No_6_July_and_August__1949 — Page 77

BUILDING ACTIVITIES IN HOLLAND

WE ARE INDEBTED TO THE NETHERLANDS CONSULATE-GENERAL FOR THE

INFORMATIÓN PUBLISHED ON THIS PAGE

HOUSE BUILDING IN THE NETHERLANDS.

Building Scheme for 1949.

According to a statement made by the Minister of Recon- struction and Housing in his memorandum on the 1949 budget of his department, submitted to the Second Chamber of the States General, in 1948 more than 30,000 houses have been completed in the Netherlands. As regards the prospects of house building the Minister expects that for 1949 the number of houses completed will lie between 35,000 and 40,000 and that, barring set-backs it will be possible gradually to in- crease the output of houses to a maximum of 60,000 in 1952 or 1953 and after years. This will depend on the Netherlands foreign currency situation, but on the basis of the present prospects an annual output of 60,000 houses should be regarded as a maximum.

By employing "duplex" houses it will be possible to raise within a few years the number of dwellings becoming annually available to 10,000. As the Minister indicates this assump- tion is based on a gradual increase in the building capacity, such as also could be observed in 1948, as well as on the further development of so-called prefabricated houses (prefabs).

In the Netherlands some 20 establishments are at present engaged on the manufacture of prefabs. On December 1, 1948, 1,642 prefabs had been completed; 3,983 prefabs were in course of construction, while in addition 3,183 prefabs had been put out to contract. All of the 800 Austrian prefabs which were ordered shortly after the liberation have now been delivered; 700 of these have been erected, the rest being in course of erection. There is a possibility that the Austrian firm by which 800 prefabs have been supplied will continue the supply for its own account and risk.

Meanwhile during the period June 1st-December 1st, 1948, the number of dwellings has increased by well over 600 as a result of house division, and according to a rough estimate in 1949 an increase of some 2,000 dwellings may be expected as a result of house division.

Under the circumstances the Netherlands is doing what she can to abate the house famine; as the Minister explains the greatest difficulties encountered in realizing the Building Scheme 1949 spring from the supply of materials. As a result of shortage of foreign currency for the building industry the supply of building materials is inadequate as a result of which the labour productivity is adversely affected, it being obvious that irregular supply of materials has its repercussion on the rate of building.

The principal building materials concerned are: timber, cement, rolled-steel products, bricks-among which sand-lime bricks and roofing tiles. Timber is scarce on the world market so that care should be taken that no timber is spent wastefully. As virtually all of the building timber has to be imported in the Netherlands for which foreign currency is required the Netherlands has every reason to see timber being used effectively.

The shortage of cement is exclusively due to a shortage of dollars.

From a technical point of view Belgium can supply more cement, but this increase would not fall under the trade agreement and would have to be paid in dollars. The same applies to rolled-steel products, bricks for inner-wall con- struction, and roofing tiles. The total pre-war output of the Dutch brick factories has not yet been reached. In 1948 the output amounted to some 1,400 million bricks including some 440 million sand-lime bricks; the brick imports amounting to 75 million bricks. These figures are not considered to be unsatisfactory, having regard to the fact that in spite of the many difficulties encountered the output is increasing, and that in 1939 the output was about 1,600 million bricks (includ- ing sand-lime bricks).

Although the materials position is still inadequate since the liberation an improvement is noticeable while the labour productivity in the building industry which is estimated at 70 to 75% of that in 1940 is on the increase.

Without the Marshall Aid it would be impossible to maintain the present standard of living of the Netherlands population and it is undoubtedly true that without the Marshall Aid the Building Scheme would have to be limited.

As to the Building Scheme for 1949 its ultimate figure has been fixed at 1,300 million guilders, though the Minister must put in the proviso that corrections will have to be made if circumstances demand. The proportion of house building in this Building Scheme amounts to 400 million guilders; the proportion for farm building and for other agricultural build- ing purposes amounts to 51 million guilders; for utility build- ings 240 million guilders (160 million guilders for the industry and 80 million guilders for trade and traffic); for churches 4 million guilders; for schools 25 million guilders; for repairing war damage 57 million guilders; for maintenance and for repair of other damages 85 million guilders; for road and hydraulic engineering works 295 million guilders; for rebuild- ing purposes 51 million guilders; for public buildings 32 million guilders; for buildings for public health and hygienic purposes 10 million guilders, etc.

MANUFACTURE OF SAND-LIME BRICKS

IN THE NETHERLANDS.

The first sand-lime factories were established in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 20th century. In the course of time the number of sand-lime brick factories de- creased to 15, but these factories have a total production capacity far in excess of the former total production capacity.

Prior to the latest war between 200 and 550 million bricks were manufactured annually in the Netherlands. After the war this number was much lower: in 1945, for instance, the production had decreased to 3.5 million bricks, but the sand- lime brick industry rapidly recovered and in 1947 a produc- tion of 248 million bricks was reached. Over the first eight months of 1948 the production amounted to well over 280 million bricks. Imports and exports of this heavy product have always been relatively low; before the war these exports went almost exclusively to Great Britain. During the war Germany, Belgium and France became markets for this product, but since 1945 exports of sand-lime bricks have been almost negligible. In 1947 a quantity of 368 tons was exported exclusively to Belgium.

Sand and lime constitute the principal raw materials for manufacturing sand-lime bricks. The greater part of the factories provide for their sand requirements by excavating it from the dunes, the remaining factories by dredging sand from the rivers. From the sand-lime brick production point of view there is only little difference in quality between dune and river sand. A primary requirement, however, is that the sand to be used is as pure as possible, and that it is rich in silicic anhydride; preferably the sand grains should be irregular of shape and have sharp edges. From an agricultural point of view only worthless soil is excavated; in some cases the uncovered subsoil is suitable for growing plants, e.g. flower bulbs in the dune region.

Before the war the annual consumption of sand in the Netherlands for the manufacture of sand-Lime bricks amounted on an average to 800,000 cu.m. or about 1 million tons of sand.

The second raw material-lime is almost exclusively imported, before the war from Belgium and Germany, after the war only from Belgium in the form of clods of quicklime. Naturally the difficulties encountered during the war in importing lime led to the search for a home product, and it was therefore attempted to burn lime from marl from Limburg, This lime was found to be sufficiently pure, but it was too soft, so that it was difficult to burn. Further attempts to work up this home product were therefore given up. Although the first sand-lime brick factories in the Netherlands were equipped with old and inadequate machinery the Netherlands sand-lime brick factories have now up-to-date and adequate equipment. Their products can therefore undoubtedly stand comparison with those of foreign factories.

Since the sand-lime brick proved to be an excellent material for building inner walls and foundations it is mainly used for indoor construction and is used only on a relatively moderate scale for the building of outer walls. The sand- lime clinker with its relatively high compressive strength is used for building trass layers and cellars.

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