Tour of the construction site with D.A. Duyunov

01:22 - On May 25, we held an event on burying the time capsule at the same site. And today is July 2. It’s been less than a month since the installation of the first building column, and now you can see the already assembled frame in the background - from the 17th to the 23rd axis. 7 axes of the building have been assembled, in less than a month.

02:00 - It’s a metal frame, and it’s not just placed - it’s aligned, adjusted, geodesy is done. All the columns stand absolutely straight, vertically at the same level. There are no misalignments, no deviations, everything is aligned, tightened up. All bolt connections are tightened with torque wrenches. You could see all that in the previous videos.

02:34 - Currently, active work is underway at the site, preparatory activities are underway to perform further work. Because there are still a lot of axes, 16 more axes of metal structures need to be mounted. Nevertheless, it is possible to continue to perform other work on these axes related to the installation of ceilings, but before we do this, the contractor will perform work on grouting the columns.

03:11 - Now we will go to the construction site and see what it is. Today I will try to give as many explanations and comments as possible in order to make it clear what is happening here. Let’s go! You can see the formwork being unloaded to my left. The formwork has been moved to perform work on casting the staircase. Here you can see it, the concrete blinding is ready, we can see the foundation columns. And we see the place for the concrete. The assembly of the formwork will start there in order to cast the stairwell shaft.

04:02 - Let’s keep going. Here on the right you can see that the formwork has been removed. The column foundations have been poured and you can see the reinforcement grid, reinforcement mesh - these are the flights of stairs right here. We can also see staircases in the background (we are coming up). Let’s go.

04:39 - Here you can see the concrete has been poured. Now they’re going to level it, to vibrate it. Electricity has been connected, they will vibrate with deep concrete vibrators. This is where the formwork for casting concrete is laid out. From this side, you can see ready-made foundations with waterproofing done.

05:19 - Please notice that there is a formwork warehouse in front of us. There is a road roller operating there now. We are now looking at the formwork warehouse in the background. This formwork is designed for the installation and casting of ceilings. First of all, the ceilings between the first and second floors will be cast.

05:54 - This is a specialized formwork. This formwork has been delivered here. Now the soil will be compacted inside the building. And after the columns are grouted, the material - concrete - develops the desired strength, we’ll see how the ceiling formwork is assembled and then see the process of concrete casting.

06:26 - Now we will come up and see what the column grouting is.

06:38 - You can see that there are anchor bolts on the foundations. Here are the nuts. This is done specifically to make it possible to locate the columns on the same level in order to make geodetic marks “to zero”. And now if the cameramen do the shooting, you will be able to see that all the columns are aligned like one string.

07:08 - Here the column is fully aligned, and we can see that there is a clearance underneath it. The formwork will be installed here and a special solution will be applied to grout all the columns.

07:20 - What is the purpose of doing it? No matter how hard we try, it is not possible to cast the foundation perfectly even. That’s why technologically there is this process.

07:32 - To date, we have 78 columns here that will need to be grouted. After that, the Astron installers will lay out the profiled sheets, and start working - they will put the formwork and prepare for casting the ceiling. And the casting itself will be performed by another organization.

07:57 - And now we see that this is a flight of stairs to my right. The zero stage is completed, now the reinforcing grids are being put up, then the formwork will be placed, and we will go up, the shaft itself will rise together with the building.

08:18 - The building (as far as you have already seen in the previous videos) is multi-level. Now I’m standing in the flight, and it is a two-story flight. And there is a three-story flight in front of me. If we move to the right, then we can also see that there is a two-and three-story part. It’s clearly visible.

08:56 - This part of the building is mainly a warehouse. There will be warehouses of raw materials and finished products here. Right along the passage (you can see a free passage here) there will be two gate openings, so that cars with containers and cargo can be unloaded right here, through the rear ramp.

09:32 - There are extensions on the right and left sides of the building (you could see them on the render). Here we are now in the extensions, the so-called “ears”. These premises are designed for the mounting and installation of specialized equipment. The specialized equipment will be located here. So we can go out now to see better, and we will show you.

10:07 - Here it is clearly visible that it’s a separate building. The installation of the basement panels and the lower part has already begun. These panels will completely cover the building. And then you can see that there is an opening in the center. There will be gates so that we can bring in heavy equipment, manufacturing equipment. Because there will be substations assembled here, plants for gas production and other equipment, which will be moved out of our main building.

10:47 - We were told - take a ready-made building. You can’t do that. This building is completely specialized for solving specific tasks. In addition to the main entrance, there will be a doorway, a separate entrance. This part will also be enclosed by ramps. And now we can see from behind that the process of binding the reinforcement bars, for staircases too, is underway.

11:31 - Here we see that the ramp is on this side. The overhang canopy over the ramp is being installed. You can see the beam over there. The installation crane is currently operating. And we can also see that the basement panels are already installed. Now, among the other things, the basement panels will be installed here around the perimeter, because the space has already been cleared. The other side has already been cleared, and so the work will start on installing the basement panels. And technically, the building will already acquire its outline.

12:10 - You can also take a look in front of us. If you remember, in the previous videos there was a large warehouse here, there were metal structures. Now it’s just what’s left. We can see that the warehouse is almost empty. Although just recently, the contractor’s employees were accepting the cargo. Well, the metal structures are released, lifted up, unfolded, the site is getting cleared, because after it is cleared, the fencing structures and roofing materials will be delivered here.

13:03 - You can see what kind of work is going on. The work is underway, despite the fact that we’ve had disasters here - snowfalls, downpours, flooding, and drainage. Here you can take a look at the background - this is a pit for receiving water, for drainage. And the same things have been done from other sides too. Therefore, water drainage was carried out in a timely manner.

13:33 - You can also see how much the building is lifted above the general terrain. This will allow us to avoid any troubles in the future during operation. So that there is no flooding, nothing. Therefore, the foundations are all lifted. Everything is done in the best possible way.

14:00 - It’s been less than a month, everyone was waiting for something to start. And so it’s happened, the wheels have been set in motion. But in order for it to happen, enormous preparatory work had to be done. Because the project is unique, the architectural part is unique, the metal structures are unique. This is all unique.

14:23 - Drawings are made for every detail of metal structures, for everything. The structures were made in compliance with these drawings. Money has been paid for all this, a lot of money.

14:37 - And one can only imagine what could have happened if the right amount of money had not been raised in time and the advance payments for the production of the whole thing had not been made.

14:51 - And believe me, having paid a lot of money and not yet having the results was morally quite difficult, because anything could happen. But nevertheless everything went well, everything happened as agreed, as stipulated in the contracts, it was all done.

15:14 - However, we can’t relax, because not everything has been made yet. A lot is in the making. Including manufacturing equipment for the building. There are a lot of things that still need to be done. And, unfortunately, the prices of materials are growing.

15:43 - It is to be hoped that this growth will somehow stop and everything will settle down, because it is very difficult to predict the work, to organize it and to pay for it. Believe me, it is extremely difficult to work in such instability, with such cataclysms.

16:10 - And the more difficult the working conditions become, the stricter the requirements for executive discipline get. Organizational and technological requirements - everything is getting tougher. I’d rather not say anything about what this translates into. But you have to be extremely demanding of all the processes.

16:32 - But we knew exactly what we’d set out to do and what we were doing. No one has any illusions. And the main task, the minimum programme, is to close the external contour of the building - the roof and enclosing structures - until the autumn in order to prepare the building for internal installation. This will be another very big stage.

17:01 - And only when we get to it, we will understand what lies in store for us, what expenditures we will face. Because a lot of cable products and certain materials will be required. And you know perfectly well what is happening to them in the market.

17:26 - If we now go back to the beginning of the project - 2017, when we considered, we planned it for 3 years. Today it is already 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 - 4 years. And theoretically, in 2022, at the same time, we should be already commissioning the building. We would like to hope so, but we can’t be sure, because we are not almighty.

18:00 - We will try to do all this and meet these deadlines, but there are a lot of issues, the conditions have changed very much. Now we are expecting equipment from China, what can I say? The prices for transportation services have increased 10 times, 10 times! Metal structures, metal - three times; sand, as we see, has also risen in price, labour force has also risen in price. And who could say in 2016-2017 that such a thing would happen? But nevertheless, dear colleagues, this is already becoming our reality, a tangible thing, this is not something that was in the papers, documents, plans.

Here it is already physical, these are those tangible objects that already have a certain value and a number of financial structures have already come out with proposals to further fund the project. Why? Because they know, if anything, they will take it away, sell it and end up with a profit, as some structures like to do. We clearly understand the consequences of such actions, and we clearly understand that once we enter into this relationship, the completion of the project will be in jeopardy.

19:36 - There is a saying: “If you want to sleep peacefully, do not lend money, because if you lend a lot of money, you may be killed not to return it. ” It is cheaper to hire a hitman than to pay back a debt. Therefore, we must take every effort to fulfill our commitments.

19:58 - But I ask all the investors not to relax and continue repaying the installment plans, because stopping the construction is similar to death, you cannot stop the process. Any stoppage will lead to very high expenses, so there should be no illusions either for you or for us.

20:23 - The fact that we know how to work, how to organize is evident. Plenty of times you’ve walked around the site, watched the footage, and everyone notes that there is perfect order here compared to other construction sites. The technological discipline is also top notch, everything is top notch and believe me, it’s worth a lot! Now the guys will shoot what is happening on the site. Enjoy watching and see you again! I think our next meeting will be exactly one month from the installation start.

Enjoy the nice warm days and a good mood, bye everyone!.