Evening star., 1896-03-09

ly worthy of the name of masonry. The
stones were apparently put in as they
came from the quarry without the siSl.-
est reference to beds. being set on end,
edge, and in every conceivable manner,
while few, if any, traces of mortar or
cc1nenting material were found. The old
tree spoken Of was reported by the diver
in his examination, and ais the very
rough quality of the masonry. and careful
sc undings with an ircn-pointed rod showed
very irregular offsets, but it was thought
the tree had been lodged since the erosion
Of the pier, and that heavy riprap stone
deposited around the pier would account
for the roughness found by the diver and
the indications OF the sounding rod. as it
seemed incredible that the condition of
affairs afterward found could really exist.
To Remove the Poor Missionary.
I'm view of the poor quality of the
masonry at the bottom, it was decided that
after the completion of the contract for
repairing the cavity under the upstream
end of the pier it would be necessary to re-
move the defective masonry in the re-
mainder of the pier and replace it by
masonry of proper quality founded on the
solid rock. The appropriation then avail
able being insufficient for this extra work.
it was decided to ask Congress for fur
ther appropriation. AS the conerdam
would be needed for this work, a modihca-
ton of the contract was made by which
the government became the owner Of the
dam by purchase from the contractors, and
this dam is now in place.
LAS all of the masonry of the pier above
the water line is in fair condition, consid-
erable study was given to the question
whether it would not be possible to sup
port this masonry and removing the de-
fective portion replace 1t by new, but after
discussion with practical masons and con-
trac tors, l was led to the conclusion that it
would be cheaper and certainly much more
satisfactory to entirely remove all the old
fhn n 70 not
tom and rebuild from the bottom up, utiiz-
ing as much of the old material as possible
for the backing, the facing to be of mod
ern approved cut-stone masonry. This con-
clusion was reached after considering the
dificu attendant upon snoring up the
large, heavy overhanging masonry, the re-
stricted room in the dam for the masons
to work in, the mechanical difficulties OF
getting the large stones horizontally into
their proper positions after being lowered
into the crib by the derrick and finally the
great danger to human life in case of any
settling of the supports
Government Owns the Cofferdnm.
Fortunately the need Of the cofferdam in
the future was foreseen by the engineers
at an early stage Of the work, and the con-
tract with Shailer & Schniglau was so
amended that the government became the
purchaser of this important piece of mech
ansm at a cost Of 5000, in lieu Of its re-
meal by them, for which they were to have
been paid 81 800, and they were to have had
the timber Thus the net cost to the gov
ernment was only 81 800, with the addt-
tional advantage that the dam is now in
place and needs only to be pumped out to
expose the pier to view. 1t has been fortu-
nate that the winter has been exceptionally
mild, for the pier has consequently not suf-
fered from the ice.
In November Maj. Davis. through Col.
Peter c. Hams. in charge of the southeast
division, submitted an estimate of $65,O0O
for the thorough repair Of pier 4, and it is
this estimate that is now awaiting insertion
in the District bill. The work Is now in
Charge of Mai. Charles Allen, United States
corps of engineers