Masonry Magazine June 1965 Page. 26
Bearing Wall Conference
(continued from page 16)
land, "The allowable bearing capacity of brick has been better understood and utilized."
Switzerland and other European countries have since World War II built high-rise buildings with thin brick bearing walls. One of these is 18 stories high and has eight-inch-thick brick walls.
Obata said that if the building code requirements in the United States for brick, steel, concrete, or wood, are compared, "We find that brick masonry as a structural material is being discriminated against."
The architect for Pennley Park, Tasso Katselas, of Pittsburgh, concluded from a comparative cost study that the brick bearing wall structural system cost at least 20 per cent less than a steel and bar joist structural system would have cost.
In his address to the conference, Katselas said that Pennley Park's transverse brick walls, which divide all apartments and are left exposed on the inside, also provided superior sound transmission and fire protection, economy, interior finish, and fast construction.
Construction economies were stressed by A. M. DiFerio, construction supervisor for the Vernon C. Neal, Inc., firm, the builder-owner of Pennley Park.
DiFerio pointed out that while the original construction schedule for the first section of Pennley Park was 21 months, work progressed so rapidly that 98 per cent of the project was completed in 12 months. He said that heavy equipment requirements were drastically reduced. With eight buildings under construction at one time, the only piece of heavy equipment used were two truck cranes. If the buildings had been of skeleton frame design, he said, five construction towers would have been required. In addition, no exterior scaffolding was needed on the job.
The conference had the support and cooperation of the entire clay products industry.
The Mason Contractors Association of America stated at the conference that its 2,000 members are "fully equipped with the know-how and the tools for the construction of contemporary bearing walls."
George Miller, executive vice president of MCAA, said that cost studies made in most major cities in the U.S. show that masonry is the most economical material in today's building market, but that even greater savings are possible through use of the contemporary brick bearing wall concept.
The Bricklayers, Masons and Plasterer's International Union said that its craftsmen are fully competent to meet the demands of modern masonry bearing walls.
In a statement released at the conference, Thomas F. Murphy, secretary of the BM&PIU, pledged "the full and enthusiastic cooperation of the union and its members to architects, engineers, and building owners" in the construction of modern brick bearing walls.
"Our members will continue to strive for the highest quality of workmanship and production in these new bearing walls, as well as in other types of masonry walls," he said.
Architects, engineers, and contractors, who made up more than two-thirds of the attendance at the conference came from nearly all sections of the country, as well as from Canada.
Richard W. Otterson, executive director of SCPI, said "the attendance at this conference, which was larger than we had anticipated, is indicative of the great interest in and importance of the contemporary bearing wall to the building industry and the nation."
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MASONRY June, 1965