Week Seven - Independence Day

Tuvalu celebrated Independence Day on 1 October with a massive parade followed by an address from the Prime Minister. Officials read out congratulatory emails from several foreign leaders, including the President of Taiwan and the Australian Prime Minister.

Police and school groups lined up on the runway

Watch a video of Police marching

School groups marching

The Gilbert and Ellice Islands succeeded in becoming independent nations in 1978 with the formation of Tuvalu and Kiribati. Below is a timeline of significant events for Tuvalu from https://nationaltoday.com/tuvalu-independence-day/



For the celebrations (or coincidence!) a Brazilian sports team flew in on a NZ charter jet early on Tuesday. After discharging its passengers it left, only to return again on Thursday to collect.

Watch ZK-ZEK Cessna C680 take off

We've been busy working with separate teams on the asphalt plant site and the runway. Most of the expat team (approx 10 people) is assembling the plant while the local guys (about 10 people) are assisting with the runway repairs. All up we have nearly 30 people on the island working on the project.


Asphalt Plant - Hot Bin standing up

While the site crew works during the day, the runway crew has to wait until the departing planes pass their "point of no return" (PNR). Typically, this is 70 mins after take-off, meaning access to the runway is open at 2:00pm. This makes for a leisurely start after lunch at midday but has led to some long nights and early morning finishes around 3 am.
The issue is once we start digging a hole in the runway, we are committed to working until we have fixed it and sealed it again, ready for the next plane. We don't have an option to come back tomorrow to finish it or hide from the weather.

Each repair has to be recorded and rigorously tested to prove it meets the specifications. The local guys have shown a keen interest in the Quality Control (QC) work so i have been training them to do the Scala Penetrometer (DCP) testing which takes four people in Tuvalu, but can be done by only one in NZ. The four all have specific roles; one to steady the Scala, one to drop the weight, one to measure the penetration and one to record it in the book. A couple of these guys also help with the Nuclear Density Meter (NDM) by prepping the ground under the NDM.
To clarify, the DCP determines the ground-bearing capacity at the base of the dig-out which then informs us as to how we start our backfill repair. The NDM tests how well we have compacted the backfill.
The four man scala penetrometer team

Sai and Apollo (on hammer) preparing for the NDM (yellow box)

Screeding the QPR to a level 20mm higher than runway

The rain comes but the work doesn't stop.
(I'm signing paperwork with the Engineer)

Even though we block an entire section of the runway, life in Tuvalu goes on, and the locals have quickly adapted to give us a wide berth.
Local football on the runway

While security and crime aren't an issue on the island, it seems odd that the waste treatment site where our asphalt plant is located is fully fenced and has quite secure gates restricting access.
While there the other day, I came across this creation.

Once every fortnight, the expats go to the Lagoon Hotel for dinner, and last Saturday night, a four-piece band played covers. They got my attention when they opened with "When you say nothing at all." Other songs they played were, "Please don't make me cry," "Midnight Special," and "Tears on my pillow."

Lagoon four-piece band

Listen to the band play:
    
    Does your Momma know
    
    Get Back
    
    La Bamba
   
    Memphis Tennessee







Location: Funafuti, Tuvalu

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