|
|
|
||||
The speed with which a steel frame could be erected is graphically revealed when this photo is compared with that taken on March 3, 1911 (B17274). In the course of approximately five working days the steel fabricator has almost completed erection of another tier of two-story columns. The masons, working the same hours, have completed placing the stone on approximately one-half story. While the stone work at the lower levels of this building is rather intricate, progress on a simpler masonry facade would not have been as great as that made by the steel fabricator. In fact, the direct comparison of the speed of masonry and steel construction needs also to account for the work underway at the interior of the structure--placement of floor systems, construction of demising partitions and roughing-in plumbing and other utilities. In a masonry bearing wall building, the floors of the upper stories cannot be placed until the masonry reaches the level of the upper stories--and a sufficient time must be provided to allow the mortar in the masonry to set. |