March_1967 — Page 8

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FOUNDATION

PROBLEMS

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We are the best equipped and the most experienced specialists in:

• Pressure grouting

• Sub-soil exploration

• Deep well drilling

• Mining prospecting

• Substructure design and construction

Our testing laboratory is completely equipped for soil, aggregate and

concrete tests.

Consult us when you have a founda- tion or water problem. Our exper- ience over 15 years in Taiwan and Hong Kong will guarantee you the best service.

東方鑽探工程有限公司

THE ORIENTAL BORING SERVICE COMPANY, LIMITED

Champagne Court, Block B, Flat F, 8th Floor

Kimberley Road

SOIL LABORATORY:

Kowloon

No. 65, Kam Fook Street San Po Kong

Kowloon

Telephones: 635216 & 637055

Cable Address: "Boring" Hong Kong

sq.ft. and has an annexe of 250 sq.ft. for a storeroom and toilet.

The unit comprises 28 bolted wall sections, eight floor sections and 14 roof sections. Now in use at Johnsonville, the classroom will later be dismantled and erected at an- other school.

The prototype was built at a primary school in the Wanganui Education Board district last August. The chief architect of the board is investigating the possibility of building large schools from similar components. An advantage of this type of classroom is that others can easily be added as the school roll increases.

Worrying Times for German Construction Industry

IN AN analysis of the first six months of 1966, published by the Main Federation of the German Construction In- dustry, it is noted that the decline in the number of em- ployees in the industry which in June 1965 was 1.2 per cent. in relation to the corresponding month of the pre- vious year, has continued.

In June 1966 there was a further decline of 2.6 per cent. in comparison with the previous June. By far the greatest drop in the number of employees occurred in civil and highway engineering.

A fact which adds to the gloom of the picture is that in 1966 too, a decline in the number of man-hours worked was found to be occurring in the middle of the "high season" of building, when activity is normally at its peak.

An inquiry conducted among some 900 contracting firms has shown that 75 per cent. of these firms are having to face even slower payment by their clients than in the previous year. It is significant that the delays in payment on the part of municipal authorities have increased more than the delays in payment by the Federal authorities and by clients in industrial and residential building.

These facts confirm the reports, repeatedly cropping up in the Press, concerning solvency problems in the building market. The surveys show the seriousness of the present situation in the German construction industry.

British Interlocking Brick Experiment

A NEW type of tongued and grooved concrete brick, re- quiring no mortar, has been used for the construction of a prototype house by its inventor, Miss Mary Mason, of Hampshire, England.

Of cavity design to form both the inner and outer skin of the wall, the bricks measure 18 x 9 x 9 in. and can be fitted together almost as simply as a set of child's building blocks. Mortar was used only for the founda- tions and the first row of bricks. The cost of building such a house was shown to be substantially reduced.

House under construction using the new hollow concrete brick

Far East Architect & Builder March, 1967