The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1915-05-20
REPORT ON VAULTS
Toltz Engineering Company Files Its
Report on the Condition of the
Court House Vaults.
In Order to Have Absolute Protection
of Qecords New Vaults Should
Be Constructed.

Report on court house vaults to
county commissioners, Mile Laos
county, Minnesota.
Gentlemen: The writer on May II
made thorough examination OF the
fire vaults of the court house, in re-
Spouse to your resolution. The size
and the construction of the vaults is
shown upon our drawings, Nos. to
4 inclusive.
The foundation of all these Vaults
were examined with hammer and
the contents of the foundation were
found to be good. They are built OF
granite with lime mortar. The
mortar is powdery in spots but in
general is good. The floors of the
vaults appear to be of lime mortar.
While the material of the floors is
not very hard it would, no doubt, re-
sist the action of fire. except as
hereinafter stated, but would very
likely admit smoke in case there was
fire in the basement. These floors
appear to be about eight inches
thick and to rest directly upon the
earth below.
! The walls Of all the vaults are Of
brick and are in general, except as
hereinafter noted, one foot, nine
inches thick. The brick is in good
condition but the mortar in many
places is very soft and badly disinte-
grated. There is no doubt but that
in the event of the court house burn
ing down considerable smoke would
be admitted through cracks in brick
work.
The vaults would, in our judy
ment, not fall down in case of fire
and the damage would be largely
from smoke and water which might
leak in.
The ceiling of the vaults consist
of a twelve inch brick arch, on a
span of from five feet to seven feet,
with rise of from eight inches to
twelve inches. The brick arch in
the auditors vault was examined
from above by cutting hole in the
floor. 1t was found to be in solid
condition, but the mortar n~the
joints of the brickwork appears to
be rather soft and crumbly. From
one to two rods are run crosswise of
the vault to take up the Lateral
thrust. These rods are strong
enough for4the work they have to do.
The vault doors are the Diebold
Safe & Lock Co. IS doors. They are
the standard storage vault doors of
the period in which they were furn-
ished, (1eSS). With the exception of
the inner vault door of the auditors
vault they are in frst-class condi-
tion. The bolt to the lower hinge
of the inside door to the auditors
vault is broken and should be re-
placed at once or the bolt to the
upper hinge will also be broken.
Considering each vault in detail:
Auditors vault. This vault in it's
present condition is not freproof.
There is large crack in the brick
work over the door. The hinge to
the inner door is broken. The NOR
tar of the floor is soft and the mortar
of the brickwork is soft. We
recommend that the wall be repaired
in the following manner: That the
plaster be removed from the inside
surface of walls A and B, and that
all the loose and soft mortar in the
inside four inches of brickwork be
raked out and recemented with
cement and mortar. The frame to
the door is loose and the mortar
around this door should be raked out
and the joints between the frame
and the wall be filled with cement
mortar, 1:2 mix. The cracks in the
brick work over the door should be
raked out and well filled with cement
mortar. A part of the plaster on
the arch ceiling should be removed
and if the mortar joints appear to
be soft the inside four inches should
be raked out and we'll filed with
cement MOI tar. The inside surface
of the vault, where the plaster has
been removed, should then be replas-
tered with three-fourths inch of &C.
ment plaster, carefully put on. The
joints between the floor and vertical
walls should be raked out clean and
any cracks we'll filled with cement
mortar.
Judge of probate and treasurer,s
vaults. The condition of the brick
work in these vaults is practically
the5same as stated for the auditors
vault, except that no serious cracks
occur in the brickwork. We recon-
mend that the walls and ceiling be
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