the Downtown Committee to include Architectural (Architecture for Humanity), Institutional (Elie Dubois) and Financial (IDB). Architecture for Humanity is preparing 4 large presentation boards for the presentation along with a possible slideshow. We expect to have a draft available for review by March 25. Jessica Jacque believes that Elie Dubois can furnish a draft of the Institutional portion by Wednesday, March 23rd, or the 27th at the latest. All parties are encouraged to bring draft materials to the March 25 meeting for coordination purposes.
Please relay comments or inconsistencies of this record.
Respectfully submitted,
Stacey McMahan
From: Hautier, Julien
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2011 11:29 AM
To: 'Ehrmann, Katharina'; Creutzer Mathurin; carole sassine; dorli1516@hotmail.fr; smjosettesl@yahoo.fr; mejy4@hotmail.com, Stacey McMahan, Eric CESAL
Cc: Paul Presler, Lamine, Bechir; Cron, Helen Jackson Max Pléteau; Sandhya Janardhan
Subject: RE: CR Reunion Elie Dubois, 11/03/2011
Hello Katharina,
Thank you for this RC!
Some comments:
• According to Mr. Mathurin, the project must include (i) the architectural project, (ii) the education project, (iii) the role of the institution in the city center, (iv) the estimated costs and sources of funding. It is important that the Project Committee meeting the Committee from the city center before starting the draft to get a clear idea of ??what is expected.
• The Project Committee shall consist of AFH as technical assistance
• This is sought of ISPAN is an endorsement of the project and not a license (issued by the committee of downtown)
· As regards the project itself (Section 3), it seems premature to make firm decisions for the way forward.
· As regards the financing of the IDB, it is not yet fully confirmed. That depends on several factors. It is best to use the contingency for financing.
Sincerely,
Julien HAUTIER
Education Specialist
(509) 28 12 50 00
(509) 28 12 50 16
March 15
From: Ehrmann, Katharina [mailto: @ unesco.org k.ehrmann]
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 24:53 PM
To: Creutzer Mathurin; carole sassine; dorli1516@hotmail.fr; smjosettesl@yahoo.fr; mejy4@hotmail.com; Hautier, Julien; Stacey McMahan, Eric CESAL
Cc: Paul Presler, Lamine, Bechir; Cron, Helen Jackson Max Pléteau; Sandhya Janardhan
Subject: CR Reunion Elie Dubois, 11/03/2011
Hello everybody,
We pray to receive a proposal from the minutes of the meeting held on March 11, 2011 Elie Dubois High School.
Pending comments we wish you good reception.
Present at the meeting at Elie Dubois High School (10: 30 am - 12:30 pm): Mr. Creutzer MATHURIN (Cell Control / MENFP) Mr. Dorminvil LOUIS SON (DDEO / MENFP) Sister Theresa Rousseau, Sr. Josette SAINT-LOUIS, Jessica Marie JACQUES (Elie Dubois School), Ms. Katharina Ehrmann and M. Presler PAUL (UNESCO), Mr. Julien HAUTIER (IDB), Stacey and Eric Mc MAHAN CESAL (Architects for Humanity);
The meeting scheduled for 10 am to 10:55 am started at the local high school Elie DUBOIS. The agenda: Installation of a development project Elie Dubois High School with the joint participation of the IDB, UNESCO and the NGO Architects for Humanity.
Mr. Mathurin Cell Steering MENFP who opened the meeting held in mind that:
1) The area where the School is housed Elie Dubois is decreed by the state Public Utility Zone;
2) Two school buildings Though damaged by the earthquake of January 12, 2011 are classified by ISPAN as "Historic preservation";
3) No action is possible on this site without the express consent of ISPAN;
4) No construction is possible in the area without the permission of the Construction Committee of the City Center, whose office is located in the Ministry of Finance.
5) To get the permission of the Construction Committee of the City Center for the rehabilitation / construction, Elie Dubois High School must submit a project including the architectural, institutional, financial.
After several exchanges between participants, it was decided:
1) Establish a Project Committee consisting of:
a) Sister Josette St. Louis and Jessica Marie Jacques Elie Dubois High School;
b) Mr. Dorminvil LOUIS SON of DDEO;
2) Load this committee to meet with leaders of ISPAN, Cell Steering (Carole Sassine), the INFP (Frero Dumel and Hermine Leonard), DGS and the NGO Architects for Humanity to collect the necessary information and work on the formulation of a development project Elie Dubois High School;
3) Consider the response at the Elie Dubois High School in two phases:
1st phase: Given the need to have classrooms in preparation for the reopening of classes in September 2011: 1. Construction of classroom / administration block already in progress 2. the erection of the fence space housing the classrooms and administration block under construction 3. Add two modules of classrooms to increase the capacity of the school in the same area where the three aforementioned modules are nearing completion, 4. Restore sanitary. This first phase is the responsibility of UNESCO.
2nd phase: restoration and construction on the land where the two buildings classified by ISPAN as historical heritage. This second phase is the responsibility of the NGO Architects for Humanity / IDB
4) Ask the committee established to work on the said project proposal for development of the College to be presented to representatives of donors above Friday, March 18, 2011 am to 10 am for review and approval.
Participants agreed to meet in another week to take stock of the various decisions taken either Friday, March 18, 2011 at 10 am am in local Elie Dubois High School.
Katharina Ehrmann
Education Project Manager
UNESCO Port-au-Prince
Mobile: 34 35 1201
Location:
Elie Dubois campus
Present:
Julien Alexis Hautier - Education Specialist, IDB - julienh@iadb.org
Creutzer Mathurin - Ministry of Education - creutzerm@hotmail.com
Assistant: Carol Sassure - 3403-0769
Dorminvil Louis Fritz - Dir Adjoint de la DDEO - dorli1576@hotmail.com
Katherina Ehrmann - UNESCO - k.ehrmann@unesco.org
Presler Paul - UNESCO - p.paul@unesco.org
Sister Joesette - Elie Dubois - smjosettesl@yahoo.fr
Sister Rousseau - Elie Dubois - estheresefdm@yahool.fr
Eric Cesal explained the history of the project and Architecture for Humanity's involvement.
Mr. Mathurin outlined the following:
The reconstruction plan(new and renovations)would need to be approved by the committee responsible for reconstruction in the downtown eminent domain area (Downtown Committee).
There is no guarantee the site for rebuilding Elie Dubois would remain on the current site.
UNESCO, Elie Dubois, IDB, and Architecture for Humanity.
ISPAN (The Haitian Institute for the Preservation of the National Heritage) buy-in will strengthen the project in the Minitry's view.
UNESCO used their own funds for the 3 classroom buildings (50m2 ea) and administration office (25m2) now about 70% complete. Cost was $43,000/$245 per m2. They have another $20,000 they are planning to use for another classroom building on the same section of campus. Eric offered that there may be a more appropriate use of the remainder of that portion of the site (other than all classroom function). They agreed to wait a week for Architecture for Humanity to prepare a draft campus plan for alternative options.
Architecture for Humanity will take 3 weeks to rework the original vision document considering the UNESCO construction and with input from the Elie Dubois sisters.
The plan will be presented to ISPAN first and then to the Downtown Committee for approval.
Photos of the UNESCO construction are on the Overview tab/slideshow - Architecture for Humanity's structural engineer will drop by Monday to review construction for seismic.
Construction type is confined masonry with unreinforced stone masonry foundation, reinforced concrete cols, unreinforced concrete block with 150mm ring beams at mid-height and top of wall. UNESCO did not know if the roof would be framed in wood or concrete.
Respectfully submitted,
Stacey McMahan
Followup with Katherina Ehrmann, UNESCO Project Manager for Elie
February 18, 2011 in an email to Sandhya, and copy to Katharina:
I called Katherina at UNESCO as we discussed earlier and had a good conversation with her, some helpful insight. It seems Sister Josette knew what UNESCO was planning and did not coordinate with us, which Katherina says from her experience with UNESCO, seems to be common when schools have multiple organizations interested in building. Apparently they were onsite multiple times with Sister Josette present while they made plans to begin construction. Within our conversations of the past two days, she (Sister Josette)had only told us about the Min of Ed call on Feb 10 which was the same day construction started.
That being said, Schendy did followup with the Ministry of Ed in January by sending back the form DGI had sent (understand this to be the construction arm of the Min of Ed) to organize a database for schools with pending construction projects. Apparently they send this list weekly and Schendy has checked each time to be sure Elie was on it.
It is too bad about the new construction, but the campus still has a potential for being beautifully renovated over time.
Concerning some of the details about the UNESCO construction:
Site visit February 17, 2011 w UNESCO/Ministry
Personnel:
Mr. Pletol / Ministry of Education
Others accompanying Mr. Pletol
Katharina / UNESCO
Jessica / Elie Dubois (teacher)
Schendy Kernizan / Architecture for Humanity
Stacey McMahan / Architecture for Humanity
Architecture for Humanity has been working to collaborate with UNESCO through the Ministry of Education. We were notified yesterday that UNESCO had begun construction 6 days prior. The following timeline provides a record of events leading up to today's meeting.
October
Meeting where we agreed to collaborate (design and site location for new construction Ph 1 and later phases were reviewed with Josette)
Pletol - Ministry of Education
Schendy, Sandhya and Stacey
Souer Josette
Katharina - UNESCO
January
Schendy filled out and sent back to DGI the form they had distributed to add Elie Dubois to their list of schools NGOs were working with, Schendy tracked the weekly reports to be sure Elie was on the list.
February
Pletol said that the office portion of construction could be held for today (this is AfH Ph 1 site)and that the UNESCO classroom building construction would continue and AfH could use the remainder of the site as they wished. He said this would constitute the collaboration we had discussed last October.
Site Visit February 17, 2011
Personnel:
Stacey McMahan (SM) / Architecture for Humanity (AfH)
Schendy Kernizan (SK) / Architecture for Humanity (AfH)
Schendy spoke with Sister Josette yesterday, she mentioned that UNESCO had started to build 'transitional' classrooms which are located on the east side of the land owned by Josette. Ph 1 of the AfH planned project is on the west side. An office is planned for and has been started on the west side adjacent to the side entrance where Ph 1 will be constructed.
Stacey and Schendy delivered an additional copy of the Elie Dubois Vision Document to Sister Josette and discussed the UNESCO construction. AfH was not given prior notice about the construction other than a meeting in November with the ministry and UNESCO discussing their plan. Location of the UNESCO construction was not discussed at that time.
Stacey called Katharina with UNESCO and will meet with her Feb 18 to discuss. She mentioned there was a misunderstanding with the ministry. Photos are uploaded on the oan.
Elie Dubois is a secondary school run by seven nuns two blocks from the presidential palace. The campus supports a vocational program and several historic buildings to be restored. The school serves about 250 students. The nuns lived on campus prior to the earthquake and currently commute across Port-au-Prince.
SITE
Ecole Elie Dubois is located in central Port-au-Prince, Haiti with a main campus approximately 4,250 m2. The site is easily accessible by vehicle from Rue Paul VI, and the historic walking entrance is located on Rue du Centre. The main campus houses several historically significant buildings, two of which have been tagged yellow by the Department of Public Works, Transport & Communications (MTPTC) which necessitates repair before being put back into service.
BACKGROUND
Established in 1913 by the Community of the Daughters of Mary, Ecole Elie Dubois began as an all girl vocational boarding school, located in downtown Port-au-Prince a few blocks from the National Palace. The curriculum consisted of basic grammar, science, French, embroidery, sewing, and crafts. In the 1920s teacher training courses were added and then further refined during the Education Reform in 1979. This new reform then offered two vocational training courses for women’s clothing and decorative art as a professional and technical institute.
Prior to the January 12th earthquake, 25 to 30 new students were admitted every year for secondary
education, totaling approximately 214 students in both basic and professional curricula. Current tuition was 1,500 to 2,500 gourdes per year, and daily classes would run from 7 am-3pm with a break from noon-1pm early October to mid August.
RENOVATION
The historic campus should be fully renovated over time including building repair, upgrades to site water distribution and cistern, repair damaged paving and other site amenities including the gardens and grotto. Existing landscaping should be maintained wherever possible.
Renovated buildings and program should include:
Building 1
Cooking Studio
Laundry
2-10th grade classrooms
2-11th grade classrooms
Art Studio
Beauty lab
Building 2
Offices
Library
Computer Labs
Philo classroom
2 - 12th grade classrooms
Building 3
Teacher Lounge
Director’s Office
Records Storage
Building 4
Kitchen
Building 5
Garden Shed
Building 6
Latrines
NEW CONSTRUCTION
Construction to accommodate the transitional program should become permanent fixtures in the full campus master plan, and thus its design should be conscious of the future phases. As transitional spaces the classrooms will double as labs for sewing/knitting, decorating, and a computer lab. The Dormitories will house the seven Sisters, common spaces, multi-person bathroom, and a kitchenette. A new campus bathing area constructed by the
cistern will remain at that location for future use.
Program spaces needed:
10th grade classrooms, 42 students each (45 is considered a full class) - 2
11th grade classrooms, 52 students total - 2
12th grade classroom, 45 students total - 1
Philosophy classroom - 1
Sewing lab, 10 machines and desks - 1
Computer lab, 20 laptops - 1
Cafeteria/ kitchen
Director’s office
Teachers’ offices
Dormitory, 7 occupants
Cistern and Bathing facility, Latrine
26kv generator
SUSTAINABLE STRATEGIES
All aspects of the community should be sustainable in nature; strategies logical to this particular site and Haitian culture should be determined.
Possibilities may include, but are not limited to the following:
Site
·Respect existing construction and materials, repair and infill instead of demolishing and building back new
·Carefully study water drainage – divert all roof water to landscaping and or cisterns
·Minimize parking area
·Rebuild a consistent and beautiful campus edge
Water
·Capture rainwater for domestic use
Energy
·Design and orient buildings to maximize airflow and minimize solar gain
·Provide appropriate openings for natural light
·Phase in photovoltaic arrays
Materials
·Use locally resourced materials and labor (provide training for quality concrete and masonry construction)
·Observe existing materials, all new materials should harmonize with existing
·Utilize quality plumbing and electrical components
·Repairs to historic buildings should match material as closely as possible (i.e. lime plaster)
Culture
·Develop and provide environmental education and resources for learning
NEXT STEPS
·Finalize scope of program
·Complete site Civil Survey and Geotechnical Report
·Secure project financing
·Complete planning and final design
·Construct transitional structures
·Begin phased construction to complete masterplan
Site: Ecole Elie Dubois
Date: July 30, 2010
Weather: Warm and sunny.
Attendees:
Daniel Jadotte– liason between AfH and Elie Dubois
Eric Cesal – Architecture for Humanity
Schendy Kernizan – Architecture for Humanity
Adam Saltzman- Architecture for Humanity
Jonathan Stitelman – Architecture for Humanity
Location
Champ Mars – 87 Rue des Casernes. Rue du Centre and Rue Paul VI. Approximately .25 miles (.4 km) east of the National Palace, Port-au-Prince, Haiti 18°32'44.12"N - 72°20'32.34"W
School Description
Elie Dubois is a secondary school in Champ Mars which is run by seven nuns. The school has a student body of approximately 250 students. The school is located on a campus with a vocational school and other educational facilities. The students pay tuition of 1,500 to 2,500 Gourdes per year. Students attend class from 7am-3pm with a break from noon-1pm. School will be on vacation from August 19th through the beginning of October.
Soeur Marie-Josette St. Louis is the Abbess and the title for the property is in her name. The school has several guards and is fenced in on all sides.
Physical Description
Access and Surrounding Area
The school is located in a dense urban area of downtown Port-au-Prince near the National Palace at 32 feet above sea level. The site is easily accessible by vehicle. They used to get power from the neighboring site but no longer have power nor do they have a generator. Wind flows from west to east and is strong. The site has access to non-potable well water. The surrounding area had several mid-rise buildings but many sustained substantial damage in the earthquake and several have collapsed completely. One midrise building adjacent to the site is standing but has structural damage and many be a threat to the school site in the event that it collapsed.
Site Specific information
The school is located on a campus with a vocational school and several other educational buildings. The campus has two adjacent pieces of property, each of which has street access. The larger piece of property is government owned and has two large, historically significant buildings (Picture 3) which have sustained only minor damage in the earthquake. The smaller piece of land is owned by the school and had three buildings which collapsed during the earthquake. This smaller plot (Picture 1,2) is the preferred location of the new school building and is on the southern end of the campus.
Much of this property is covered in a pre-existing concrete slab. The northwest corner of the site is raised and surrounded by a retaining wall with several trees and a latrine. The site is surrounded by concrete block wall with a gate opening to the street on the south, and an opening on the north which connects the site to the rest of the campus.
Building Data
The site had three buildings. The building on the east was three stories with classrooms on the first two levels and sleeping quarters on the third level. There was a two story staff building on the southwest corner of the site. Another two story building on the west side of the site had a library, laundry facility, and was used for sewing classes. All buildings were concrete construction.
Current Situation
The buildings which did exist on the site have completely collapsed and much of the rubble has already been removed. The only existing building on the site is an old latrine on the western side. There is some space available on the 2nd property where another building collapsed which may be available for reconstruction.
Recommendations
• The staff has requested the following program
o 2 – 10th grade classrooms – 42 students currently
o 2 – 11th grade classrooms – 48 students currently
o 1 – 12th classroom – 42 students currently
o 1 – Philosophy classroom – 30 students currently
o Classroom for sewing classes
o Computer lab
o Cafeteria
o Director’s office
o Teachers’ offices
o Dorm for 7 sisters
• Design and construction of new facilities must consider the limited space in the urban context
o Green space should be a priority
o Drainage should be considered due to lack of pervious surfaces
• Integration with the existing buildings and other facilities on campus
o The possibility of sharing facilities such as library and kitchen/dining with the rest of campus may be feasible because of the size limitation of the site
o The historic significance of the existing buildings on campus should be considered in the design and construction method of the new facility.
• Design should accommodate the 250 students in the current student body as well as the possibility of future growth.
• School should be considered a safe, secure respite from the urban environment
Last week the Civic Art in Schools program finished the installation of the Elie Dubois art piece. This sculpture was created by the Haitian artist Jean Almétone Frémont. This program, funded by Digicel Foundation and Deutsche Bank, allows Architecture for Humanity to install unique works of art in 15 schools that we've built throughout Haiti. We are very happy that we have the ability to introduce art in schools as it is so important and often overlooked in situations where funding is a challenge.