Minus 18 degrees Celsius

January 1985: The delivery date already threatened us before we started.

We have no other choice than asking our subcontractor to mount a peak hammer on the machinery and begun to hammer his way through a half a meter of the bottom frozen earth crust. The temperature was as low as minus 18 degrees, and it has stayed there for weeks. Our green meeting trailer in the background.

One and half month later, it becomes the room of a hairy encounter with our Client.

We have to run so fast, that it was necessary to have two concrete team leaders on the same site. It was unusual and something we under normal condition never would do. The teams were proud of what they were able to achieve, and competition could lead to jealousy.

We run so fast with the foundation and concrete work, that we competed with the peak hammer about the working space, while they rushed to pile frozen soil up and build them self a mountain. Move on man, or we mould you in!

My loading planning was closing. It was down to time per erected element with estimated delead at one quarter on every truck. Even the way the approached the building site; how they get around and out again without crease traffic jam, was incorporated into my planning.

We got a full load element truck every half hour. Few days and the whole building stood there.

The service building:

The service building has its own story. It was placed just outside our meeting trailer as showed in the picture. The basement with filigree ready for casting seen in the photo to the left and deck over the basement to the right. Now, remember where our meeting trailer stand. The picture to the left.

The view that meets our Client and his staff total of five people as they arrived at a crisis meeting on site was the picture to the right.

They have called on us and demand a meeting on site because, by them, there was no more room for diplomatic. It was now failing trust. We will never be able to run up the delay, and they began to prepare for lawyers and a delay in their production in the building. Last time they were around there was no building to see, and it was less than a week ago.

Andersen makes a plane.

First, I informed my concrete teams about situations. Then about my plane which involved them. I was getting a green light. They prepare themselves by clear the space around the service building and move the cranes in position and clear the road in and out for the element trucks.

We were ready for an element assembly there was down to 5 min per element in the service building.

The element fabric was asked to deliver it all at one time, and the should arrive precisely five minute into our meeting in the trailer, and they should stay out on the road in a long queue until they called upon one by one. They always do what you ask for. There stood Monberg & Thorsen Ltd. on your back.

They arrived at the meeting, five-person, My colleague from headquarter arrived and we were two.

They began to go backwards to the meeting trailer. For less of a week ago there was no building to see, and now the whole main building was stand. I get them placed on the table with backs to windows.

They were surprised by what they saw, but still merciless in their criticism and distrust. They were far from convinced about our ability to deliver as promised. And the service building was, what we have promised to deliver first, and it was nowhere to see.

I have placed myself so that I could see out of the windows against the serviced building.As we passed two hours and light from the windows were darknet, I knew we were there. I ask them to turn around and look out of the windows. They did and stared straight into a wall of a dark grey concrete element which stood close to the meeting trailer.

Outside, we could all assume that all 48 wall element of the service building raised. Half of the hollow elements in the roof were in place, and some of my men had begun to lay reinforcement bar in the joints. I allow myself to tell them, that their service building was raised before they were reaching home.

My colleague from headquarter was fought with oneself to suppress a smile. Back in the meeting trailer, we agreed upon a note text which said, that Monberg&Thorsen Ltd. rose the service building during the meeting and they have confidence in our schedule.

The temperatures hit us hard in that case. In January and in the first weeks of February we accumulate a time delay, but we knew that we were able to run it up later.

It was at no time out of our control, and in the end, we delivered it all as promised.

The hidden treasure:

It was a struggle in many areas, and an unconvinced surprise was the missing offer price of the access road to the factory. We need to build approximately 3000 m^3 of gravel under the road without a budget to find in our offer to the Client. It was more than 1.5 mill. for the gravel deliver alone in more than 350 truckloads. Our subcontractor with all the machinery was excited.The prospect of a villa in Spain was within reach. Besides; the mountain of topsoil in the same amount he knew, we were forced to ask him to transport it out of sight.

It was me who ordered him to used the peak hammer in January, and he knew, that it was wrong business for him because we expected him to bring something to table in that case; he more or less was living off his subcontractor job at Monberg & Thorsen Ltd. The development showed him that there was light at the end of the tunnel.

I become his nightmare.

By studying the geotechnical report, I discovered an area of intact clay just under the surface south of the building. The topsoil mountain was the amount of the needed under the access road.

His body language and reaction, as I ordered him to dig up the clay and build it in under the access road and afterwards to shovel the mountain back into the hole, should have been filmed.

All the argument about the impossible in my suggestion, >>newer here about before, the road would sink, he will not take the responsibility<<, I never ask him to do so,>> and the new special equipment he claims he must bring in<<!

He has it, and then he does not has it. His dream of a villa in Spain was in his hand and less of a split second, it disappeared over a cup of coffee during a meeting.

God save my geotechnical engineering profile. I knew it was possible.

He builds it in under the access road.

Of course, it was possible. The final result on the picture on the right. On top of the clay, a fibre text dew and a thin layer of gravel.