OVER £l0 WEEKLY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20490, 26 February 1941, Page 4

OVER £lo WEEKLY

WAGES OF CARPENTERS BUILDING NEW HOSPITAL The progress in the erection of the soldiers’ hospital in the Auckland Domain is regarded as a record for the particular form of construction employed. It is one of the few large undertakings in Auckland that is fully manned, the opportunity of earning overtime rates having drawn workers from a market that is now inadequately supplied with carpenters and other skilled tradesmen. Carpenters are working 69 hours a week, including eight hours on Saturday, and their gross earnings are £lO 3s lOd a week on an average. The contract held by the Fletcher Construction Company, Limited, is in two portions. The contract time for the single-storey part of the building is three months, and for the doublestorey it is seven months. These times were based on rush conditions,, and with six weeks of the contract completed, the external walls, roof and floors of the single-storey building are finished, plumbing and other equipment is well in hand, and it is anticipated that the internal walls and finishing will be done in a fortnight. So rapid has been the rate of construction of the double-storey portion below the single part that it is regarded as certain that it will be finished well before the seven months have elapsed. Tiling of the roof has been nearly completed. The major factor in the rapidity of the construction rate is that practically all the timber is cut and prepared in the company’s joinery works at Penrose, so that the’ speed of delivery governs the erection. While the hospital is to be ready before schedule, such items as floor coverings which have to be imported may cause delays but need not necessarily prevent occupation. So far as possible, New Zealand materials are being used throughout. The construction of the soldiers’ hospital is causing special . problems for the Auckland Hospital Board. No provision has been made for the accommodation of nurses. Even if they could be housed in the Hotel Cargen building or the home at the main hospital, it is not considered right that they should be expected to walk to the soldiers’ hospital ip the Domain at night. Problems of services-such-as steam heating have still to be overcome.