Morning journal and courier., 1891-11-03
Chicago's Hfgh-Building Construc.
 lion TTathad
[From Harners Meeklr-l


 ''If this building were on an open plain, 1t would completely resist an earthquake or cyclone" said NIT. ". L. B. Jenney to me in his office, on the eleventh story of the Home Insurance building. You will appreciate the force of his remark when you learn the details of what is now known as the Chicago construction meth od.n
 It has been within the past few years that architects began to apply the methods of bridge construction to habitable houses And now almost every new structure de- signed for the purposes of city business tat least in Cbicago) is designed after this fashion. Twenty years ago there was not in the world large and imposing struc- ture built of nothing but steel and terra cotts or brick. The fre-proof building was rarity, and the loftiness that is now considered a matter-of-fact affair was bi- blically bold. The material used in the fire proof house was either brick arches or solid cement concrete, and this stuff was of such excessive weight to render it necessary to confine the structure to a hundred feet or so above the foundation. It is true that there were few high build
 
 light in them very poor, and the cost of construction out of all proportion to the income from the investment
 The first improvement came with the in- vention of the hollow ire-clsy floor arch tile. This invention gave to the builders material that made their structure per fectly fre-proof, that enabled them to build at a much reduced cost, and that permitted of almost indefinite height, be- cause of its lightness when compared with the old brick arch and concrete method. The first of the tall buildings to be erected in Chicago after this inven- tion was the Home Insurance building that was designed by MT. Jenney. This only ten stories high. It has recently been elevated to twelve stories, and the upper floors are better, if anything, than the older ones.
 Soon after the invention of the hollow tile came the idea of applying the steel bridge construction to houses, and there after all new buildings were made on this plan. The method is simple and compar- atively cheap, and involves an entire rsvo- lution in the manner of building, in the preparations of plans, in the nature of the specifications, in the trades and manufac- lures called upon fO. the work, in ths su- O1 tue III me laying of the foundations, in the expense to the owner, and in the advantages to be had when the work is finished. With all this, the external appearance of the build ing may be made to counterfeit any of its more solid, less stable. less safe and more expensive and massive neighbors. The only difference will be in its great loft | ness, and it is in this particular that the beautief of the new school are seen. d. .hn n-- ground is cleared, and then the toEnGa- tions are laid. These are in no respect similar to those of the regular style In the first place very little rock is used The foundations are not laid in walls, but in piers. Each pier is separated from and independent of all the other piers, and only bears it's own portion of the stress. The materials u.ed in the piers are always the samo as the method of construction They are formed invariably of layers of steel rails and beams reposing on thick beds of concrete. The object attained in making each foundation pier independent of all the others is that the inequalities in in settlement are met and anticipated. From the piers rise simply columns of steel, on whose ends. forming main joists, rest ''I' beams of the same strong materi- | al. Then tho horizontal spaces that will 
 proof tiles, as are also the spaces that are | designed for the partition walls. At | their tangeutial points the columns and the beams are practically made one with unition by hot rivets The steel siTuc- ture, or the skeleton of the building, from | the foundation piers to the very top, may f be entirely finished before "A single brick | or tile is laid. And it is possible under | this system to first complete the skeleton, | and then begin to lay the outer walls in | brick, beginning st the sixteenth story and finishing at the basement-the very | reverse uf all precOnceiyed ideas. The in- ference that every builder will draw land properly) from this statement is that the | walls on every story purely indepen- l dent of the walls on all other stories. | Every tier of columns and beams sup- ports its own walls.
 It has been asked, Is it not possible for these high buildings 10 fall down; for the lateral pressure of the walls to induce a bulge, and for the entire structure to tum- ble into its own cellari An examination of the actual method of cogstruction will answer the question. The Manhattan building would not stand five minutes were it dependent on its thin walls for support. Indeed such a structure as that could not well be erected with walls less than five or six feet thick; whereas the | Manhattan's walls are not much thicker ! than those of a two-story fiat building. 1 Could sufficient leverage be brought to bear on any of the hiyh buildings of Chi cago it could be toppled over into the l street no doubt. but no occupant of any of its rooms would be injured further than the hurt involved in the dipping of s