Kennecott Mines | East of Kennicott Glacier, Alaska | Building In Three Parts

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