It’s was a busy day at the One Water Street project as thousands of cubic metres of concrete were poured.
“We’re doing a really big pour here today. It’s the transfer slab for our second tower, so this will be the tabletop on which the tower sits,” said Leonard Kerkhoff, Kerkhoff Construction’s president.
The project, located at Ellis and Water streets, is reaching a midway point, as the first tower is nearly completed.
“In the coming months through summer, we’re going to be topping off the east tower and then commencing on the west tower,” said Kerkhoff.
According to the construction company, on Friday, 2,200 cubic metres of concrete were poured, along with 430 metric tons (950,000 lbs) of rebar being installed.
The project and its workers have had to adapt quickly to keep working safely amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Implementing social distancing, physical distancing, new rules with stairwells being one direction and handwashing stations — all the safety protocols to keep the workers safe,” said Kerkhoff.
Kerkhoff says even with the new regulations in place, and it hasn’t slowed down the project.
In fact, Kerkhoff says despite many businesses being impacted negatively by the pandemic, the construction industry is one that has not been hurt.
“The construction industry has been doing phenomenally well, adapting, switching and working with the government to impose the new rules progressively,” said Kerkhoff.
“We feel keeping construction moving forward is really important to the economy.”
Kerkhoff says there are around 200 workers on the site daily, and he’s impressed with how quickly the workers have adapted to the new rules.