REDUCED COST

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 283, 27 October 1934, Page 10

REDUCED COST

BUILDING ECONOMY. BRITISH DEVELOPMENTS. Some important developments in building construction in England which aro likely to have considerable effect on the New Zealand problem of erecting earthquake resisting structures were mentioned by Professor J. E. L. Cull, when interviewed by a representative of the Christchurch Press. Research in England has disclosed that in the use of steel and reinforced concrete great economies are expected. Professor Cull believes that if this new knowledge can be applied in New Zealand the saving possible will in many cases more than offset any additional cost involved in constructing for earthquake resistance. These developments in steel structure as applied to building, said Professor Cull, were due almost entirely to the wonderful work being done by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in England, in association with the leading structural engineers of the day. Economies as high as 20 per cent, of the building cost were being talked of, because of this work. These economies were derived from more scientific methods of calculating stresses, coupled with unproved types of details, more than, by any improvement in the quality of the materials available. The first report of this work was made known a little more than two years ago, and led to the adoption of a new code for the use of steel work in buildings by the London County Council. The technical Press showed what a profound impression the new code was creating amongst the building interests of Great Britain.

“On the vexed subject of what increase in cost is involved in the construction of buildings that shall be reasonably safe against damage by earthquake,” said Professor Cull, “it can be said at once that the percentage of increase is likely to vary over a wide range. In buildings of two or three storeys only it will generally be trivial. On buildings of five or six storeys there is some evidence of an increase in the cost of the framework of something like 7 per cent., and 10 per cent, has been mentioned. This percentage, distributed over the whole building, may bo between 2 or 3 per cent. In. this question of extra cost' there is rather an involved technical point, in that the improvements in design which are being developed in England, to some extent automatically provide the resistance which we are looking for in a building frame, and I feel that any increase in cost may be easily swamped by the economies possible with the newer knowledge which we now have. Certainly this would apply in some types of buildings.” Referring to the probable effect. of these new developments on building regulations, Professor Cull said that there was some indication that some of the detail clauses in any code to-day might soon be out of date. So that obviously whatever was done there must be provision for freedom of amendment from time to time as knowledge and practice improved.