Formwork, Mission Nuestra Señora de Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga Reconstruction, Goliad State Park, 1935 - 1941
Formwork was necessary to support the concrete used to construct the massive vaulted roof. The fabrication of such complex formwork required expert carpentry. At first the camp had a fully-mechanized carpenter shop. But architect Raiford L. Stripling recalled in 1981, "[T]hose guys found out that a finger was worth $300." Several WWI veterans cut off a finger in the band saw and received a generous disability benefit—$300. Stripling mused, we "finally went back to what the Mexicans and the Spaniards . . . [did] in the first place: all by hand."
National Archives and Records Administration