Latest news

Congratulations to Dominic Joyce on his FRS.

Further information is available on the Royal Society pages.

General

Position:- The project remains 1 week ahead of programme with the more critical activities running through the south.

Hoist:- A hoist from ground level to mezzanine and basement levels was installed in position on 19/4/2012.

Curtain Walling Mock Up:- The curtain walling mock up comprising of stone fins and corner connection at corners is complete and is situated close to the site office.

Temporary Yellow Props: The large cylindrical yellow props will gradually become redundant as the completed slabs at mezzanine and ground will form the permanent strut.

Future works for April

Drainage & Basement Slab:- The last remaining central basement slab (6B) is targeted to be poured on Monday 23/4/2012.

Steel Beams & Columns:- The first steelwork within the entrance atria has been erected. As areas progress the remaining steels will be called in as required. Holding down bolts are fixed accurately to the formwork / reinforcement in order that steel I beams and columns can be bolted to the structure after the slab is poured.

Plant Room & Services:- The majority of service trenches to the centre have now been poured (remainder to pour on Monday 23/4/2012). Removable cover slabs will be added once the services are installed.

Mezzanine Floor:- The north the south mezzanine level slabs were completed on the 16/4/2012. The central area mezzanine level slabs are targeted to be complete by mid May.

Ground Floor:- The ground floor slabs will be poured in smaller sections as the levels change and upstand beams are required to edges. As the slabs are completed and gain strength the temporary large yellow props spanning across the site will progressively be removed.

1st Floor:- The initial slab to the 1st floor was poured on 18/4/2012. These slabs consist of a set of precast concrete planks (temporary supported) with an insitu concrete topping with strands (steels within tubes) which are stressed (tightened at the ends) after the concrete has set hard.

Recent Site Photos

Nomura Lecture 2012 will be given by Jose A Scheinkman (Theodore Wells '29 Professor of Economics at Princeton).

Title: Speculation and bubbles.

more details...

General

Position:- The project is 1 week ahead of programme with the more critical activities running through the south.

Curtain Walling Mock Up:- The curtain walling mock up is in progress and is expected to be complete by Easter.

Visits:- The Maths Department visited the site on 30/3/2012 to view the latest progress.

Future works for April

Drainage & Basement Slab:- The central basement slab (5B) was poured on 30/3/2012. The remaining two pours in the basement will now follow including the last core 3 area. It is targeted to have all the central basement complete by mid April.

Steel Beams & Columns:- The steelwork over the lower plant room was installed on 26/3/2012. The double height steel columns that support steel beams over the small lecture theatre have also been installed. Holding down bolts are fixed accurately to the formwork / reinforcement in order that steel I beams and columns can be bolted to the structure after the slab is poured.

Plant Room & Services:- The service trenches to the centre have commenced now that the bulk dig removal has finished.

Mezzanine Floor:- The mezzanine level pour 9 was poured on 5/4/2012 in the south with following pours progressively moving towards the NW corner.

Ground Floor:- The second main ground floor slab (16B) has been poured in the north on 4/4/2012. As the slabs are completed and gain strength the temporary large yellow props spanning across the site will progressively be removed. To the south the first main slab (13D) was poured on 3/4/2012.

1st Floor:- The initial slab to the 1st floor is expected to be poured after Easter in w.c. 13/4/2012. These slabs consist of a set of precast concrete planks (temporary supported) with an insitu concrete topping with strands (steels within tubes) which are stressed (tightened at the ends) after the concrete has set hard.

Recent Site Photos

The departmental mail system suffered a fault at about 11:25am today and is currently down. Work is underway to restore service as quickly as possible.

Service was restored by 12:20pm.

General

Position:- The project is 1 week ahead of programme with the most of the more complex south basement pours complete.

Curtain Walling Mock Up:- A steel structure has been erected on a foundation in readiness for the curtain walling mock up to be erected at the end of March.

Temporary Yellow Props: The large cylindrical yellow props will gradually become redundant as the completed slabs at mezzanine and ground will form the permanent strut.

Visits:- Ray O’Rourke visited the site on 22/3/2012.

Future works for March

The first central basement slab (6B) was poured on 12/3/2012. The remaining two pours in the basement will now follow including the last core 3 area. It is targeted to have all the central basement complete by mid April.

Steel Beams & Columns:- The steelwork over the lower plant room is ready for installation now that the plant room roof slab is concreted. Holding down bolts are fixed accurately to the formwork / reinforcement in order that steel I beams and columns can be bolted to the structure after the slab is poured.

Plant Room & Services:- The service trenches to the centre are starting to be formed now that the bulk dig removal has finished. The lower level plantroom top overslab was poured on 19/3/2012.

Mezzanine Floor:- The next mezzanine level pour will be pour 9 in the south with following pours progressively moving towards the NW corner.

Ground Floor:- The first ground floor edge slabs has been poured in the north. Pour 14B was poured on 22/3/2012. As the slabs are completed and gain strength the temporary large yellow props spanning across the site will progressively be removed. To the south the Power Room is being reinforced in readiness for a concrete pour.

Recent Site Photos

General

Position:- The project is 1 week ahead of programme with the most of the more complex south basement pours complete.

Curtain Walling Mock Up:- A mock up of the curtain walling will be erected on site in the towards the end of March.

Precast Stairs: Precast stairs have started to be installed to the relevant core areas.

Maths Dept Visit:- The Maths Department visited the site on 2/3/2012 to view the latest progress. Positive comments regarding the organisation and cleanliness of the site were appreciated. Prof. S. Howison also visited on 5/3/2012 to witness a concrete pour using a pump first hand.

Future works for March

GSHP:- These works are virtually complete, the next visit will be for works within the plant rooms when they are built.

Drainage & Basement Slab:- Now that the centre area below slabs works are nearing completion the basement slab can progress towards the NW corner. It is targeted to have all the south basement complete by the beginning of March.

Plant Room & Services:- The service trenches to the centre have largely been excavated now that the bulk dig removal has finished. The lower level plant room walls in the south have been formed and are progressively being concreted in readiness for the top overslab.

Mezzanine Floor:- Pour No 10 on the mezzanine level of the north was poured on 8/3/2012 using a concrete pump to deliver the mix to the required area. The pour consists of 270m3 of premixed concrete which means the average discharge of one lorry every 12 minutes.

Ground Floor:- The first ground floor slab is expected to be poured in mid March in the North. The temporary large yellow props spanning across the site will progressively be removed as mezzanine concrete slabs gain strength.

Recent Site Photos

The 2012 Clay Research Conference will take place in Oxford. At the conference, the Clay Research Award will be presented to Jeremy Kahn and Vladimir Markovic:

For their work showing that a closed hypebolic three manifold has an essential immersed hyperbolic Riemann surface, i.e., the map on fundamental groups is injective.

And for their solution of the Ehrenpreis conjecture: that given any two compact hyperbolic Riemann surfaces, there are finite covers of the two surfaces which are arbitrarily close in the Teichmuller metric.

The conference will to be held June 18-19 in Martin Wood Lecture Theatre in the Physics Department. Both Kahn and Markovic will speak on their work at that occasion. Other confirmed speakers are: Artur Avila (IMPA/CNRS); Francis Brown (CNRS); Stavros Garoufalidis (GeorgiaTech); Marc Lackenby (Oxford); and Peter Scholze (Univ. of Bonn).

Registration is free but strongly recommended. Please see http://www.claymath.org/ for further information.

General

Position:- The project remains 1 week ahead of programme due to the more critical concrete pours that were advanced.

Curtain Walling Mock Up:- A mock up of the curtain walling will be erected on site in the near future.

Balustrade: Following the review of the mock up a decision has been made to now move forward with this element.

Precast Stairs: Precast stairs have started to be delivered in readiness for installation to the relevant areas.

Considerate Contractors Scheme:- CCS visited the site on 16/2/2012 and gave a positive report scoring 38/40.

Future works for March

GSHP:- The pipes that were sunk at the start of the project continue to be cropped and joined to header connection pipes that will terminate in access ducts in the plant rooms. The works are now focused in the last areas onsite working towards the corner of the central area. This is expected to be complete in the next 2 weeks.

Drainage & Basement Slab:- The more complex basement pours (3A) adjacent to the lower plantroom in the south have been largely poured. It is targeted to have all the south basement complete by the beginning of March.

Steel Beams & Columns:- Holding down bolts are fixed accurately to the formwork / reinforcement in order that steel I beams and columns can be bolted to the structure after the slab is poured. The steel column and beams are expected to be onsite week commencing 5/3/2012.

Plant Room & Services:- The service trenches to the centre have largely been excavated now that the bulk dig removal has finished. The lower level plant room walls in the south have been formed with steel reinforcement in readiness for a concrete pour.

Mezzanine Floor:- Pour No 8 on the mezzanine level of the north has been poured and core 1 twin walls have been erected. The formwork has also started on the south in one corner.

Recent Site Photos

General

Position:- The project is 1 week ahead of programme due to the more critical concrete pours being advanced.

Solar Blinds:- A mock up of the solar blinds that are going in the main entrance atria have been viewed with the Architect

Precast Columns:- Precast columns and walls continue to be delivered in line with progress on site.

Time lapse movies:- As well as the daily and monthly time lapse movies there is now a movie showing the first 6 months in under 6 minutes.

Maths Dept Visit:- The Maths Department visited the site on 3/2/2012 to view the latest progress.

Future works for February

GSHP:- The pipes that were sunk at the start of the project continue to be cropped and joined to header connection pipes that will terminate in access ducts in the plant rooms. The works are approximately three quarters of the way through and are presently working on the central area.

Drainage & Basement Slab:- The fourth slab pour on the north was poured on 3/2/2012 using concrete pumps. The concrete pump is a separate vehicle with a telescopic flexible pipe to deliver the concrete to the desired position and is fed with premixed concrete lorries. The second large slab pour (1B) in the south was poured on the 13/2/2012. It is targeted to have all the south basement complete by the beginning of March.

Steel Beams & Columns:- Holding down bolts are fixed accurately to the formwork / reinforcement in order that steel I beams and columns can be bolted to the structure after the slab is poured.

Plant Room & Services:- The service trenches to the centre have largely been excavated now that the bulk dig removal has finished. The lower level plantroom in the south continues to have steel reinforcement fixed in readiness for a concrete pour.

Mezzanine Floor:- The precast columns and walls from basement to mezzanine are virtually complete allowing the temporary support formwork to be installed and the steel reinforcement to be fixed. The 1st mezzanine concrete pour is expected to be on 14/2/2012.

Recent Site Photos