...looking for some information about the activities of the SeaBees here in the South Pacific during WWII. Specifically, I would like to know if the tale which Michener relates in Chapter 14 (Airstrip at Konora) of Tales of the South Pacific concerning the use of live coral is factual. Michener writes that live coral was dredge out of the sea and used as paving material for the runways. The thought was that, if sprayed daily with copious amounts of sea water, the coral would grow together and fill the interstices that develop. Is this story based on an actual runway and on which islands was this technique used?
Personally, I don't know the answer to that, though I know some of the runways used in the south Pacific were indeed made of coral. Does anyone else have any info?
I refuse to believe that.