By Tina Comeau
THE VANGUARD
NovaNewsNow.com
A spokesperson for the Department of Education says the construction of Yarmouth’s new high school has not yet been put behind schedule, even though a crane that had been erecting walls at the site has spent more than a week lying on its side.
A 165-ton crawler crane, owned by A.W. Leil Cranes and Equipment, fell over at the construction site on Forest Street on Friday, Jan. 28 as it was putting one of the concrete exterior walls into place.
No one was injured in the incident.
Education department spokesperson Glenn Friel said on Feb. 3 that the province’s labour department was expected to complete its investigation on Feb. 4. Following this the cleanup can begin.
“The cleanup will include assembling another crane to remove the old one, and inspecting and repairing any damage to the existing panels and braces,” said Friel. “That has to happen before the standing (of walls) can resume.”
Two concrete wall panels were damaged and will need to be re-cast again.
Friel said the sealed off area of the construction site only represents a fraction of the overall work site.
“The building is large enough that this has not affected work in other areas,” he said. “So the steel erection continues and we hope to maintain our schedule to enclose the two classroom wings and start electrical and mechanical.”
Friel said the department would know soon whether the project is still on its timeline. November has been the target date for substantial completion of the building.
The first wall at the site of the new high school was put into place on Jan. 5. When the work first got underway the education department had said that the intention was for all of the exterior walls to be in place in about two weeks.
