Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
F IG . 7.7 The major standstill stone - too heavy for helicopter lift
From the Navy's point of view, as a training and public relations
exercise, the value of the operation was unchanged.
The foundations were discussed at great length with vari-
ous experts after a preliminarily plan had been prepared by the
Department of Architecture and Related Services and used in
the application for planning approval. The prehistoric sites had
no foundations, of course, although the pits for the stones were
lined with branches or sticks to provide bracing, and stones placed
on hilltops or sloping ground were carefully chosen so that the
forces acting on the bases would tend to counteract slippage. Nev-
ertheless many prehistoric stones have tilted or fallen in the last
few thousand years, many of them, alas, with human assistance
in recent times. It was felt such assistance might be all too forth-
coming in the present, and the Planning Department modified
the specification to have the concrete arcs beneath the stones pre-
poured in reinforced concrete.
In the temporary set-up of the Jobs Creation and STEP pro-
grams, we had to work under or get round some particularly irk-
some restrictions. I've mentioned the business of putting purchases
out to tender and the eventual crackdown on our use of petty cash.
At the height of planning the High Frontier exhibition, when I
 
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