Photos taken early to mid October 2011

This month will see a lot of finishing off happening around the store, such as landscaping, paving and finishing the access road. Work will also continue inside the store before it opens towards the end of next month. As always, I will be photographing everything I see from outside the site perimeter.

Above are two photos taken on my phone looking over the fence at the area next to the Underfleet, where paving is continuing at a quick pace, It should all be complete by this time next week.

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Above is a view of the south side of the store looking from the tramway station. Just beyond the glass on this side of the store will be the area for the checkouts, with the Costa Coffee outlet in the south west corner of the store. In the foreground blue things have been placed in the ground presumably ready to hold trees and bushes.

Above is a view of the porch area where the public will walk through to the main entrance. The south side of the porch area has been fitted with window frames to allow more light through into this part of the store.

Looking at the practically complete western side of the store at the rear, where the fence is up and the sand banks have been covered up with soil, which will hopefully be planted up with plants etc soon.

Above is a view from the cliff above Seaton hole looking down on the town and the store with it's roof clearly visible.

I noticed this while I was walking along Harbour road. It looks like there will be a zebra crossing to allow pedestrians to cross the road close to the store. Further along on both sides of the road, there are markings on the pavements for bus shelters to be installed.

Another one of the regular views above looking at the south east corner of the store. Work is progressing on the landscape on the other side of the pathway, with window frames installed in the entrance porch area.

This is one of my regular spots since '08 looking at what now is the south of the store. You can see the landscaped area behind the wire fence which replaces the rather ugly looking wall that used to stand there.

Above is a wide angle view of the road junction of the access road and Harbour road, which is being leveled out smoothly before tarmac goes down on it. 

Another view in this area, but looking along the area towards the main store entrance, most of the paving the the area closest to the store has now been laid.

Looking through the gate with my shadow visible in the middle, is a photo of some of the paving slabs on a pallet waiting to be laid.

The photo above is looking towards the toilet block, which has been closed from the 10th October for a week, to enable landscaping work to progress around it. Paving work has also begun on the right hand side of the photo.

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Here is a view looking from east to west across the site towards the main entrance to the store. The area in the foreground used to be where the infill lagoons were but is now growing with grass until it is developed for further use.

Above is a view of the south eastern corner of the store, where work is beginning on the porch area of the store. The main entrance will be slightly to the left of the glass you can see with the curved customer service desk sitting behind the glass area you see in this photo.

Here is a quick view of the rear of the store with most exterior work complete. Looking at the fence posts, you can judge for yourself how high the screening fence will be.

Above is a view of the west side of the store, where 2 panels await fitting into the gaps below the window frames to the right of the photo.

Above some workmen are working on the walls that back onto the service yard of the store, this area will be screened off from public view within the next few weeks.

Here is a glimpse into the side of the store where you can see some of the freezer cabinets sitting empty. Most of the main work inside the store is now complete, so shelves, cabinets etc will be moved into the store.

Above is the new temporary vehicle entrance to the site for works and delivery vehicles as work progresses on the road area behind it.

Here is a view on a Saturday afternoon, when most guys on site finish at 1pm. This is where the public 'realm' area will meet the underfleet.

This photo above was taken at the north west corner of the fence to the back of the store. They have left one of the tree stumps of the trees that used to line the tramway side of the site before work began at the start of this year.

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Below are a couple of links to some interactive 360 degree photos I have taken using my phone.

http://360.io/ScHg53

http://360.io/P9uwEk

http://360.io/gLPtQW

http://360.io/CAtJQX

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Above is a view looking from Harbour road directly down the new access road, towards the new roundabout at the other end.

When looking towards the car park area, I noticed these lights had been added to the poles, differing in style to the lights above the access road.

Here is a view looking north east across the site from Harbour road, where the hoardings have been removed on this side so that work to complete the road junction can continue.

Another photo above looking into the former youth centre area, where square areas are appearing lined with curbing where trees will be planted and then be surrounded with paving.

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Above is one of the regular photos looking through the gate onto the former youth centre site, which is transforming quickly. This area will probably be fully paved within the next couple of weeks.

A view of the tramway side of the store where work is continuing on the bank. You can also see that a fence has been installed along the side here, which goes right around the back as well.

Workmen were working just the other side of the wall, in the shade from the sun, hanging their tops over the edge of the window frames.

A view into the south of the store, where you can see some of the internal aisles are starting to appear at the back side of the store.

A stack of paving slabs that have been cut up ready to use elsewhere.

One of the usual spots looking directly at the south side of the store as work continues on the public space area in front of the store.

A view across the site to the partially covered tesco sign backing on the south east corner of the store.

The photo above is a view looking directly at the new road where it meets Harbour road, a lot easier to see now that the fence has been taken down here.

Work was underway here in between the car park and the road to install some pipes, possibly for electricity to power lights etc.

This is a view looking from Harbour road at the new access road which is slowly edging it's way towards the new junction. You can see the sign for the roundabout that you can just make out the curbing for at the other end of the road.

July 2011, Drainage & Foundations

The photos in this post are taken as work on the store is underway, in the form of the drainage systems before the major building work can commence and of course the foundations on which the Tesco store will stand on.

Above is a view onto the south side of the site, looking onto the area where the car park will be, with the current emphasis of the work on the store, which is off to the left of the photo.

This photo is looking from south to north across the site, in the foreground you can see where the front of the Store will be with a concrete truck towards the back of it, everything in the image is more compressed together due to the view of the site.

The photo above is of two workmen on the south side of where the Tesco store will be, discussing things as they move the metal around.

Above is the result of a fisheye lens shot I took on the camera looking onto the site. Due to the shape of the lens, you get an ultra wide view but also a distorted view, the further out from the centre you go.

This is one of the views I have taken photos of regularly during the year, to show the amount of change that has happened on the change during the work on site. You can see here (especially in large view) the foundations of the store being laid, with the lighter area to the left, the first half of the store that has already been laid over the past week. The right hand side of this image is being worked on this week.

This is a close up of the concrete pumping lorry, with the footprint of the south west corner of the Tesco store visible in the lower half of the photo behind the lorry. The tramway car park fence is visible in the background.

The photo above was taken with a wide lens looking onto the south side of the Tesco store, where concrete was being laid onto the store footprint, while dark clouds were gathering over the site to bring more unsettled july weather.

Here is basically part of the footprint for the store, marked out by the wood you can see. Obviously due to using a telephoto lens for the photo, it distorts the scale you see the image, compressing it all together, so the store appears smaller here than it is in reality. The area in the foreground before the store, will be the pedestrian entrance to the store from the Underfleet, once the former youth centre has been demolished later on in the year.

Another photo, this time looking over the south fence onto the site where machines are working on the car park area of the site, just north of the delivery gate.

Above is one of the roller machines rolling flat some of the hardcore that has been laid out on part of the area where the car park will be.

The photo above was looking at the back of the Tesco store, on a windy day. Standing below the level of the ground on the site, you can see how much the sand was blowing around, so it wasn't ideal conditions to be taking photos around the site.

The photo above is taken looking over the fence onto the west of the Tesco store site, where workmen are working away on the concrete foundations before more concrete arrives in a few days.

This photo above is another view of the concrete work going on on site, with loads of concrete being pumped through the pipe and over onto the site where it needs to be laid.

Above is one of the mini rollers rolling out some hardcore close to where the south side of the store will be located, with the concrete work going on in the background.

This photo is the specialist concrete truck sending concrete through the overhead pipe from waiting concrete mixer trucks, so that it can be laid on site without trucks having to wait for concrete to dry out, therefore making the process much quicker.

The photo above is taken looking directly at where the eastern wall of the Tesco store will be when built, with the digger and the works behind it, eventually being where part of the car park will be, with the Petrol station being further back to the right of the trees in the photo.

This is a view onto the site, with workmen behind the fence busy installing drainage/sewage pipes before the Store is built above it.

The photo above was taken of one of the concrete mixer lorries going into the site off of a very sandy, dusty road, to start pouring concrete where the Tesco store will be.