Tuesday, August 5, 2008

All in All it's Just More Bricks in the Wall




Yes, we found it...the foundation for the original wall. Funny thing is when we started opening up units in the NW corner on the Pickens Street side we expected to find a foundation. However, the foundation I was almost certain we would find was the foundation for Pulliam Motors showroom. I expected that this foundation would have destroyed the foundation for the original wall. Little did I know about architectural supports because what we found was the Pulliam Motors foundation...on top of the original wall foundation. Crazy, right? Yeah, they simply used the original brick and mortar foundation to support the concrete structure foundation, see the picture above. Square 10 revealed the progressive nature of the site through its glimpse in how old remains are just waiting to be discovered below modern remains. One of the reasons we were sure this is the foundation for the wall is due to its shape. The foundation is the same width as the concrete foundation at the top, but then as it goes down it begins to pier out, a technique used for support.

It will be interesting to see if this phenomenon continues as we move down the grid line. We will be placing a row of units down each side of the property between the sidewalk and existing wall. On the Henderson Street side there was a portion of the wall that existed right up until 1969 when they renovated the property. It will be nice to compare the findings once I reach that side.

1 comment:

Michelle Clay said...

Your dig is so exciting, Helena! I hope you will post some more about it soon.

Gabe says "thank you" for the toys and dvd that you sent. :)