Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-08
THE UNION STATION WALL
The Question of It's Thickness Provokes q
Long Discussion.
Exc Opinions Differ and the Conn
mjssioners Will Decide-The Sta
ton in Georgetown.

Several of the precious working hours OF
the District Commissioners were taken up
today in a lengthy dissertation on the gen.
eral subject Of geology, and especially of a
certain portion Of the geology of what
used to be known as Georgetown. Words
like drifts, chist erosion, exfoliation and
strata were banded about with the utmost
recklessness, and Commissioners Ross and
Truesdell looked dazed, while Maj. Powell,
whose experience as an engineer has IA
mfliarized him with such matters. took an
active part in the discussion. For the time
being the board room. usually the scene OF
routine business, reports, decisions from
the attorneys and matters of like sort, had
more the air Of college lecture room.
1t all came about through hearing given
to representatives of the Washington and
Georgetown Railroad Company. and Presi-
dent Dunlop was on hand, with Mr. e. Z.
Glover and the engineer of the road, backed
up by the presence of Mr.. Bernard R..
Green, the superintendent Of the new Con
gressional Library building. The subject
under discussion was the necessary thick
ness of the retaining wall to be built
around the excavation made for the new
union station at Seth and NJ streets. On
the Prospect avenue side OF the eXcava-
ton, where the hill has been dug into, the
cut is in the naighborhood Of sixty feet,
and the plans for the new building include
a wall which is at the same time to be a
part Of the new building and also to act as
a back to shore up the side of the hill.
Mr.. Green's Views.
The original plans for the work included
a wall with thickness of four feet. After
a personal investigation of the premises
Mr.. Brady, the inspector of buildings, de-
cided that the thickness was not sufficient
on account of the nature Of the ground.
which is largely made up of what is known
as rotten rock. The plans were made on
the supposition that the hill was practical
ly solid rock which would need but little
snoring up. Inspector Brady held that the
wall should be at least eleven feet In
thickness. and on further investigation
came to the conclusion that that was hot
sufficient and refused to let the work go
on until the matter was decided. In the
course of the hearing today Mr.. Ber-
nard r. GreenA who was called IN by the
railroad company as an outside ana UNI
prejudiced engineer, expressed himself as
of the opinion that a wall of eleven feet
thickness would be ample. He had with
him photographs of the cut. and went into
deep and scholarly consideration or the
character of the ground. Ee said that IN
some places it was solid rock, which would
need no bracing, while the hill altogether
was of such nature that 1t would require
but little support, If any, to keep 1t In
place.
MIR. Urauy ODyCcts.
Mr.. Brady took exception to this opinion,
and stated that the ground is for the most
part made up of rotten rock. loose earth
and sand, and would require an immense
wall to make it safe. He figured out on
the rule Of 40 per cent of the height for a
wall of this nature, and. as the wall is TO
be So feet high, this would mean a thick
ness of ~ feet. If any error was made,
Mr.. Brady said. he thought it ought to be
on the side of safety. for If any accident
should ever happen the blame would not
rest upon the railroad company. but upon
the District authorities who had permitted
a faulty construction. The geological
structure of the hill was gone into at
length. we'll as the character of the
building which Is to be erected, and Mr..
Brady was firm in his demands that the
wall should be SO thick and solid as %
prevent any possibility of mshap.
1t took several hours for every one to
express all his views on the subject.
The Commissioners did not come to con-
cluson today. evidently desiring to have
some time in which to digest all this mass
Of learned facts. They will. however, de-
eide the matter within a day or two, so
as not to delay the work of construction.