Lynne,
to answer your question about the tennon and turnbuckle, if you lok behind the closest shower head you will see two painted rods that run paralell to each other, the oval pieces connecting them are the turnbuckles. The rods are threaded, one with a left hand thread and the other with a right hand thread, when the turn buckle is turned it increases the tension on the rods.
The tennons are the blocks between the rods and the ceiling, when the tension on the rods are increased it puts an upward pressure on the floor above.
They look to have been there a lot longer than the shower and sprinkler system and are probably there to support a long span or a sagging floor, but that is just speculating without really knowing what is above this floor.
psychadellic one
to answer your question about the tennon and turnbuckle, if you lok behind the closest shower head you will see two painted rods that run paralell to each other, the oval pieces connecting them are the turnbuckles. The rods are threaded, one with a left hand thread and the other with a right hand thread, when the turn buckle is turned it increases the tension on the rods.
The tennons are the blocks between the rods and the ceiling, when the tension on the rods are increased it puts an upward pressure on the floor above.
They look to have been there a lot longer than the shower and sprinkler system and are probably there to support a long span or a sagging floor, but that is just speculating without really knowing what is above this floor.
Location: York Street Jail Gallery: The Big House