Masonry Magazine February 1973 Page. 33
Film on Masonry Panels Now Available
The International Masonry Institute's new color motion picture on masonry unit panels is now available for local showings by MCAA chapters. Called "A Bigger Scale," the film depicts the roles of the contractor and bricklayer in modern panelized building technology.
The 16-millimeter film, according to IMI Chairman Donald Bidwell, should help the masonry industry stay abreast of one of the latest developments in the construction of medium and high rise buildings. It graphically points out that brick and block panels can give mason contractors a new foothold in the panel market, a market which has been dominated too frequently by pre-cast concrete.
A Lot in a Little
Though the film is short it runs only 10 minutes-hours of conversation-taping and days of film-shooting went into its production. The sequences tell a complete, step-by-step story quickly.
"A Bigger Scale" begins by showing that close cooperation between mason contractors and BM&PIU members is a key factor in the effort to maintain control over all aspects of brick and block panel construction and installation. Contractors talk about their roles and then bricklayers give their positive reactions about working with the new technology. Several sequences show panels being fabricated on-site under cover, panels being built in a factory miles from the building site, and bricklayers directing crane operators and welding panel anchors and plates.
The Union Position
Though the BM&PIU is not promoting the use of masonry panels, it is actively involved in a program to make sure that all block and brick panel fabrication and installation is done by union bricklayers.
"We may not like panels, and we're certainly not advocating their use," BM&PIU President Thomas F. Murphy states, "but, like 'em or not, we have to maintain jurisdiction over their fabrication and installation. Making or installing panels is the job of the union bricklayer-it means dollars in the pockets of our members. Without complete control over panels, the dollars our members could earn might well go to some other tradesmen."
The union believes that masonry panels, for the most part, are competing with precast concrete wall panels, not
This large, masonry panel is effortlessly "flown" into place for relatively simple installation on a highrise.
with conventional masonry. Masonry panels, the union says, are generally more expensive than conventional masonry, but substantially less expensive than precast concrete panels.
Second Film Planned
IMI Chairman Bidwell believes the new film will be an excellent educational aid for all segments of the masonry industry. IMI has already started work on a second film, which will survey high-rise loadbearing brick and block construction. The loadbearing film, according to Bidwell, will be ready for distribution this fall.
To show "A Bigger Scale" at your MCAA chapter meeting, send a note to IMI Executive Director Neal English at IMI headquarters, 823 Fifteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. Please write at least three weeks in advance of the date you select for the screening to allow for mail delivery. And, if possible, indicate an alternate date. Copies of the film are available for purchase at IMI's cost-$75 for the print and $2 for postage and insurance, for a total of $77.
Computers Predict Earthquake Damage
It used to be you'd need a crystal ball if you wanted to predict how a building would fare in an earthquake. Now all you need is a computer.
That's what a group of more than 200 executives from across the country were recently told at a two-day seminar in San Francisco sponsored by the American Management Association. The man they heard it from was Bob New, who heads Bob New, Inc.. in Glendale, Calif.
His firm is presently marketing a system known as Earthquake Risk Analysis. ERA creates a mathematical model of a building, feeds it into a computer, imposes a variety of quake simulations on the model, and comes out with precise analysis of the physical damage that the building would suffer in a quake.
New told the AMA seminar on "Earthquakes As a Major Insurance Risk" that this system could provide a reliable basis for rating a building both from an insurance and lending point of view. Heretofore, proximity to known earthquake faults and building code standards were the only guidelines, and according to New they have left a great deal to be desired.
During the February 9th Los Angeles earthquake some of the buildings most severely damaged were new structures that complied to all of the new building code standards. This fact, coupled with predictions that California is due for a series of quakes in the next decade, has caused many lenders to shy away from West Coast real estate projects that are sound financially but are literally on shaky ground should another earthquake occur.
Developed by Albert C. Martin & Associates, one of the country's leading architectural and engineering firms, ERA can be used both for existing buildings and those on the drawing boards. The information obtained from the analysis can be used in a number of ways. It can be an effective tool in making management decisions regarding any changes that might help minimize earthquake risk.