SAVING ST. PAUL'S

Shannon News, 6 November 1928, Page 3

SAVING ST. PAUL'S

COMPLETION OF WORK IN SIGHT

For three years the greater part of St. Paul's Cathedral has been closed to the public, while the vast piers, upon which Wren raised his structure, have been strengthened, writes the London correspondent of the Melbourne Argus. A year a.go the foundations were pronounced to be safe, and now the piers upon which Wren's dome rests have been grouted. Within three months they will be solid stone throughout, thanks to the addition of liquid concrete, which has been pumped into the centre of the piers, replacing the rubble and dust upon which Wren was forced to rely. The cement has solidified- and reinforced the rabble cores, so that the piers are as good as they would have been at the fust if Wren had not been hampered by insufficient funds. At the same time Wren's iron cramps are being replaced by ties of special rustresisting, heat-resisting steel, warranted not to contract or swell, whatever the variations in temperature. The old iron cramps have long been a source of anxiety. During the grouting operations the piers have been supported by mighty steel struct ires with timber sheets, which also carried the scaffolding upon . which the masons worked. Though the piers can now be relied upon to do all v that is required of them, the scaffolding will remain for some time longer while surface cracks are filled and defective stones replaced. The scaffolding will also be used by the ironworkers who are putting in three sets of tiebars of rust-resisting steel, which will link the inner drum of Wren's dome with the outer drum. One of these sets of tie-bars runs at the level of the Whispering Gallery, the other at the •level of the upper corridor. The third set of four-inch tie-bars, each 40 feet long, is being driven into the outside of the outer drum. A huge steel hoop will be fixed, which will tie the whole vast construction together. The replacing of the organ on either side oi the choir and the fixing of the Grinling Gibbons carvings will necessarily take time, but two'years should see an end of the work. This is well in advance of the time estimated. A remarkable drawing has been added to the archives of St. Paul's. It is 12* feet high, and 9 feet wide, and it shows the anatomy of the building. By a method known as isometric, every stone is indicated to scale; yet there is an approximate effect of perspective. Every line or foot of the building is represented by a quarter of an inch on the drawing, the ornamental detail b# ing represented-with remarkable accuracy. The building itself witnesses to the genius of Wren, but architects arc grateful for this additional evidence of the manner in which aesthetic and static balance was achieved. The drawing cost £7OO, but it is a work of art itself, and fully worthy of the building ; it elucidates.