Friday Update

Called the Structural Engineer just after lunch to see how he was getting on with the raft design. After all he had "hoped to have something by Friday". Surprisingly he reported that he had made good progress. He has settled on a 45omm raft, strongly reinforced. It is dependent on properly compacted ground, with a layer of "scalpings" on top. I asked if he had called the Groundworks Contractor in order to give him some direction so that he can get on with some preparatory work next week. He had not, so I urged him to do so.

I do not think we will get any hard copy material for a while, but as long as the contractors have enough to allow them to work I will be reasonably happy.

By evening, however, by optimism was dented. Jan spoke to the Goundworks man, and he had not heard anything. Seems like my plees have fallen on deaf ears.

On another note, I was discussing this project with a colleague at work. He trained as a civil engineer before moving into the IT world. He reassured me that raft foundations have a long and distinguished history. Apparently Canterbury Cathedral is built on a raft foundation made of oak trees !