GOVERNMENT LIFE

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 129, 27 November 1935, Page 10

GOVERNMENT LIFE

THE NEW BUILDING

WORK ON FOUNDATIONS

ABOUT A THIED DOWX

On another site removed from the waterfront which did not necessitate putting down caisson foundations the new Government Life Insurance building probably would have been taking definite shape by this time. But putting up a big building—for the Government Life is to be of eight storeys— with a frontage to Customhouse Quay, where the land has been made from the sea, is not such an easy job. The I level of the road is but 12ft above the sea level, and as the site of the new building was first scooped out to a depth of six feet, it means that on the Customhouse Quay side the men putting down the foundations very soon had to contend with a considerable quantity of water. However, notwithstanding this difficulty and the bad patches of weather the contractor, Mr. M. G. Templeton. has struck since he first made a start, the work is moving along. The worst part is just about completed, and now that the summer months have arrived, though, in view of conditions lately it would not do to be too optimistic about the weather, it is expected that it will be possible to make greater headway. A BIG JOB. The sinking of the caisson foundations is a big job. Cylindrical wooden casings are built up, leaving the centre-piece open. Concrete is poured into the casing. The earth below is bored out, and when this is completed the big concrete cylinder sinks down of its own weight. The next step is to fill up the gaping core with concrete. Ninety of these foundations have to be sunk. They are 25ft long; some of them are 12ft 6in in diameter and others 7ft. Men were engaged today in scooping out heavy sludgy material to clear the way for some of the bigger cylinders. They were at work 19ft below the sea level, and also working at full pressure were drills and three centrifugal pumps, the latter bringing to the surface gallons 'of water. The worst part of this particular work is all but done. About thirty, or one-third, of the foundations have been sunk. For the ninety caisson foundations seven thousand tons of concrete and 90 tons of steel are required. The bigger ones, when filled up, take 60 yards of concrete and the smaller foundations 35 yards. DETAILS OF STRUCTURE. When completed the building should be an imposing and handsome addition to the city's architecture. It is being erected in accordance with the original design prepared by the Government Architect, Mr. John T. Mair, A.R.1.8.A., and as it is intended to floodlight the upper portion of the building, it will be, therefore, a striking landmark by night as well as by day. Seven of the eight storeys will be on the street line. The structure will be highly earthquake and fire-resisting, and will have a steel frame of a type new to New Zealand, being a modification of the form of construction used by the foremost Japanese authorities on earthquake-resisting building design. The building will have frontages of 170 ft to Customhouse Quay and 119 ft to Panama and Brandon Streets. All walls, floors, and roofs are to be of reinforced concrete, and the external walls to the street frontages are to be faced with New Zealand granite for the two lower storeys, and light-colour-ed artificial stone above. All floors and ceilings are to be constructed of sound-absorbing material to prevent reverberation in the rooms, and the roofs are to be insulated to minimise the troubles from expansion caused by Jieat absorption. On top of the building will be s large metal lighthouse, the emblem which has decorated the special postage stamps of the Government Insurance Department for many years.