>In a message dated 9/15/98 8:25:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>[log in to unmask] writes:
>
>> The whole idea of a historic 1960's sidewalk has been on my mind all
>day--why is this particular sidewalk historic?
>
<snip>

>On one side of the tavern is a Staples (office supply store) and on the other
>side is a McDonalds. Across the road is a BP gas station.

I know this issue is off-topic, but what isn't with this thread?  Is anyone
doing anything toward preserving some example of a BP gas station?  If the
merger goes through, they will all become Amoco stations.  I think we ought
to have a kinetic station somewhere, since the auto culture is one of
locomotion, that has an array of progressive signs...a Standard Oil, a
Sohio, a Gulf, a BP, and an Amoco.  And wasn't Standard Oil broken up
because it was a monopoly, with Sohio and Amoco two of the spin-offs?
Aren't we now reassembling that?  Might this be a good case study for an
example of Reconstruction as one of the treatments in the Secretary of the
Interior's Standards?

>As to matching the existing, yes we have had to do an analysis of the
>materials and match as closely as possible to the original. Prior to our
>involvement in the project cores were sent out to several conservators,

I suppose that these would be...  Apple Cores?

>there are more than enough reports. The odd thing, from our perspective,
>is that the
>reports provide conflicting information. The differences in seive analysis of
>the aggregate and fines were most remarkable. We believe, from Frombly's
>records, which were kept in a Redwing boot box and discovered by his surviving
>eldest daughter beneath a pile of tools stored in the barn behind the tavern,
>that the concrete was supplied by Hicksville Ready Pour which, much to our
>benefit, remains in business to this day. We have a fairly close match on both
>the aggregate (crushed limestone) and the sand (yellow LI sand) but have had
>more difficulty with the cement. The mock-ups that we have installed have
>either been too light in color or too dark. We have suggested that a period of
>weathering would help to blend the new to the old, but there is pressure to
>have the restoration completed prior to cold weather. The owners do not want
>to wait until spring, which would allow more time to explore design issues. We
>have also been having some difficulty negotiating replication of the
>reinforcement. Mr. Frombly used a lot of salvaged plumbing pipe and auto body
>parts.

My guess is that the reinforcement is what is skewing the color match.
Have you done an oxidation analysis to determine the proper match for the
level of ferrous ions that have permeated the original mix?  If these are
salvaged units, it is likely that they are the only steel reinforcement
ever used in concrete that did not meet the standard specification
boilerplate that the reinforcement be clean and free of rust.

____________________________________________
Dan Becker
Executive Director, Raleigh Historic Districts Commission

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