BUILDING AS SHELTER AT KENNECOTT MINES:
the start of understanding a system
NEED A PLACE TO HOUSE THE WORKERS
Men came to work in the mine. Most were transient workers - working anywhere from 3 - 12 months. The men stayed in bunkhouses and were slept 2 - 4 men per room. There were Norwegians, Swedes, Irish, and Japanese workers along side Americans.
NEED A SHELTER FROM SURROUNDINGS
The bunkhouses served as a place to sleep, but also as shelter from the harsh, cold climate of Alaska and the curious wildlife.
Sitka Spruce
Wood, wood, wood, and more wood was used as the main building material
NEED MATERIALS
Western Hemlock
KENNECOTT
BEGINNING BUILDINGS The beginnings of Kennecott Mining Town were simple. The bunkhouse was essential among a few other key buildings - a sawmill and blacksmith to process lumber and make tools for further construction, a terminus for the tramway up to the mines, a place to store supplies, and a place for the guy in charge to stay.
RIVER BUNKHOUSE 1908
WEST BUNKHOUSE 1917
RIVER BUNKHOUSE 1908
Kennecott Mines, Alaska River Bunkhouse
Quantity
Volume
Total Mass
Specific Emergy
Emergy
# of elements
cubic meters
g
sej/g (w/out services)
sej
Masonry
for CONCRETE
6 x 18 x 18 - Foundation Stones
44
0.7787
1,869,534
1.00 E + 09
1.97 E + 15
ALL WOOD
TOTAL = 112.05
TOTAL = 56,025,000
for WOOD
TOTAL = 4.67 E + 16
6 x 6 - Sill
32
1.944
972000
8.33 E + 08
-
6 x 6 - Exterior Post
44
2.907
1453500
8.33 E + 08
-
2 x 6 - Exterior Stud
512
10.537
5268500
8.33 E + 08
-
4
0.8904
445200
8.33 E + 08
-
2 x 8 - Floor Joist
360
27.184
13592000
8.33 E + 08
-
2 x 6 - Ceiling Joist
120
6.796
3395000
8.33 E + 08
-
2 x 6 - Roof Rafter
244
11.803
5901500
8.33 E + 08
-
7/8’’ - Floor Board
-
16.027
8013500
8.33 E + 08
-
7/8” - Ceiling Board
-
15.36
7680000
8.33 E + 08
-
7/8” - T & J Roof Board
-
18.603
9301500
8.33 E + 08
-
for GLASS
-
1.60 E + 09
1.26 E + 14
Sitka Spruce / Western Hemlock
6 x 8 - Girder
Glass
Area
12 X 16 - Window Lights
424
81,408 in2
787,800
BUILDING AS SETTING AT KENNECOTT MINES:
a socio-economic understanding
“Copper Mining is generally safer than coal mining and things like that but my impression from sixty or seventy years looking back, I can’t imagine how they could get people to do what they did. A man would come here and work for ten or fifteen years for a net of $80 per month and live under those circumstances.” ~Nels Konnerup, Kennecott Kid, 1925 -1931 & employee, 1934-1937
BUILDING AS SITE AT KENNECOTT MINES:
understanding copper as a resource for the world
Step 1: Use caribou antlers to rake through the gravel of river beds to find copper nuggets
Traded on Foot
Step 2: Use larger rocks for coldhammering into flatter sheets
Step 3: Reheat and shape into jewelry, tools, and arrowheads
Railroad from Kennecott to Cordova -- 196 Miles
Network of railroads across the United States
Steamship from Cordova to Tacoma, Washington
COPPER SMELTER IN TACOMA, WASHINGTON 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Blister copper Smelting Reverberatory furnace Slag removal Copper casting of anodes Casting wheel Anodes removal machine Anodes take-off Rail cars Transportation