Dhaka Construction

Posted by Matthew McEwen

Building site watching is a hobby for some of the expats here in Dhaka. So many strange and interesting ways to get things done. Rarely do they use machines to do any of the actual building because there is such an abundance of cheap man power. Although, here they are riding up and down on the machine that lays the concrete pylons. There used to be a three story building across the street but the entire structure was dismantled by hand and sledge hammer. Now we have the rare noisy treat of watching the new building go up. We figure it is a private residence because they did not dig out enough space for an apartment, (this is good). What they did dig out filled quickly with the muddy soil that they are building on. The machine in the video is set up multiple times. It might suck out the mud first as it smashes the metal cylinder into the ground but not likely. After the cylinder is buried they fill it with concrete. Next comes all the rebar that is bent and laid by hand.

More to come . . .