Email #3 – Debris Flows to First Floor

Here is one of the more interesting sights I've seen while photographing construction and demolition.

The top photo shows debris dumped from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor of Architecture Hall in the South Wing on July 3, 2006.

This had been the position of a hidden chimney, or breather wall, like I showed in the last email. Now the 1909 chimney hole is being re-purposed as a demolition chute for moving heavy debris from the 2nd floor. All of it. This is much easier and cheaper than using those exterior yellow debris chutes, says the demolition foreman.

This idea was not part of the "de-constructibility plan" for the job, he said. Instead they were just lucky and took advantage of the hole when it appeared.

The middle photo shows the top of the hole on the second floor, looking NW. The hidden chimneys were between the structural columns. The bottom vertical photo shows a closer view of the debris on the first floor, looking SE.

Usually, bobcats move the debris more quickly from beneath the chute, but not so on this morning. It was frozen in time like this only briefly (about 45 minutes). I have not seen it backed up like this again. So I was lucky to walk into the building at the right time.

John Stamets
July 7, 2006