$40-million senior secondary school at Prospect.

While the job is in its early stages, Somers Construction Ltd. general manager Mr. Ken McClure said the school is on budget. And while the schedule is extremely tight, it is on track to open on schedule in September of 1997.

Somers Construction, a 60 percent Bermudian-owned subidiary of a Canadian construction firm, was hired for $2.7 million as the project manager for the school project.

Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons said using a project manager was new to Government contracts in Bermuda, but would allow many more local companies to get involved, since the work would be divided into many smaller jobs.

About 20 workers are on site now.

Workers to start digging new school's foundations From Page 1 That number will likely peak at more than 200 some time next year.

So far, three construction "packages'' have been awarded, Mr. McClure said.

There could be 80 such packages in all. Sea-Land Construction Ltd., hired for $865,000 to supply and erect the structural steel for the south zone, is not expected to be on site until April.

Friday is the deadline for tenders on another package -- to dig the foundation and supply and erect the steel for one of the north zones of the new school.

Somers has divided the 250,000-square-foot school into six different zones as a way of speeding up the project. All the drawings for the school are not yet ready, but work can begin on those parts of the school for which the drawings are completed, he said.

While Somers has three Canadians on site, the company has hired a Bermudian secretary and as staff increases, "any new people that will come on board will be local people,'' Mr. McClure said.

Universal Construction Company has been awarded the contract to build the foundation for the south zone of the new school, with a bid of just under $280,000.

And Island Construction & Landscaping Services continues to work on a site preparation contract, worth close to $500,000.