SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 115, 8 February 1935, Page 15

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

4 Removal of Top Hamper From City Buildings ANOTHER PARAPET TO COME DOWN Slowly but steadily the advice given by the Government and the municipal authorities in respect to removing as much top-hamper as possible from city structures as a safety precaution against earthquake action is bearing fruit in Wellington. Last year about a dozen large buildings were treated in one way or another, but however the work was done it meant the elimination of heavy parapets which were serving no purpose other than ornamental. The latest firm to take sueli a precaution is Messrs. Whltcombe and Tombs, Ltd., of Lambton Quay, whose fine premises carry a highly ornamental facade of the French renaissance order, and a parapet of considerable weight and dignity. Modern practice does not consider such elaboration desirable in this country, and the firm has decided to follow the line of “safety first’’ and deprive the building of its parapet, and al§o tie the front of the building to the back wall by means of steel straps, so as to make it one rigid whole. This idea, which is being adopted in several buildings in Wellington, has been devised as the best means of preserving a building when there are earth motions, so that the entire structure will move as one piece, instead of breaking away into sections; Mr. P. H. Graham is the architect for the job, and the work is being carried out by Messrs. Palmer and Askew. There is between 70 and 80 tons of masonry to be removed from the parapet, which ranges in height above the roof line from 5 to 11 feet. A plain steel reinforced parapet will be substituted for the existing one. A start has already been made with the erection of the scaffolding. Removal of Great Tank. The D.I.C. Chambers adjoin the D.I.C. Building in Brandon Street. This building, ever since its erection, has been surmounted by a very large steel tank, capable of holding 7500 gallons of water, built on huge brick piers and standing 35 feet above the level of the roof. This tank was formerly used to supply the sprinkler system in the old D.I.C. building, but has not been used for that purpose since the new building has been erected, though it has been of service for domestic purposes in the chambers. The tank, the piers whlph support it, and the high parapet on the Brandon Street frontage are now to be eliminated. Mr. C. H. Mitchell is the architect in connection with the alterations.