-Daniel Breakforth and Treasure T
At the closing session of the just concluded 40th Anniversary of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, Church Gist explored the site of the Ark Project. Earlier Bishop David Oyedepo had confirmed our claim that it was a 109,000 capacity sanctuary. The Ark is going to be a 109,345 capacity auditorium. What is however interesting is that presently, Faith Tabernacle sits 51,400 with an overflow of 52,000. This means that on completion of the project (without considering any other new developments) the whole Ark facility including Faith Tabernacle will take 212,735 people at once. Consequently 5 services on a Sunday will take well over 1,050,000 people. One of the prophecies received in 1982 was that ‘very soon we would see millions gathered’. Though millions have been gathering online, the fulfillment of the prophecy of gathering in person seems on the horizon.
Further inquiries by Church Gist discovered that a very solid foundation is being prepared for the project.
Broadly speaking, foundations can be classified as shallow foundations and deep foundations. Shallow footings are usually used when the bearing capacity of the surface soil is adequate to carry the loads imposed by a structure. On the other hand, deep foundations are usually used when the bearing capacity of the surface soil is not sufficient to carry the loads imposed by a structure. So, the loads have to be transferred to a deeper level where the soil layer has a higher bearing capacity.
For the Ark Project, a deep foundation was opted for. Church Gist.A deep foundation transfers building loads to the earth farther down from the surface than a shallow foundation does to a subsurface layer or a range of depths.
Pile foundations are principally used to transfer the loads from superstructures, through weak, compressible strata or water onto stronger, more compact, less compressible and stiffer soil or rock at depth, increasing the effective size of a foundation and resisting horizontal loads.
While it is yet to be announced, sources have speculated to Church Gist that the project which far exceeds N100 billion ($200 million) will be completed as soon as 3 years from now or 2024.
The pictures of latest developments at the site are shown below.
