| [PLATE CXV] |
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INTERIOR WALL OF CASA GRANDE RUIN |
PLANS FOR THE REPAIRS
The plans for the repair of the ruin and its preservation included the reservation of the area covered by remains and, if possible, its inclosure, for within that area are exhibited all the various degrees of decay and disintegration which clearly link the comparatively well preserved Casa Grande with the numerous almost obliterated ruins along the Gila and the Salt, whose vestiges will become even less distinct as time passes and cultivation increases.
It was deemed necessary to remove all the rubbish and debris within the building and from an area measuring 10 feet from the outer walls in every direction. Plate [CXVII] shows the extent of this area, and six sections are shown in plates [CXVIII] and [CXIX], three on east-and-west lines and three on north-and-south lines. The lines along which these sections were made are indicated on the plan, plate [CXVII]. The ground level was determined by excavation, and is of course only approximate. The sections show the estimated amount of debris which was to be removed. Aside from other considerations, it was necessary to uncover the walls to the ground level in order to do the necessary underpinning.
It was planned to underpin the walls, where erosion at the ground level had weakened them, with hard-burned brick laid in cement mortar. Plate [CXVII] shows in a measure the extent of this erosion. The brick surface was to be set back an inch or two and faced with that thickness of cement mortar. Plate [CXX] shows the south front and plate [CXXI] the south and east fronts when the brickwork was completed, but before it was plastered, and will illustrate what was planned better than can a description.
This treatment, it was believed, would give a surface capable of effectually resisting atmospheric influences and the destructive action of flying sand, and at the same time would not disfigure the ruin by making the repairs obtrusive.
The broken-out lintels of openings were to be replaced, and the cavities above them filled in with brick faced with mortar similar to the underpinning.
The south wall, which was in a dangerous condition, was to be supported by three internal braces, as shown in the plan, plate [CXVII]. The longest brace or beam was necessarily of wood, as the wide range of temperature in this region, even between day and night, would produce so much expansion and contraction in an iron rod 60 feet long that without some compensating device the wall would be rocked on its base and its rapid destruction necessarily follow.
| [PLATE CXVI] |
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WEST FRONT OF CASA GRANDE RUIN, SHOWING BLOCKS OF MASONRY |