[No headline.]

The good news is that both contractors are on schedule with their respective army swimming pool and recreation centres.

Laing, which is building the 25m pool and recreation centre in Wattisham in Suffolk is currently two to three weeks ahead and aims to shave 10 weeks off the 54-week construction programme. When we visited the site at the end of June heavy rain had slowed progress on the heavy clay site. This necessitates three hours of pumping water out from the footings to enable the bricklayers to get on. Now, at week 12 in the 54-week construction phase, the steel frame is up, substructure complete, most of the drainage is in and work has started on the ground floor slabs, substructure brick and block work and roof cladding.

Since work started at Aldershot in March the Amec team has spent a lot of time dewatering the sandy site, sheet piling using trench sheeting and battening the banks because of the high water table. To improve site access they brought forward construction of the access roads and parking. They are using 16m concrete piles as a restraint to hold the tank of the swimming pool down after dewatering finished. Work has been underway on a ground beam as a base slab for the pool tank to sit on. They have now concreted the tank one third of the way and have started on the structural steel frame.

Although it is a design and build contract, they have been able to work with the client, Defence Estates, the Ministry's procurement arm, to resolve the problems. Now the steel frame is part up and the team is hoping to steam ahead.