John Harvard's Journal
Tear Down
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Ascending a ramp of rubble, a hydraulic excavator tears down the highest walls of what was once Coolidge Hall. |
Photographs by Jim Harrison |
The next 10 years will see the focus of construction activity shift to the North Precinct, lying between Oxford Street and the Harvard Divinity School, where the decommissioning of Harvard's cyclotron is well under way, and the adjacent Palfrey House has made the first of two moves across the site to make way for construction of an underground garage. The historic, wood-framed structure will eventually take its place on Hammond Street, the northern edge of Harvard's campus.
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Dismantling Harvard's cyclotron building (above) has proven a monumental task. Every piece of material that leaves the building900 tons of concrete and 700 tons of steelmust be checked at least twice for radiation. Even visitors get a full body sweep. The cyclotron device is encased in a 750-ton yoke of concrete and steel with a 20-ton steel door. A saw adapted specially for the purpose will take months to cut the yoke into 40-ton sections that can be safely trucked away. Nearby Palfrey House (below) made its move on Game day. |
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Photographs by Jim Harrison |