This semester I again went to help out at the Southampton Constructionarium. The Constructionarium is an amazing piece of teaching where students get to have a very hands on experience of construction. It is organised by a not for profit organisation and is based at the Construction Industry Training Board college in Norfolk. At Southampton we take our first year undergraduates at the very end of their taught year. In the weeks leading up to the field course they prepare temporary works designs and a construction plan, then they get to see how their ideas match up with reality. This year we had two teams building miniature versions of the Gherkin and the Milau Viaduct, of which there are a few pictures below.
Building the circular formwork and reinforcement for the Gherkin Foundation
Putting the structural steelwork together
Lifting the levels in
The finished article
Constructing the pier foundations for Milau
The piers going up
Jacking out the first half of the deck
The finished bridge
undertheground 