Construction Commences

Jul 10 2020

After more than two years of planning and design, we are thrilled to report that building permits have been obtained and, as of July 1st, construction of the new YIS campus has officially begun. Having already cleared the 14,685m2 site of debris and erected temporary perimeter fencing and construction site offices, last week about 30 workers from Taisei Corporation, our general contractor, began moving in heavy equipment and carrying out excavation work in preparation for the driving of piles that will be used to stabilize the ground beneath the buildings. The first of two huge specialized pile boring machines has now been put in place and the piling work has begun. Over the next two months, crews will drive a total of 126 precast concrete and steel piles down into the bedrock at depths of 30 - 40 meters below ground level. Later this summer concrete footings will be poured and in the autumn crews will begin erecting the steel framework of the two classroom buildings. Despite some challenges from the COVID-19 situation, the project remains on track and we anticipate completing construction on schedule in the fall of 2021 and starting classes in the new campus in January 2022.

More videos and photos are available in the New Campus Construction album in YIS Photos.

Aerial view of the 14,685m² campus grounds in April	Panoramic view of the construction site.
Ground preparation work is underway at the new campus site.	Excavated earth is temporarily piled up in a corner of the site, to be backfilled after piling work is completed.
Precast concrete and steel pile sections will be connected and driven down to depths of 30 - 40 meters.	Samples of the soil from piling work in progress are compared with previous test bore samples to confirm geologic profile and accuracy.

The construction site and computer-guided pile boring machine drilling the hole for one of the first piles.