Chris Hannaway, Master Mason, handles all the day to day issues at the building site. It is October 1979. Hannaway was tempted away from his job completing the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool to come to New York. Starting in July, he began training his work force of five apprentices. They are learning the stone mason’s trade in a way little changed since the Middle Ages.
“They are doing very well”
-Chris Hannaway
The Indiana Limestone blocks arriving at the worksite are of enormous proportions. They weigh in at over six tons each, fourteen feet long, five or six feet wide and either ten or fourteen inches thick. A stone cutting saw is the only machine on the site, apart from electromechanical hoists. The machine cuts the stone into manageable proportions. The saw, like the master mason, came from England and has been cutting stone for about 40 years. After this, the trainee masons have to cut the blocks into the right shapes using chisels. In the beginning, they have concentrated on the easiest stones which are rectangular cuboids. These stones have notches in them so they fit with the adjacent stones when they are fixed in place on the tower.
Later, the apprentices will progress to more elaborate shapes that will be needed for the complicated geometry of the towers. The work rate at this point is very slow while the trainees are learning the trade. To finish one stone can take several days.