As the coronavirus pandemic continues, construction is on track for now for three projects in the Alvin (Texas) Independent School District while workers adhere to strict social-distancing protocols.
The Houston Chronicle reports that the growing district, which serves about 28,000 students, is building Iowa Colony High School; Caffey Junior High and E.C. Mason Elementary.
The $131.5 million high school, which is about 25 percent complete, is slated to open in 2022.
Caffey Junior High, with a $37.4 million construction cost, is about 60 percent complete. It is slated for a 2021 opening.
The $20.1 million elementary campus is about 30 percent complete and is scheduled to open in 2021.
Although the work is on schedule, Patrick Miller, the district’s chief of operations, is happy the district built in 60- to 90-day completion schedule cushions for the work. This will buy the district time if the supply chain for materials, particularly those from other countries, is interrupted or delayed later in the building process.
Miller says workers at the sites are following strict safety protocols related to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“Construction is considered an essential job; so we are working with contractors to make sure they’re operating under the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines,” Miller says.
Safety precautions at each of the three sites includes a single point of entry, temperature checks whenever someone goes in, including vendors and delivery people, and visual checks and questioning if someone appears sick.
“If somebody comes in the morning and they look weary or haggard, they are immediately turned away,” Miller says. “Caution and precaution are the order of the day.
