Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-08
BUILDING A SKY SCRAPER.
A Constant Menace Which Threatened
NefghbOrinE Structures.

From the New York SUM-
One of the tallest, II not the largest
building in this city, is that Of the Amer
lean Tract Society, now being erected at
No. $50 Nassau street, and the details OF
it's foundation and the difficulties encoun-
tered by the contractor are interesting.
The building IL to be twenty-three stories
tall, and will be 1915 feet high from the top
of the foundations to the tip Of the short
tower. 1t will weigh $1,000 tons. The i'm
possibility of getting to rock or anything
e,se solid necessitated either the abandon
ment OF the scheme or building upon piles.
and the top Of the piles would have to be
driven below the water level. To compli-
cate the situation there was new founda-
ton to put under one side OF the Morse
building at the back Of the lot, and, more
important, there is a thirty-inch water
main running through Nassau street only
few feet from where the dirt had to De
removed. Had the street at this point
been allowed to settle the least bit there
was danger that this main would break.
If 1t had broken and the flood that would
have poured forth had been allowed 10
continue for a short time, there would
have been danger Of the Times building,
the Potter building, the Tribune building
and the Morse building all slumping into
the American Tract Society's hole In the
ground together. To guard against TINS
men from the water department were on
duty day and night to watch the ground
and others were stationed at the nearest
water gates, with telephones at their ears,
waiting for the word to shut down.
Sheet piling, heavily braced, supported
the streets, and supporting walls were
built as quickly as possible and braced
as fast as they were built. The wall that
supports Nassau street has seven-foot
base, and that which supports Spruce
street an eight-foot base. Spruce street
settled little and cracked an old sewer
in it, but Nassau street and the water
main held. Seventeen hundred and eighty
three piles were driven for the founda-
lions. These were put in groups, where
each main pillar is to stand, along the wall
line and in the interior. 1t was a ticklish
job to get down to cut off the tops below
the water line and to fill in between the
pile heads with the foot Of concrete the
separately. While the hole was dug
around it the sides were lined with sheet
piling, and special braces were put all
around to prevent the moving In OF either
of the street walls. When the final depth
was reached a shovelful of concrete was
kept ready to dump in in place of each
shovelful Of dirt removed. In this building
cantilever trusses will be used to support
the walls adjacent to those of the two
buildings on the sides Of the lot. They
will be scalene triangles of open work,
with the apex resting upon the fulcrum
blocks. The base of these girders will be
forty feet long and the short arm of the
lever they form about five feet long. They
will be twelve feet deep, arranged in pairs
and fastened to three lines of columns
back of those supporting the upper walls
The walls will be self-supporting up to the
thirteenth floor. From there to the top
they will be carried on Orders resting
en- the steel work. This building will cost
about 100000. The foundation cost about
$4,000.