Masonry Magazine March 1970 Page. 39
Here is the most sophisticated and coordinated machine that has ever been conceived. A machine that has its own built-in computer, making judgments based upon sensory stimulation as no electronic device can ever do.
In coping with the brick-laying process, man must utilize several of his most highly developed senses, especially his visual sense and sense of touch. He must also bring into play such attributes as judgment in dealing with, for example, the quality of mortar, the absorbency of the unit, etc. In the process, he overcomes irregularity of unit dimensions, and he uses his physical strength to produce a plumb, level and neat job. (It would be interesting to compile a list of the various physical and mental abilities that a bricklayer uses in the course of his work. Such a list would be quite extensive.)
Is the mason a vanishing breed?
It is precisely because of the requirements he must exercise that the mason is a vanishing breed. We have already witnessed the almost complete disappearance of the stone mason. In our modern society, man does not have to develop and exercise the skills required in brick-laying and, at the same time, put up with the variety of job conditions such as climate that affect his ability to make a satisfactory wage. I believe that this is one of the reasons why directors of vocational training across Canada complain they cannot interest a proportionate number of trainees in the masonry trades. I think that it is due in large measure to this situation that there is a need for industrialization of the masonry process.
There are other reasons as well which direct our thoughts toward this need. There is the tendency for wage rates to rise disproportionately to productivity rise. There is the preference for the modern working man to seek employment in the warm, dry, safer environment of the factory, where he has a chance of receiving steady wages on a year-round basis. I made statements to this effect in 1965, and I have no reason to change them in 1970. In the meantime, masonry has not retained its former proportionate share of the building materials market either in the cladding, structure or partitioning of buildings.
What then can your industry do to remedy this adverse situation? Action needs to be taken, and industrialization of the masonry process is something you should be considering further. But it must be realized that whatever action is undertaken by your industry is the concern of all the sectors of your industry.
What form will this new industrialization take? Ultimately, I foresee nothing less than a robot type of operation a machine working under controlled conditions that will lay up masonry panels of various sizes and types of bond in a programmed way, fast enough and efficiently enough to make the masonry so laid competitive in the market place.
What will be the main characteristics of performance of mechanically prefabricated masonry panels? Panels will have to meet three main requirements that all spell performance:
Functional performance (cladding, structural. partitioning, weather-proofing, and so on).
• Dimensional performance relating to standardization of sizes of panels, modular considerations, tolerances on over-all dimensions.
• Performance of joints and jointing, both structural and weather repellent.
I have outlined what I believe to be the main considerations in relation to industrialization of the masonry process. How may such industrialization be achieved? The answer is through research. But you reply that such research has already been conducted. I say that only
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• March, 1970
39