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Re: Airfield Runways in Norway
This afternoon I received a much appreciated reply from Knut Kinne of kff (Kjeller flyhistoriske forening) in Oslo regarding betong rullebanen med treseksjoner. Below is a paraphrase of his key paragraph, which I do because I did not ask his permission to quote from his e-mail. If anyone would like to know his exact words, PM me and I will contact him for permission. The paraphrase faithfully represents what he said.
“Your second to last paragraph ("A combination of concrete and wood.........") makes the most sense so far of all the explanations that have been offered. I think the word treseksjoner in this context does indeed mean a grid or cross-hatch of wooden squares using 2' x 4' (two-by-four) boards into the center (centre) of which the concrete was poured. This method gave the concrete squares support on all four sides and allowed the concrete to expand and contract in warm and cold weather and prevented upheaval and cracking.”
He did not say that this is the absolutely definitive answer, but he thinks that it is what is meant by using treseksjoner with a concrete runway.
Thanks Andreas B. for your description of some of the construction methods, and thanks SES for that super photo of the tracked cement mixer! I just knew they must have had some sort of machine to speed up the pouring of all that concrete. At Bardufoss, an 1,180 x 80 meter runway was quickly completed in 1941 using two companies of Lw. construction troops and 1,558 Norwegian laborers. That's pretty fast without one of those machines, but just look at how labor-intensive it was!
L.
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