🚀 go-pugleaf

The U-Mass Amherst library is 26 stories tall, was built in 1970, 
condemned in 1979 for a variety of reasons, and renovated in the early 80's.

0ne of the concerns in the 70's (not the worst, which was water damage to 
structural concrete) was the bricks falling off the outside.  Back then, 
this was traced to the fact that the contractor had neglected to insert 
the expansion joints every three stories, and had also spilled mortar 
into expansion spaces.  Thus when the sun shone on it and it expanded....
(Also, the steel tie-rods weren't fastened properly, some of the bricks 
which were cut on site -by eye- were just a little too long, etc.)  All of 
this is in the report of the Ward Commission if anyone wants to see it.

Anyway, the bricks are coming off again:  they are coming off the south 
side on the 7th & 12th floors, and perhaps elsewhere.  There is a 
chain-link fence to keep people away from the building, and if you look 
inside it, you will see small brick chips.

I thought this might be of interest to people in K-12 -- either in terms 
of a final exam question, lab experiment (how much does the average brick 
fragment weigh?), or even field trip.  The only caveat would not to come 
out here on a windy day, as the area is a wind-tunnel and not a pleasant 
place to stand.  I don't know exactly how tall the building is, but the 
bricks are not coming off the top.

Regards
ED