TEMPORARY BRICK BUILDINGS - Detail queries

Most WW2 built temporary brick buildings for airfields consisted of walls of a single brick thickness (4-1/2 inches) laid in stretcher bond. Externally, there were 'piers' spaced at intervals which, in most cases, suppported the ends the trusses where a pitched roof was employed.

Not being an architect or builder, I have some queries:

Most buildings appear to have 'piers' on the ends of the building. On a nominal 18 foot wide building these are spaced 6 feet apart in the centre. Usually a door or doors or even a window was located between them.

1. Were 'piers' bonded to the wall during construction so that they actually braced the wall or were they just stacked to support the trusses.

2. What was the purpose of the end piers?

3. Some AM drawings call for floors to be 'C.F. Finish' (could be G.F). What is that?

4. Some AM Drawings call for the roofing material to be 'A.C. Decking'. What is that?

5. Some building types had 9 inch thick walls with pitched roofs but no piers so, presumably, the additional thickness of wall supported the roof trusses. Any comments?

6. I have used the term 'piers' having seen it it some references but is that the correct architectural term?

7. An AM Drawing 1934/43 for a munitions store shoes the Type D building as 9 feet wide and does not indicate any roof trusses. Does that mean it had a flat roof? (this is the one that calls for A.C. Decking)

Over to you.

I assumed the piers were built into the walls and were part of the entire structure, that was until i visited Deopham Green a few weeks ago and noticed that the Ablution block had one pier laying over at an angle and it wasn't ' knitted ' into the wall.

jason wrote:

I assumed the piers were built into the walls and were part of the entire structure, that was until i visited Deopham Green a few weeks ago and noticed that the Ablution block had one pier laying over at an angle and it wasn't ' knitted ' into the wall.

That is what is known as a "Friday pier".

Thanks NP.

So the most important function of the piers was to support the walls; they then provided a convenient and logical support for the roof trusses?

Other points noted; helps fill in the blanks.

Thanks Paul.

It's odd how the seemingly unimportant things beg questions that itch until answered!