New-York tribune., 1896-01-30
BUILDING OF THE CRIBS.
TIL. rcnort among other things says:

The report among other thlngS says'
had been made to discover the nature OF the ma
teriai beneath the bottom Of the Harlem River.
na s a2Rs ay inS fn ne at Inc hes soft mud at the
crib site. and that the ship channel To be con
structed was TO be T. feet deep at low water In
making up the preliminary estimate Of quantities
OF work 10 he done II was assumed that the bot
or at Is Zee, below low water. and the proportions
OF the crib were fixed or this assumption. When
mud extended to a depth OF e 20 ~ feet belo" low
water at which depth an apparently hari stratum
was discovered by dredging ana by sounding win
n light iron rod from row boat. hence i WAS
determined 10 place the crib on ihis bottom. Ac-
, cordngly the cribs were buslt OF the e!mgnslons
required to 1T the bottom. as indicated by the ioi
soundinss. were put In position and sunk by b'ing
The grade Of the driveway being on this section
from TO l. feet above high water these crns
when completed were from 20 10 As feet high, ana
80 feet wide at the base.
ImmSaley t IN b the rear 5 o, hs he 'T 9S wax SS
dumped In as i cane from the quarry. ana allowed
riei rock and earth were dumped IN on the mud 20
form an emhankmeni for the roadway. Ihr t"'t
seutial 10 an agreeable appearance of the drive
way after IT. completion atd the necessity - keep
the United States Government. make g. imperative
that the CRIB should oc constructed of ample ti-
Al th,s lorility and under these conditions the
width OF this crib work at lts base should NOT
have been Jess than IT. total height ana ~ irr
cent greater than that would not have been too
much in view Of the great dcsrahniy - main
talnlng an unchanged alignment and preventing IN
croachment on the Harlem ship canal some cribs
OF less width o. base have been placed and retain
showing that their Dimensions do not furnish
cess OF stability for this particular class of con-
struction.
Your committee does no, nnI that the contractor
proceeded IN this case IN violation ~ t1e provisions
OF the contract. or o. the speohca.!1rs except ae
did not influence tho movement o. The crib.
Your committee. therefore. f. u the opinion that
the contractor cannot De held resp1nsible for the
failure of this crib work 10 hold !ts place.
The specifications ioT criD ~9IK are very iuh ana
complete ana ne WORK oi nc7ltn ana cohSuu,t ,tloh'
with the exceptions before noted. appears TO have
1t is he opinion OF your committee that so much
OF this section OF crib work has sl,d ont beyond
to a depth OF about eighteen feet below low water.
The bottom thus formed should be examined
@'I' Ia ;oal,Inr The enIankmcnta below subrradc OF
the drlveways on both sections the Specifications
rt,h and @n,aii stone, shall be denosltcd to Iu al
voids This has not been done. and the yods have
been greatly increased by the action Of the tides
and the falling rain Tho use Of the roadway de-
mands that the roadbcd be secure against tho
tendency TO form dangerous pitfalls, which would
remedy suggested is that the road be stripped TO
the rack hine. and that the ,2ds be carefully
twelve TO eighteen Inches OF gravel
SOME or THE COMMITTEES CONCLUSIONS.
The committee draws these conclusions
/ The general plans show that where the foot
walks are elevated above the roadway In rock cut.
Il
be cut down vertically and left without protecting
wall There IL rock along the driveway. which
should be left vertical All the vertical faces Of such
footwaks should be protected by properly con-
structcd wall.
. Along the slopes the west OF the driveway
there are places where more rock must be removed.
or IL ultimately VIII come down into the limits of
the driveway.
auired 10 be placed AT the top Of the crib against
the back Of the face tmbers' serve no useful pur-
pose As they irregular In form and cannot Ice
made to lie closely together they do not act suni
| Ici. < braces -
decay they inturousy affect the permanent char
acter Of the sidewalk. They should therefore be
omitted.
II necessary. by blocks spiked TO transverse logs
and face timbcrs.
4 The sewer which discharges through the dis.
placed crib bet stations II and II IS broken. 1t
should be carefully examined and restored 10 proper
condition There Is no evidence that the cause of
failure other than the movement Of the crib and
the filing behind IL.
3. crack has appeared in the cast retaining wall.
ton changes piles rock. This crack H. small
at the bottom Of the wall and disappears toward the
ton IL Is due simply to change in the character OF
the foundations and IS unimportant. II Is only
necessary to scrapc out ana repOint the joints In
which the crack appears
The committee has indicated two main causes
OF the trouble-the undue haste. and the
ton. The neglect to make borngs rendered
It impossible to prepare proper plans and cor
rect estimates. the committee says. and It has
also led to most OF the difficulties and delays OK
total cost OF any piece OF work has hndercd ana
hampercd the engineer I'm charge In providing for
new conditions In accordance with his best Judgment
The committee cites two Instances where changes
were necessary
The committee closes its report by saving that
the city lost So 800 by filing made necessary