SAFE BUILDING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 36, 12 February 1931, Page 8

SAFE BUILDING.

GCOD WORKMANSHIP VITAL

EESSON OF EARTHQUAKE.

" INJUSTICE- TO BRICKWORK."

Among the visitors on urgent business to Napier and Hastings was Mr. C. A. Lawrence, the well-known architect, of the firm of Swan, Lawrence and Swan, of Wellington. He was among the first building and; architectural architects to make a brtef survey of the scene of devastation, and (says the "Dominion") he speaks as a man of experience and authority: "Not all the business buildings in Napier and Hasting 6 are down," said Mr, Lawrence. "Very many buildings a"re down, but there are buildings which have come through the earthquake practically unscathed. The Union Bank building, Hastings, in the midst of collapsed structures, stood up, and is without a crack; Sargood, Son, and Ewen's building at Napier, a brick structure, is also unharmed. The Union Bank building at Wairoa, where the 'quake wate felt most severely, is absolutely sound; so is Dalgety's at Napier. "Looking round the ruins in Napier, I could not help being struck "by the vast number of clean bricks, many thousands of them, showing just a touch of mortar here and there, but certainly not part of a well-constructed brick building. ' I believe, even after seeing the ruins in Napier, that sound brickwork is nearly as good as reinforced concrete, but, like concrete, brick buildings depend on the nature of the work put into i\ If the bricks are properly laid, with the right quantity of mortar, containing the right proportions of good sand and cement, and all soundly bonded in a workmanlike manner, they are likely to stand lip to almost any test. Of course, there is no building really earthquake-proof, but I feel that a good deal of injustice has been done to brickwork in the reports sent out. "Properly constructed, -brick buildings are safe up to two storeys in height, but the workmanship must be there. So much depends on the clerk of works, whose, business is to see that the right proportions of good material are used in the mixing of the mortar, and also that the bricklayer does not scamp his work. If bricks are only touched at the tips with mortar there is not the binding medium necessary to withstand an earth jar. In the same manner, if the quantities are scamped in concrete it is going to affect the stability and strength of a reinforced concrete ' building. It may look very stout and good, but if the mix is not right the structure will not stand the jolt of an earthquake any more than a poorly-constructed brick building. From what I saw here and there in Napier I should say that the mortar used in some cases was little more than sand and water, so clean are the bricks. "The Public Trust building looks fairly sound from the outside*, but I am afraid it lias been damaged. The new stone and reinforced concrete Post Office at Napier stood ,up to the shake, but was gutted by fire. The ensuing lire makes it rather difficult to compute how much of the damage was done by the earthquake and how much by the fire, which is a very destructive agent."