BVI News

Work on stadium in East End to resume after hurricane season

A section of the multipurpose stadium being constructed on the eastern end of Tortola.

Works to the multi-purpose stadium at Greenland, East End is expected to resume by December this year.

Minister responsible for Sports, Dr Natalio Wheatley told BVI News the project is expected to be completed by 2021.

“We are waiting until after the hurricane season to really start the work on the stands. So hopefully late into the year and into next year, we will be seeing some progress on that. I believe completion on the entire project — we are looking at around two years,” Minister Wheatley stated.

He further said the immediate goal is to get the football pitch up to standard to start hosting league tournaments, which is big on his Ministry’s agenda to help boost sports tourism in the British Virgin Islands.

“There have some requirements that the field must satisfy in terms of the ball rolling on the pitch, how fast it bounces and things like that. There are some things that have to be dealt with and corrected and once it passed that level of inspection then the field will be ready to play on; even though the stands won’t be completed,” Dr Wheatley added.

The minister also said the sports facility which is currently nameless, will be named in due course.

He also said his ministry will be approaching FIFA to get assistance with getting the Virgin Gorda field up to the required standard, once this East End project is completed.

The project is a partnership between the BVI Government, BVI Football Association and FIFA.

The facility is expected to have 2,500 seats, a six-lane 400-metre grass track, netball and volleyball courts covering ghuts on both sides of the stadium, perimeter fencing, a parking lot for up to 200 cars, and an access road between the parking lot and the multi-purpose stadium.

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12 Comments

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  1. Anonymous says:

    What a wonderful and thoughtful addition to the Long Look/EE community. A great plus for the area of Greenland.
    Please provide a sample PHOTO of how the stadium will look after completion:)

  2. 8th says:

    Yes Marlon it’s all you don’t mind they want to steel your joy and hard work. We know better you practically live on the field and on that project . Thanks to you m p keep up your good and hard work stay strong

    Like 4
    Dislike 1
  3. E Scott says:

    Glad to see all that exposed rebar in a marine environment . I see this over and over and nobody understands how bad this is. BVI works dept need to pull its fingers out and get proper codes in place .bad rebuilding and developments after Irma why are lessons not learnt. If the big quake comes we are building death traps .

  4. BVI says:

    E Scott can you please explain for me what you mean? I want to learn. Thank you

    • E Scott says:

      I hope you are genuine and want to learn this is a massive massive subject so im only going to bullet point but lots of reading available on the net .

      1 Re-bar in a marine environment, and lets face it all of BVI is, should be Galvanised. I have never seen that on BVI

      2 Re-bar should be used with proper design to take loads and deal with stress points ( such as wall to ceiling or floor to wall joints ) never see a rebar calculation ever on BVI.

      3 if re bar left in the open even in a normal environment for any time should be protected at least with a slurry mix , Never seen that in BVI.as said above this is a harsh environment not normal one and the still just corrodes

      4 the re-bar needs to be covered with sufficient concrete to prevent corrosion and thats is very hi and miss in BVI. also the concrete needs to be to the correct standard. I have spoken to the sole concrete supplier on BVI and looked at me blank when I talked about different mixes ie C25 C45 etc.

      5 when pouring concrete in the Shutter it must be vibrated. I don’t think I have ever seen this in BVI.
      This prevent air pockets that leads to corrosion in the Re-bar.

      6 Stop using bloody beach sand JUST STOP ! ( yes when they can get away with it they do. it corrupts the re-bar !

      7 STOP using out of date cement that has not been stored property. please just stop it .

      8 if you joint re-bar it needs to be tiled and have the correct calculated over lap. NEVR see that on BVI so joints are poor and will fail

      The most common I see that will explain the issues is the line you get at the top of your internal wall were the ring beam is cast. NO IT WAS NOT IRMA it is the re-bar corroding because of some or all of the above points.

      BVI is an earth quake zone so putting aside for now the fact no design of re-bar anyway the joints that hold that concrete slab over your head in your home could fail with just a slight rumble are you living under a few tons of the stuff.

      you need to have a proper code and check its done. period !

      • BVI @E Scott. says:

        Thank you very much EScott. I am genuine yes. I am intending to build and that is the sight I see always on each construction sight. How do we address this? Maybe I should get in touch with you to help me with making the right decisions with regards to re bars. This is serious indeed. How do I get in touch with you?
        Thanks again for the post.

      • Deh Watcha says:

        Not an expert but this is what I have observed working in construction.

        1 – Agree with the proper steel being used. You would normally see coated steel. However someone building in Belle Vue doesn’t need galvanized steel, which will also drive up construction costs. Also have yet to see a “structural fail” from this.
        2 – Engineers produce structural details based on the design and final use criteria, here all the time. You may not see their personal calculations since they give out the rebar layouts and sizes on the structural drawings.
        3 – Never seen this done anywhere to be honest.
        4 – This is done. Spacers are placed; unless you are referring to a “layman doing his own work. I’ll give an example of a concrete pour I was on for over 250yd3 of concrete. There was a concrete specialist from the USA. Aged and I would say experienced since the Client brought him in. During the whole pour he rejected 1 truck for standing to long. What you may find is that with batching plants being computer controlled, if you are “old school” (no disrespect intended), you probably would have gone thru the process where it was more hands on with the mixes. Now its you want this and the computer does the rest. So yea you will probably get a lot of blank looks.
        5 – Concrete is always vibrated. Again the layman may think to skip this process. But concrete is always vibrated.
        6 – Again the layman will do this and this was a practice from many, many years ago when persons didn’t really have an alternate source. You will not see this on a proper construction site. Also removing sand from the beaches are illegal.
        7 – Since I don’t work at the batch plant I cant attest to this.
        8 – Again the engineers produce the lap they require on their drawings and the industry has accepted minimum lap requirements.

        You made some good points but I would say pick a site and visit it during its construction and you might get a different view. Its only the layman or unscrupulous contractors cutting corners that carry out bad steel or concrete practices.

  5. Government says:

    These kind of articles are always great … no mention of Mr Bickerton (the BVIFA President) or any of his team who have worked so hard (mostly for free) for the realisation of a dream, a proper stadium in the BVI.

    Instead a new government minister taking credit, thinking he can deal directly with FIFA. It doesn’t work that way, man.

  6. E Scott says:

    PS my post about Re-bar is not a slight on the project I think its totally fantastic and great for BVI and the real people who are driving it but it a moment on how building in BVI is unregulated and has not standards

    PPS don’t start me of in the last of tornado straps in timber buildings and lack of rock ties to houses perched on the hill side.

  7. Lodger says:

    I thought the FIFA Big Man said everything was fine? Now reading between the lines the pitch is not up to the required standard, and it will be two years, say three, to completion. Our politicians love to put a rosy tint on everything, or are economical with the truth to put across their own version of events.

  8. @Lodger says:

    The pitch has a few areas that are being addressed due to hurricane damage which will get it up to FIFA standard in the next couple of months.

    The whole project will be completed within two years.

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