Once the roof is on, they'll be in the driver's seat.
The construction of the new Humboldt Collegiate Institute (HCI) at the Humboldt Uniplex is moving along, but has been hampered by weather since the first shovel hit the ground.
At this point, about 98 per cent of the structural steel work has been completed. Once that's done, the crews will start on the actual roof deck and hope to get the structure enclosed by the end of December, reported Don Lloyd of the Greater Saskatoon Catholic School Division, the spokesperson for this construction project.
On one end of the school, the roof deck is already on, and crews have started on insulation and installing windows, he added.
Once the entire building is closed in, "we'll control our own schedule," Lloyd noted.
They have been fighting the weather with this project so far, he agreed. Rain in the summer months slowed things down, and the large snowfalls received in the area this fall have done likewise.
"The weather has been a big factor, there's no question about that," Lloyd told the Journal. Every time it rained or snowed, it slowed things down, and time had to be dedicated to cleaning up the site afterwards, in order to continue work.
Once the entire building is enclosed, Lloyd said, they can control their schedule for things like slab pours instead of having to wait out inclement weather.
At this time, he added, they've lost about two months of construction time because of weather.
They were able to pick up some of the time lost due to rain over the summer this fall, Lloyd indicated, but were again delayed by recent heavy snowfalls.
"We're looking forward to getting the building enclosed," he said.
Once that happens, they will be sitting down and re-evaluating the construction schedule, Lloyd noted.
"Once we're enclosed, we can put the schedule back together," he said. "Then we will control the schedule and weather is not going to be an issue."
Should they meet their end of the month deadline for enclosure, it will be a good present for the new year, Lloyd agreed.
The new HCI building is nearly 73,000 square feet, including a linkage area to the rest of the Uniplex, which belongs to the City of Humboldt, and a nearly 13,000 square foot wing for Carlton Trail Regional College.
