Construction industry in the Tomsk province in the late XIX early XX centuries

The paper gives the reviews of the construction industry in the Tomsk province in the second half of the XIX- early XX centuries. Construction as a branch of industry was changed in the frame of legislative documents, regulations and manuals governing the technical part of the construction business. In addition there were also special literature and periodicals which were used by architects and engineers. The reforms of the second half of the 19th century changed the system of management in construction in the Empire. In 1886 prosecute the construction management in the provinces was assigned to the Provincial Department of Construction and Regional Board. From 1849 to 1886 Tomsk provincial building and road commission were under the general management of Western Siberia in Omsk. On 24 February 1886 the commission was abolished transferring functions of the Construction Department of the Tomsk provincial government. So the construction part of management of the Main Department of Communications and Public Buildings were transferred to the Interior Ministry. Here we consider the design and registration process of construction objects. These processes depend on the type of buildings: state, public or private houses. There were two forms of organization of construction works. Building crew is an earlier form. Contractor entrepreneurs contracted for performance of construction works. As a rule building crews were consisted of peasants, impoverished philistines and seasonal workers from European part of Russia. Large contractors had several crews. They were the owners of the construction companies, the organizers and producers of the work. At the end of the XIX-th century contract activity was change its scale. Post-reform contractors who had operated with relatively small sums were changed by the major builders' entrepreneurs. In addition, in Tomsk there were construction firms who took contracts to build both from individuals and from the town council. The contractor and the customer necessarily made a contract. The contract is defined the terms beginning and ending of production activities. Requirements for quality of construction work, as well as of the structural materials, were the main point of workers' earnings. There was little mechanization of construction processes. During the period of recovery in construction industry some technical improvements began to appear, such as concrete mixers, crushers, loco mobiles, as well as for welding and cutting metal equipments. On the basis of archival sources and published literature the contractors and their activities are described. There are, as a rule, the names of customers, usually merchants, and sometimes contractors. Merchant class was involved in construction of buildings. Despite that it was only about one hundred years ago from the time of creation of many unique architectural monuments of the city, there is little information about the masters of these buildings. There is a necessity to explore the processes of the organization of construction works, study activities of not only the highest construction personnel but construction workers at various levels: engineers, draftsmen, foremen and workers.

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