The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1895-07-19
FREEZING QUICEsAND.
Novel Engineering Experiment In
Progress In New York.
A piaiCuit Problem which ootham's New
Driveway Has Presented to the Com
tractors aow II Il neing solved
Watched with interest.

Watched with Interest.
Some OF the work on the Speed.
way, US contractors who are doing
II have already found out, is going
to cost much more than the pre-.
liminary estimates OF the park de-
partment engineers, says the New
York Herald. The city will, of
course, will have to pay for II finally,
but meanwhile as the costs roll up
engineers are very greatly interest
cd In process TO which the added
expense will be due. Ii is no more
or less than freezing quicksand.
Tho work is going ON Mt u point in
the construction of the Speedway
Immediately south of High Bridge,
where there is now huge hole in
the ground along tho Harlem river,
which win be even longer and deep.
cr before the work OF securing
foundation for the Speedway retain.
ing wall is completed.
The work is of character to pc.
culiarly interest engineers, Though
somewhat similar steps have been
adopted once or twice in the history
OF engineering science before. never
have the same intricate problems
been presented as now. The success
OF this experiment will be watched,
therefore, with interest. Its cost
willprobably be in the neighborhood
Of thirty-five thousand dollars,
james d, Leary has the contract
Demonstrating the section OF Speed.
way upon which this unusual effort
is to be made, and, curiously enough,
the difficulty was encountered in the
final fifty feet Of his contract, which
extends only from One Hundred and
Fifty-ffth street to High Bridge.
The work uccessitatcs sinking re.
tanning wall to a rock foundation
along die riyessi "a II the Speeaway,
and engineers soundings at tbis
particular point located this rock
eighteen feet below the surface.
Whether their sounding rods struck
detached stone here or not is not
certain, but II has developed that
hard bottom is probably twenty
feet lower than supposed ut the
outset
After sinking their sheeting to
what was presumed to be the re-
quircd depth it was found to be too
short, and then. a bed of quicksand
developed, and no Roadway could be
made. In this emergency the ex.
pedient Of freezing this bank Of
luicksaud and water so that 1t
would not overflow the excavation
for the walls foundation had TO be
adopted.
Stewart Il McDcrmott are doing
this work, and they have introduced
several new ideas into it. The plan
is to freeze the bank whence the flow
Of mud and sand comes, so that
solid wall will be formed, next which
the excavation will be sunk to the
required depth probably thirty-fiye
feet or more. To accomplish this
row Of four.inch pipes about three
feet apart, capped at the bottom,
have been sunk perpendicularly toa
depth Of forty feet. Into each
smaller pipe. open at the bottom,
has been inserted to within an inch
and half Of the bottom. BY means
Of huge condenser cold air is
forced through the small pipes into
the larger and returned for further
service into the condenser Il has
been possible thus to use air cooled
by expansion to about fifty degrees
below zero, aud the effect of this
intense cold upon the flowing mud
and quicksand has been 10 solidity
it, With Golfer dam 10 exclude
the water of the Harlem the excava-
tion is now being slowly sunk to
rock Some time viii be required to
complete this intricate work, but ii
is expected to prove a success in the
end.