AIR-RAID SHELTERS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 6, 8 January 1942, Page 9

AIR-RAID SHELTERS

AUCKLAND PLANS

USE OF CITY BUILDINGS

(P.A.)

AUCKLAND, January 7.«

Under the " regulations issued this week making financial and other provision for the erection of air-raid shelters in areas regarded as dangerous, it is proposed to provide public "shelters for approximately 18,000 people in 35 buildings in the business area of Auckland. The Government is to bear 75 per cent, of the cost and local authorities 25 per cent. The scheme follows the' practice adopted since the beginning of the war in London and other British cities, and approved for use in New Zealand by the Public Works Department and the Standards Institute. It consists in I making structural alterations to base- i ments or ground floors of existing j buildings in order to resist the destructive effect of high-explosive bombs, Though it is not claimed that they are equal to deep underground ones, such shelters have been proved by experience to give a large measure of protection to their' occupants. The task of designing them has been much simplified by the abundant data which are available. All 35 Auckland buildings which it is proposed to utilise are of modern steel frame or reinforced concrete construction, and most of them are multi-' stnreyed. The work to be done will vary according to circumstances, but in most cases if will include strengthening of the lower floors to carry the weight 'of debris which may fall upon them, strengthening of exterior walls, filling up of window openings, erection of heavy internal partitions, provision of protected entrances, 4 exits, ventilation, and artificial lighting, and removal pf water and sewer pipes which might cause flooding if damaged. . ' Preparations for such a scheme have been going on for months past. While an expert committee in Wellington was drawing up a code of- specifications, a survey of suitable buildings was made in Auckland by the works and technical group committee. of the E.P.S., and later "reports upon them were made by members of a local committee, numbering 30, appointed by the New Zealand Institute of Architects and the New Zealand Institution of Engineers. Preparation of detailed plans and estimates for work on each building is now in hand. The plans and estimates will have to be approved by the district Public Works engineer and the chairman of the technical group committee before the work can proceed. It is expected that the part of the cost, 25 per cent., to be found by local authorities will be apportioned among local and public utility bodies in the metropolitan area in the same manner as various expenditures have been allocated in the past.