Masonry Magazine March 1977 Page. 9
The new addition has given the hotel 160 more rooms, bringing the total to 560. There is also a new 10,000 sq. ft. exhibition hall, a 16,000 sq. ft. ballroom, complete new kitchen, and a new roof restaurant and presidential suite. The 10-level addition, started March 11, 1975, also has two levels below ground.
All-Weather Techniques
In 1910, the advantages of modern-day, all-weather construction techniques were not known. For the current project, efficient operating procedures of the general contractor, Jacobsen Construction Co., called for enclosing the job with polyethylene sheets, with heat provided when needed. Child Masonry also used a waterproofing additive with the terra cotta mortar, which was screened out to approximately 30-mesh.
The new flooring is metal deck with reinforced concrete; the old section had beams and joists with clay tile to fill the voids. Decorative trim of the building-formerly of sheet metal was replaced with fiberglas trim on the current job. Quarry tile was used extensively in kitchen and public areas in the new section. Large exterior sections of the original hotel were of white glazed brick. The Elgin Butler Brick Co. produced matching white brick for the new section, thus demonstrating an added advantage of building with and maintaining masonry walls.
In undertaking the job, Earl Child found himself in a new "ball game." He quickly discovered that he needed a warehouse the size of a football field to lay out and number the 12,000 terra cotta units which arrived in 400 shapes. So he rented a nearby warehouse and numbered the units in the order needed. He learned, too, and it is a
Terra cotta, such as this classical configuration, is a clay masonry unit with burned clay facing that makes it virtually impervious to all changing climatic conditions.
point that architects should keep in mind, that if a unit is damaged, it takes at least six weeks to properly produce a replacement unit, such as a lion head or festoon. To maintain the high quality glazed finish, for which terra cotta is noted, production cannot be rushed. The Gladding McBean firm points out that ideally architects should allow a year for all of the planning, production and shipping of decorative terra cotta units. In this way, everything is ready to go on the date selected for the start of construction.
On the Hotel Utah project, the old terra cotta method of construction and the new were totally opposite. In the old section of the hotel, the terra cotta was laid first, and then backed up and tied in with brick. There were no concrete masonry units then. Interior walls were of clay tile.
Terra cotta is not a structural material; so on the new job, a back-up wall of concrete masonry units was laid first. Then the terra cotta facing units were tied in with the reinforced, concrete masonry wall laced with rebars. The cavity wall was filled with grout 4 inches at a time to avoid shifting of the terra cotta units. Child discovered that pumping grout into the cavity created too much pressure on the terra cotta facing units. The masonry craftsmen used 3% rock, sand and cement for their grout, and then put it in coal buckets and carefully poured and packed the cavity by hand.
Meticulous Craftsmanship
As construction began, Child was faced with the fact that some terra cotta units, such as the lion head, weighed 425 pounds. Others, such as the festoon pieces, weighed 500 pounds each. "Eight masonry craftsmen were in a completely new ball game too in laying the units," said Child. However, the most experienced craftsmen were selected, and they quickly adapted to the new work procedures. It had been twenty years since terra cotta was erected in Salt Lake City.
The masons used dowels and wires to tie in the surface terra cotta units. The tie-in materials are of stainless steel to avoid rusting and eventual staining of the building, and to ensure that the terra cotta units will remain safely in place for years to come. Tower-type scaffolding was used on the outside, with a swing-stage scaffold so the general