NATIONAL MUSEUM

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 79, 30 September 1933, Page 10

NATIONAL MUSEUM

WORK WELL IN HAND

MASSIVE FOUNDATIONS

MASONS' ACTIVITIES

"Work in connection with the National Museum and Art Gallery is proceeding fast, and a visit paid to the site gives the immcdiato impression that the job is bigger than oue thought. Plans on paper; without somo relative indication of other buildings in the vicinity, givo little idea of tho ultimate landscape effect of such a big architectural enterprise as the National Museum on its commanding position, but when one sees a forest of steel reinforcement rising above the ground over ah area measuring about an acre and a half, 264 feet from front to back, and 240 from side to side and inspects the heaviest steel reinforcement under such portions of the three-storey future building as tho marble-faced stairways, it is easy to visualise the manner in which the edifice will dominate, not only the hitherto outstanding Technical College, but tho whole of the southern part, of the city. 100 MEN ON JOB. The work relieves unemployment to the extent of. 100 men directly on the job, including masons, carpenters, plumbers, and labourers, and indirectly, in the provision of material, transport, etc., a great many more, and this number will be increased further, as the work is not fully in hand yet. Last month only 50 men were on the weekly payroll, but for tho past fortnight an average of 90 has been maintained. A small village of sheds has arisen to accommodate^, various • activities. Timber is stacked ready for working up. The carpenters' shop contains two circular saw benches, while round the walls, under the window lighting, are benches for the finishing work. These are at present being used to bend the reinforcing steel stirrups which lash the vertical reinforcing^ rods. Alongside is the carpenters' dressing-room. The plumbers and labourers have separate accominodoation on similar, lines. Three concrete mixers are kept busy, and the system of barrow planking is such that they may all be concentrated on* one spot, in order that the section may be laid at one time to get the best "set." The plant throughout is ■ electrically driven, with the exception of the pneumatic drilfs and some of the channelling tools in the masons' shed. In this block of sheds the testing of the concrete mix is carried out a week after ithe mix, and again after 28 days. Tho plumbing alone is a big job. Much of the pipe.used is copper. HANDLING THE STONE. The masons' shed, which at present obscures the park-like space which will separate the Carillon from1 the Museum and Art Gallery, is fitted with an overhead crane that will lift 10 Tons. This is necessary, as some of the blocks of stone weigh five tons when they come from the quarriesi These, bearing on their surfaces the signs of the drilling and tapered wedging which broko them out in tho rough, jpass through many interesting processes} indeed, the masons' shed is one of the most interesting places on the job. At one end the blocks of stone are cut into workable slabs by the gang saws. Then they pass under twin diamond-toothed circular saws, which bring the stone practically down to its ultimate dimensions, and all that remains to be done is tho tooling, or fine ribbing of the outer surface, diagonal or parallel with the sides according to whether tho particular stono is designed for a door or a window or pillar, and the final smoothing of the outer surfaces of others of the stones by grinding. Where the finished wall surface will bo rusticated, one edge of the surface is/,eut out, at present with hammer and chisel, but if this Work docs not keep pace, it will be done by pneumatic tools. •' EXACT WORK. The exactness of the cutting demanded is very fine. This stone will be used for facing tho reinforced steel building, and only one-eighth of an inch is allowed for the special filling. All surfacing stone will be held to x the building by copper keys, and as the copper-lined orifices on the reinforced concrete wralls and the chiselled key sockets on the facing stoneß must exactly coincide when the stones arc placed in position, the nicety of. the measurements, bearing in mind the eighth of an inch' separation of the stones, maybe imagined. By this form of securing them, the stones should stand any ordinary earthquake shock without displacement. HEAVT FOUNDATIONS. Perhaps the most interesting thing on the site is the foundations. Already —and there is still a considerable amount of reinforcing to lay—lso tons of »teel have gone into them. The steel rods vary in thickness from an inch downwards, vertical pillar and wall reinforcing tapering' off in thickness, of steel as the building rises, There has been a good deal of unlooked-for work encountered in the foundations of the old gaol. The foundations of the memorial go down below these, and in some cases the foundation trenches run lengthwise along tho middle of a sixfoot foundation of the old gaol. These bricks were laid with lime mortar, but its quality is still Such that breaking out these old bricks by hand labour has proved a stupendous task, and pneumatic drills have been called in to do the work. The network .of trenches, with their varying widths and reinforcements, gives a very good idea of the weights the heavy foundations will be called upon to stand. Though there were initial difficulties in draining the heavy clay flat, these were overcome some time ago, and the entire drainage for the building is now complete, the drains now being used for sanitation. 11l this had to be done before the foundations could be laid. Pull provision has been made for reaching the drainage system in the case of necessity. On the Tasman Street side near the frontage, is being erected the lecture hall and kitchen. The hall will be complete for its purpose, with a sloping floor for the auditorium, provision for projection of slides, etc., in fact, full necessary equipment. The floor of this building is well below that,of the-main building, and it will be covered by the museum floor.