Construction of the new 7 – 9 storied building, rumoured to be an apartment block hosing government officials and or a police station, are literally going on 24 /7. This construction is taking place in the section into which my apartment looks, literally between my apartment and the road.
Construction in Vietnam is interesting:
Trucks are only permitted into the city between 9:00 pm and 6:00 am.
This is due to the relative quietness of the city and the fact that during daylight hours the roads are congealed and over populated with motorbikes and limited cars.
Deliveries and removal of waste, soil, machinery etc takes place at night
When a permit is issued for a building construction can effectively continue 24/7
Submissions to the People’s Committee can limit the night time construction. If this happens the constructor must give a detailed date and timeline of when deliveries will be made
There are no noise authorities
Construction of buildings may go right to the boundary. My bedroom windows and living room balcony are right on the boundary. Therefore the new building could go up within inches of my windows.
The current problems are.
Noise from.
Trucks arriving with airbrakes, backing beep beep beep,
loud voices directing trucks and machinery. Amazing how voices carry at night
Rumbling cement trucks
Deliveries of metal
Cutting and welding of metal rods
Straightening of such long rods, by hand, steel on steel
Pile drivers
Diggers
Labour is cheap in Vietnam so the workers work either in shifts or jolly near around the clock.
The current pattern of work begins around 7:30 – 8:30 am and goes all day.
Around 7:00 pm – 9:00pm work slows right down and the site is quiet.
9:00 pm the first of the trucks arrive
Currently the cement is being delivered between 1:00 am and is completed at 5:15 am when life on the site stops until it begins again 2 – 3 hours later.
I am on the 5th floor and although experiencing noise and being woken many times in the night, I am not on the 1st or second floor and subjected to the activity literally just through the window. Remember buildings build right to the boundary so these poor folks are 6 feet from the action. The constructors have also installed huge halogen lights to illuminate the site and definitively give that 24/7 daylight effect.
I am tired, those on lower floors are really strung out. Sleep deprivation has taken on a new meaning for them.
We have met with our school boss who inspected the site and is working with the owner of the school and co-incidently the owner of our apartment block to provide us with a solution. Yesterday our windows got measured for double glazing.
When building above the foundation stage starts, cement is delivered every 8 days and we have been offered that night in a hotel.
Moving out is not an option unless of course we fund it ourselves at approx $750 - $850 US a month. The school has already done a deal and paid the rent for our apartments for the year in advance.
Its a case of watch this space. Also be thankful that in most Western Countries the local authorities have teeth and there are laws and legislation protecting the rights of the workers and Joe Public as well as a noise authority. Can you tell I am tired?
4 comments:
"My bedroom windows and living room balcony are right on the boundary. Therefore the new building could go up within inches of my windows.
That is the killer! When their building is complete all natural light will be blocked and you will become a cave dweller. Perhaps we are lucky to have the Health and Safety and noise controls that we have, and they are enforced.
Ear plugs would be a necessity I think. Let's hope the building is not so close that you could shake hands with it's occupants via your windows!
Boy oh boy, what a nightmare!! It could be a bad dream if only you could sleep!! We send our sympathy and only hope you get a some positive help!
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