Masonry Magazine November 2005 Page. 32
RESTORATION
For now, the bulk of the work is rescuing the collapsed west demi-bastion wall on the terreplein deck. Schiffer took off all the brick, shot the elevation with a transit, and sketched that for exact replacement. The time and care spent opening up the site has allowed the parties to design right to the actual detail, or what Schiffer calls "build-design." Schiffer also had to assess and repair the old drainage troughs, recreating them where necessary.
Old bricks were sent to a forensic lab in Colorado, which provided the exact "recipe" of the mortar. "Then our job is to create a recipe for the mortar," says Schiffer, who spent months hunting brick manufacturers that could match the qualities of the 200-year-old brick and having those tested again for compatibility of material and look. The process of testing and rechecking takes several months to "make the marriage of mortar and brick," he says.
"The most important thing you can do in historic preservation is all the preliminary footwork," he says. "You must remove as much of the guesswork as possible. The goal is to convert the art of historic preservation into a calculated science as much as possible."
An equally important part of the equation is the crew, whom Schiffer describes as "highly skilled tradespeople who are also artistic." Schiffer's crews of IMI-trained bricklayers also take advantage of all the IMI upgrade training opportunities available to members of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC). Schiffer has the highest praise for foreman Stanley Zdebski, Jr., a member of BAC Local 9 Michigan.
This month, when the stabilization work stops for the winter, Schiffer will share the lessons learned so far at a technical seminar for federal officials, appropriately enough, on the Potomac River. Come March, it's back to the fort.
Hazel Bradford is the director of communications for the International Masonry Institute (IMI) and a former Washington correspondent for McGraw-Hill and ENR magazine.
WHERE STONE
MEETS SKY
Fast Fact:
The Great Pyramid of Giza is over 5,000 years old and uses 2,300,000 blocks of stone, some weighing as much as nine tons.
Those in the industry are always proud to point out the fact that masonry has been in use since the building of the Egyptian pyramids. Now they have the chance of a lifetime to visit and discuss these forefathers of today's masonry buildings.
The Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities is pleased to announce that the First International Conference on Restoration of Heritage Masonry Structures will be held in Cairo, April 24-27, 2006. The conference will be held in the Nile Hilton hotel in downtown Cairo, which has rooms overlooking the River Nile and within close walking distance to the Egyptian Museum.
The theme of the conference is evaluation, assessment and restoration/retrofit of historic, ancient and heritage masonry structures. Topics on seismic hazard mitigation of such structures may also be discussed.
The tentative schedule includes a welcome reception, opening and technical sessions, a dinner cruise on the Nile, and guided technical tours of the great pyramids and the Sphinx. An optional, post-conference trip to sites in upper Egypt - Abo Simble, Aswan, Kom Ombo, Edfo and Luxur - is also available.
Organizations sponsoring this conference include Egypt's Department of Structural Engineering, Ain Shams University, the city of Cairo, The Masonry Society and the Masonry Research Laboratory, Drexel University.
Additional information on the conference is posted at http://www.hmc-cairo2006.com. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact the conference chairman, Dr. Ahmad Hamid, at hamidaa@drexel.edu.