Masonry Magazine August 2002 Page. 35
This required a "rough hewn" look originally caused by the use of steel gang saw blades in shaping the stone.
"We have a lot of new equipment that will do the same thing as the old equipment," explains Bybee. "You just have to use steel as opposed to diamond blades in the gang saws. The problem was to duplicate what they did back in the 1940's. Then again, some of our equipment probably goes back to that time."
Bybee was already working with the PenRen project on the remodeling of the Pentagon. As Bybee says, "We were working on the Metro entrance, making drawings, and had already been given a contract for material to be used on the opposite side from where the plane went in. Six weeks after September 11, Roy Swindel of Masonry Arts called me and asked if I was willing and able to do the project and I told him yes. Everything happened so fast after that, I don't think I ever did get a contract to sign."
He continues, "We let the architects look at a wide range of stone that was available and they picked what they wanted to use. The quarry season was over, it being close to winter here, and so availability was based on finding quarries that had stock. They looked at color and consistency of the stone, but they had to pick from the quarries that had the stone available. Independent Limestone Company supplied the entire supply of block"
Bybee admits the pressure of time and the emotional aspects of the project caused some stress. Another issue was the age of the building, 60 years. A lot of discoloration and staining was evident on all the exterior walls of the Pentagon and, as he says, "The 'new factor' will be there for some number of years, until environmental actions make everything the color of the older stone."
He adds, "From what I've heard from some of the old timers that are still around, when they built the building, they gave all the contractors, fabricators and quarries next to no time to be ready. Every quarry in the belt contributed block; no block was turned down."
When you talk about that many cubic feet, that's probably everything that was available, even during the heyday of Indiana limestone. "There were 30 to 50 fabricators and probably that
The quarry season was over, it being close to winter here, and so availability was based on finding quarries that had stock.
They looked at color and consistency of the stone but they had to pick from the quarries that had the stone available.
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The Voice of the Mason Contractor
August 2002
Masonry 33