, 1879-08-03
THE CIEK-HALL.
Architect kirkland Makes His Con-
tributiou to It's Literature.
Some of the Absurdities Of His
Curious Statements.
The Experts Send in Their Bll--Who Is
to Pay TIP

The Experts Send in Their Bll--Who Is
to Pay TIP
Some days ago Building Superintendent Kirk
Land laid before Mayor Harrisona supplement
ary report" In reference to the new City-Ha!l.
His Honor read it carefully, but, instesd Of Civ
ing it to the public, locked it no and made it
the basis Of some additional questions to the
"experts." The answers to these questions
were given yesterday morning; and, as soon as
the Mayor read the same in these columns, bo
gavc out
TIE REPORT,
which was as follows:
CHICAGO. July 2o.-The Hon. Carter Il. Harrl-
son, .Mdyor-StR: It Is to be rcerettod that the
Committee Of EXPERTS appointed by your Honor TO
assist the Building Committee OF Council In IN
examination OF the new CityIIall have made no re-
port concerning tho construction Of the building.
have hcen Informed that such report would hare
been made had it moi bccr that the Committee con-
sidered it their duty to conne themselves strictly
TO an investigation OF the specific charges made
against the building. none Of which in any way re-
hected upon its construction.
II ls OF the utmost Importance, however. that
building Of Hnch magnitude should be safe ia every
RESPECT and: in view Of my responsibility as Su-
ncrintonding Architect. l hare considered it my
duty 10 make supplemental report to your Honor
Of certain faults in construction which think the
Buildin. Committee would TO we'll 10 take into &C
coun: when considering the report OF the experts.
first-The foundation. anu walls Of The eub-
basement, If constructed accoEdn. to the plans.
were intended 10 carry a prnportlonate weight Of
fhrse tar tons to tie sqnare foot When ne wells
estimates were taken for building the stone and
brick-work up to tho roof. the plans were al
n the pers 1onns @
LaSa!fe streets. This change necessarily dimin-
shcs the weight Of the structure upon tine parts of
the foundations and sub basement walls sustaining
those hollow piers as follows: Each Of the piers
on the entrances fronting Washington and Ran
doaph streets IS reduced in weight l'7 tons; each
Of the smaller pliers on the building fronting on
LaSa1le street is reduced in weight 103 tons. No
change being made on the walls between the above
mentioned piers. it follows that an unequal and
disoEoporti.nate load vii rest upon foanda-
cd for nh equal and proportionate burden.
The settlement OF the wallis and piers cannot,
therefore, ne equal; and as an unequal settle M
result in this instance unless the fault is rcmed1ed
The hollow spaces in these piers are shown on
plan which companies the report, as are the
positions Of the pillars and pilasters.
S6con1-1n some cases portions Of the pillars
come over The open spaces aud to very large e1-
tent the pilastert rest over then The weight these
have TO carry. cspeciatly the piJastcrs placed in
such position will certainly tend to buckle the
front wall, and> 1T my opinion. TO endanger the
building. II the long anchors had been placed in
the buiiding, as shown in the sectional DRAWINGS,
the piers wo1ld have been materially strengthened.
hut having been left out, there is great danger.
The number Of anchor; shown IN each pier Is fonr.
away n very decided element Of strength. wonld
therefore recommend that the hollow spaces be-
ca and m1aG 5oa as %$nay ,a Offended
7htFd-'rhc foundations Of that portion OF the
building where the r0tundA is to be bnilt. connect
ing the city aud county buildings hare been piled
in thu same manner rs the foundations for the
entire county side. hut tue east wall OF the city
portion running north and south from the rotunda,
has pixies under its foundations: therefore, it
will necessarily settle quicker than the walls Of the
rotssnda, aad produce cracks on each side. There
should have been space or slot lett where the
this settlement to take place without cracking the
walls. This ID important, and should be attend
cd to.
Fourth-The essna1l piers, having sectional
castwall, where the bond.stones ought to have
been placed have to carry ut the grade level load
sauare 1 loot foo His III osd Should not be- trusted to
brick work n1one. as it is in this case. for these
arc only bc pe veneesea to tae ao
may be su}e1y trusted to brick pcrs such as these
nrc shond not he more Than five tons to the square
foot, instead Of tuenfu tons, which these piers
the roof Is on the building. I would, therefore.
recommend that they be taken down and rebuilt
with bond stoncs+ inserted as originally intended.
Then the piers will safely carry load Of twenty
two tons to tho square foot OF sectional area Re-
spectlElly, ALEX KIRKLAND,
Experimenting Architect.
THERE ARE ONE OR TWO POINTS
in the above report which are curious It will
be seen that Supt Kirkland speaks of tue hol-
low pieces and the necessity Of filling them.
Strictly speaking, these are not pieces but but
tresses, stopping at the second story. They arc
eleven feet. It they had been made OF solid
masonry it would not have set for fifty
yeara. In order to obTiate that,
shaft or air chamber was made in
each Of thcm,-one aud half feet one
way, and three and d half feet the other, COM
mupicating By four-iocn shaft With the outer
air. Tie object OF this was TO facilitate the
quicker setting Of the masonry in the leart OF
the buttress. Now, as to the necessity for fill
Ing them, Trantwine, in his Engineers Pocket
book, which is considered al authority, SAYS in
regard to the crushing. capacity Of brick-worS,
thatan ordinary brick wall cans can stana % t"ents
good wall; in cement, thirty to forty; and 2
jfirst-cias. all, fifty to seventy. The weight OF
n cubic foot Of brick wall is liz pounds: Inc
HIGHT OF the wall Of the City-Hall is 124 fect'
which, multiplied by H. ETes lS Ir5lan p9a1as Or
aforesaid buttrcss will have to bear. TO this
must be added somewhat for its share OF the
weight Of the floors, etc. Between this aud the
twenty or thirty tons when ITlntH1ne sAS5
an ordinary brick wall will carry there would
apparently be sufficient margin to content Mr.
kirkland.
As regards the question OF pi}fng and concrete
for foundations, the opinion of :Mr. kirKlalu
was not considered by number Of persons with
whom the reporter talked as haYing any value,
becauso they didn't believe he had had any ex-
nerience, The whole camp Of constructing ell
guecrs here is divided on that SUBJECT, some
sayjnr that piling is useless or even hurtful,
mud that concrete is the thing, While others m
sist upon it that ptlng is the only thing. IL Is
one Of those cases where the future oton6 eau
decide. ..
AS far as CONCERNS the tearing down o1 t1e
niers as recommended by Alr. hlrklnud, !
prominent builder with whom the repoTter con-
yersed regarded it Us equally ridiculous with
the suggestion that one SET OF experts made to
tear down the Government Building. 1t would
have been better, said he, had all the oonti-
stones, the absence OF which Is complained Of,
been 10. That they we're not was cue 10
bIunder Of the Superintendent, hr. tfeaYeianu,
VITO, while they were In the pl2os; onl'1eea ~
nut them in the specifications Let thelr ~
eeuce was not so serious as to require the puianS
down of . long stretch OF work. It Was pFo-
nosed to puI them In in the beginning Simply
10 make assurance doubly sure. lhat their ao-
scnce injured the stability OF the nundlnR "aS
In bis opinion absurd
THE CTrF-HALL SUPERINTENDENT
Commissioner Waller was deluged yesterday
with applicants for the position OF supe11utenu-
cut of thc new City-Hali. The Mayor sent to
a,i,r 3r+ ,v;t houf rrnrnt rC0ueSt." the D3me3