[Bell Historians] Adjustable louvers

[Andrew Wilby]

The Trinity installation was blighted by the New York structural 
engineer who has to sign off and direct everything in NYC. The 
architects and everybody deferred to him apparently under NY law.
Not only is the frame design down to him but also the frame layout, the 
undergirders arrangement, the height in the tower, the ceiling heights 
and the original sound control.

He developed a fixation about hurricane force winds and its effect on 
the tower if it could not blow through open louvers.
He therefore dictated that the shuttering had to normalise, or fail 
safe, "open" and insisted that the metal shutters would reduce the 
decibel level satisfactorily.

He was wrong on all counts.

After the opening ringing we reconsidered the original plan which was to 
fit standard wooden doors to the louvers but now the useless metal ones 
were in the way. Plan B option was to board across the top of the H 
frame which was done. This though has effected the external acoustics 
and the original glorious grand sound pouring out into Broadway and down 
Wall Street is not there anymore even with the sound control open.
Trinity tower not only proved to be well built but also an excellent 
resonant acoustic box and the bells took their place as one on the great 
sounds in ringing.

The Rector's view at the meeting I had with him to agree the solution 
was that he would have preferred to take the risk of the shutters 
blowing in once now and again rather than go to the expense incurred by 
the structural engineer!

Andrew

On 01/04/2014 15:43, Laura Dickerson wrote:
> Jim asked:
>   >>What happens at St. Mary le Bow, St. Clement Danes and Trinity Church
> Wall Street when the electricity button is pressed to operate the sound
> control<<
>
>      I don't know about electricity buttons, but the *original* sound
> control plan at Trinity was that garage doors would go down inside the
> louvers.  It's my impression that it was very expensive to get doors the
> right size, and they had very little effect on the sound outside, to the
> extent that after the inaugural ringing with the special band, the
> neighbors were very upset and local ringing was postponed until
> something else could be done about the decibel level.  Ringer Greg
> Russell came up with an alternative plan that made the sound of the
> bells very soft outside, but I don't remember how that was done.  Wood
> was involved, though, not alterations on the metal doors.
>
> Laura Dickerson
>
>
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