Sidewalk - are they finished or will more be done?

[rjonsun]

TAH, you are right. Spalling will occur if the concrete freezes (not happenin' in Negril), is poured when it it is too hot and not sprinkled with water or it was a very poor mix (2000 mix or less) Sidewalks in Pennsylvania are poured 4" thick with at least 3" of crushed stone (drainage), expansion joints evey 20 feet (Probably not needed in Jamaica) and at least a 2500 mix of concrete. Driveways are normally (0r should be) 6" thick, but this would help more with cracking not spalling. The higher the mix (3500 for example) the more cement is added to the concrete.
Regards,
Bob

[Papa Georgie]

Hope they do the West End Road...don't stop till you reach Xtabi!

[TAH]

TAH, you are right. Spalling will occur if the concrete freezes (not happenin' in Negril), is poured when it it is too hot and not sprinkled with water or it was a very poor mix (2000 mix or less) Sidewalks in Pennsylvania are poured 4" thick with at least 3" of crushed stone (drainage), expansion joints evey 20 feet (Probably not needed in Jamaica) and at least a 2500 mix of concrete. Driveways are normally (0r should be) 6" thick, but this would help more with cracking not spalling. The higher the mix (3500 for example) the more cement is added to the concrete.
Regards,
Bob

Yeppers. I'm a construction guy (not the manual labor type though), so this stuff is up my alley.

[Yvonne]

The sidewalk was crumbling last summer. There are also areas w/ exposed rebar sticking out... could be bad if someone tripped & impaled themself on one. I'm careful & aware but little kids running aren't going to be. That said, it's nice to have the sidewalk away from the road. I saw numerous people w/ strollers, on motorized wheelchairs, & plain old walking from point A to point B using the sidewalk. Not perfect, but a plus for many. BTW... I saw little in the way of cars parking on it but I'm usually only out & about early in the day (during high season trip as well as last summer). The one time it looked like someone was going to park across the sidewalk someone ran out to them & told them not to park there. I thought that was pretty cool.

[Olivia]

Have see the sidewalk but not walked on it. I'm actually surprised money was spent on it at all - it seems to me a cleared path laid with marl and gravel would have held up better and cost less to maintain in the long run and would have been just as effective.

[TAH]

Have see the sidewalk but not walked on it. I'm actually surprised money was spent on it at all - it seems to me a cleared path laid with marl and gravel would have held up better and cost less to maintain in the long run and would have been just as effective.

Wheelchairs don't function on gravel very well.

[Melody]

Any news? Have they been working on the sidewalk all summer?

[nutz4travel]

Haven't heard anyone mention it, my guess is that nothing has been done... Think I'll ask somewhere else...

[Rob]

Any news? Have they been working on the sidewalk all summer?

Melody,

I wrote the following quote back in April in response to the original post by 2nutz in this thread. To 2nutz I even quoted what I had written back in October of 2013:

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"I think it has more to do with complaints with the way it looks, than the actual construction:

"The Minister of Tourism has expressed dislike for the harshness of the concrete sidewalks being built and a tour is being planned to re-examine the aesthetics of the project."

The company that created the medians was replaced early on in the project as they were not tending to the plants that were to be placed in the center of the medians. That may explain the reference to the following comment:

"However, mid-way into the project, concerns were raised by tourism interests over the type and quality of work being undertaken."

2nutz,

I wrote this back in October when the construction was suspened for a few days for the "beautification" aspect of the sidewalk to be handled. That is what delayed the completion of the project by the original date.

As of this week, since the busy tourist season is drawing to an end, the workers have started back on the job, backhoes are starting back to clear the paths and the sidewalk is intended to run the length up to Swept Away as planned."

-----------------------

The new information about the sidewalk project is that the initial "beautification" construction have been fixed back in May and June, but since then further complaints about the physical construction as well as continued "beautification modifications" are again being addressed by the local shareholders. Needless to say, this debate stopped further progress.

Until these issues are finalized (if they havent been already) there would have been little point to further extend the sidewalk just to have it altered to meet the new standards.

Since then, although the island is experiencing a drought, the western end of the island has been experiencing rainfall that has halted any construction being done on the sidewalks. When this rainy season stops, the work reconstructing/modifying the existing sidewalk will once again progress. The funds have already been allocated and the work will continue.

[Melody]

Yes, I read the older posts. Thanks for the update Rob.