The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-01-12

and the sound and distant Long Islant
hills. There are special kitchen and
pantries on the same floor, so that ther,
will be no necessity Of sending to tn,
main kitchen for meals.
The basement is taken mp with ths
kitchen, extending under the whole cen
ter of the house, with adjoining bakery
storerooms, and the working depart
ment OF the caravansary; with a large
public toilet room, and in the avenue
section with large barber shop and
very complete system of baths and with
couple Of stores. The subbasement,
the floor of which is 40 feet below the
level of the curb and which has a height
throughout of IL feet, is entirely given
up to the electric plant, which will be,
Mr.. Hardebergh says, the largest and
most complete and perfect isolated plant
in the world. The engine and dynamos
he described as maIvels, and the sys.
tenn, he said. would embrace all the
latest inventions and refinements of in
vention known 10 electric engineering.
The new building will contain, besides
the main divisions described, about 600
rooms and apartments for the accommo-
dation of guests.
Such are the popular features Of this
new building, but there was involved
in its construction "a problem altogether
unique in architecture and which called
for extraordinary engineering. All the
halls of similar Dimensions with the
ballroom and dining saloon i'm this
building that have hitherto been con-
structed have had above them nothing
but the roof, which would necessitate
only ordinary roof trusses and arches.
But above this ballroom are 12 sto-
ries of rooms and halls and their i'm
mense weight of floors and partitions.
and above the dining room 10 stories of
even heavier construction To support
this immense weight three enormous
steel trusses had to be built above the
ballroom and three others above the din
ing room, and borne upon columns of
unprecedented strength, the whole SO
arranged and related as not to interfere
with the arrangement of the halls and
apartments in the stories through which
they pass
The Engineering News. in an inter-
esting technical description, says that
two OF the trusses employed to support
the superstructure above the ballroom
are each 81 feet inches in height, ex-
tending from the fourth to the sixth |
floor; that the lower chord is "a feet |
inches long from center to center of |
pins, and the top chord II feet long
These. according to Mr.. Hardenbergh, |
are the largest and most massive trusses |
ever constructed. II
These two trusses ''are not in line I
with the columns below, but eccentric.
Ally on either side of column $50, which
q the heaviest column in the building"
)ne end of each Of these trusses rests
lpon continuous plate girder "of very
massive construction; the total length
9 only 80 feet 6 inches, but the depth
9 feet" This great girder is carried
IN column $50, (which is the heaviest
'olumn in the entire building and car
les the heaviest load-namely, 6, ,4O0,-
200 pounds. This enormous column has
70 web plates, 4 cover plates and IL
angle irons It's. length is 30 feet
hShcS uHu i'o WCiBht 10 7os OoO pOuuus. l
N the manufacture Of tho 10 and IL
nch pins by which the main members
II the big trusses are joined together
he finished pins were subjected to tests
II resistance and strength several times
,reater than they will be called upon
o sustain in the building The first
made did not successfully stand tie
train, and others of tougher metal had
o be made before the requirements Of
The architect were complied with.
The dining room trusses are each 26
eet inches deep and 81 feet inches
ong and are different from the two
arger ballroom trusses in construction.
Both these and the ballroom trusses are
20 concealed III the partitions Of the
building that no one going through the
All rooms of the finished
structure would SO much as suspect
their existence. They were necessary to
secure the unbroken areas of the ball.
room and dining room and the regular
lty of arrangement of the many super.
imposed stories, however, and they exist
now az evidences of the progress attain
ed in the ar: .structural by the modern
architect, engineer and builder Nearly
10, 900 tons of structural steel will be
used in the Astor hotel building, and
the entire cost Of the structure will he
nearly $4,000, ,O00.-New York Even
ing Post.