New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-09-19
BAD WORK FOR THE CITY TO PAY FOR.
vIADUOT WEIGH is LIKELY TO FALL TO PIECES
HOW 1T LOOKS.

A yIADUCT WHICH is LIKELY TO FALL TO PIECES
HOW 1T LOOKS.
bad piece Of work is to be seen al One-hundred-
and City 6fthst. ard Eighthave, where large sums
of the public money expended in the building Of
q vraauct 10 connect Carmansville and Ssventhavc.
with McCOmb's Dam road. 1t is the great temporary
wall on the north side of the abutment, and 1t IS
the more striking by reason Of Its proximity 70 that
soNdy built pile of masonry. But it needs no such
contrast to show the miserable condition of the wall
In question. 1t looks like nothing but lot OF
great granite rocks Of all sizes and shapes, thrown
on top of one another, until they made wall about
eighty feet long and ffty-slx feet high. Gradually
as the tons of rock piled on above, the iounda
ton began to sink III some PLACES, where the base
rested on solid rock the wall remained level In
Others the great weight had been built on earth, and
AZ Il gave way the wall followed IL. Then, rs tho
wall grew the rocks at the bottom began to crack
and became crushed under the enormous pressure
This wall which is unable to sustain It's own weight
naturally cannot resist the pressure OF the embank
ment behind IT, and consequently IL has buged out
at different Places and great cavity in the centre
near the bottom shows where part Of the wall gave
way, the stones falling out. The part Of the wall
over this hole is now supported by beams, and 1t
looks @ good deal like many other structures whlch
bear silent evidence against the faction which has
hold Of the city's purse.
As usual there is nobody who will acknowledge
that he Is to blame for the condition Of affairs. No
body whatever. Mr.. Brdsall, the engineer, said that
the wall had not been accepted, and that it would
be rebuilt At One-hundred and fifty fthst il was
said for The contractor, Herbert Steward, that the
wall had been built according TO specifications and
that the sinking Of the foundations due TO the
SITE with which the contractor had nothing 10 do
as the city engineers selected It, The crumblng and
crushing Of the wall accounted for by the fact
that the wall was originally intended TO reach a
height of only forty feet but that 1t had TO be built
sixteen feet higher afterward, on account of the
street having been lowered This extra weight was
too great for the strength OF the stones at the botom
as 1.-THE wall IS what is known as a " dry wall.
adfes wall as distinguished from that is mortar
built consists as this does of huge unshaped rocks
piled ON one another. Consequently, stone rests
on the other perfectly and in many parts Of the wall
one or two projections on stone have to bear the
whole weight. Therefore they crush and crum6le
away man who had been on the spot since the
work was begun said that such a wall should never
have been built and that it cannot hold the weight Of
| the embaQkment.
The consulting engineer at ODe-hundred-a nd-ffty
hfth-st said that the wall only temporary, and
that It had cost only So yard lie said that the con-
dition of the wall made difference in the progress
| OF the work. and that it had been made dry for
the sake Of economy Later, when it IS known Just
what disposition will be made Of the property Mt the
top of the wall, new solid mortarbujlt wall is to
| be erected.
There will probably be troube between the city and
the contractor before tie affair is settled, If the wall
does not tumble 10 pieces before that the con
trsct9r has done excellent work at the abutnents
| which are fine specimens of stonework