The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1898-12-15
MAMMOTH BUILDING.
The Vast Foundations Of Chieago's
New Post Ofice.
One of the Greatest suEerstPuetuses
In This Country-The Structure
Will Weigh $780,
900 Tons.


If all the materials in the recently
completed foundation for Chicago's
magnificent government building were
to be loaded on wagons, n ton to each
load, and rs feet allowed for each
wagon and team, the procession of
teams and wagons would reach 73l
miles, or as far as from Chicago to
Rochester. Gen. William Sooy Smith,
engineer in charge of the foundation,
recently read paper on the sub
structure at meeting of the Western
Society of Engineers, in which he gave
many interesting data regarding the
work that has been done :he past year.
These are some of the facts:
The soil on which Chicago rests is
loose and sandy, in general, for about
IL feet. Then comes stratum of hard,
brittle clay about three feet thick. Be-
low this, for so to 60 feet, there is a very
soft. blue plastic clay, with spots of
sitter clay here and there and traces
of gravel, but nowhere is the clay firm
enough to sustain any considerable
weight. At depth of from 6ohs to nv
struck. and this is almost impossible to
penetrate. On account of this peculiar
nature of the soil it was decided that
the most feasible, safest and also least
expensive foundation would be one of
piles, resting upon the hardpan lime
stone.
Piles of Norway pine. 5,057 in num-
Der, and none less than 16 inches in di-
ameter at the butt and more than ten
inches in diameter at the end, were
driven by the powerful drivers, and
each pile driven until it required from
six to eigh; blows of the hammer to
drive the pile one inch. The piles were
driven with lower ends squared, not
sharpened, and were cut off 26H feet
below street level and 1914 feet lower
than low water level of the lake. 1t
was nice job to cut off these tops of
piles at the required depth below, for
the trenches kept filling up with water
that oozed all too freely through the
clay. The work, in fact, had to be
done under water. The piles and oak
platforms bolted to their tops are thus
perpetually immersed, insuring ever
lasting durability. Fifty-nine of the
piles are driven under the place where
the subtreasury is to be.
AS the building is to weigh not less.
than $50, 900 tons, each pile will have
it's share to perform in sustaining this
great weight. But the building will be
safe, for each pile is required to uphold
but 30 tons. whereas the extreme load
it will sustain is 136.75 tons. There are
piles under London bridges over the
Thames, and also in bridges over the
Seine, which sustain weights of from 60
to 100 tons each. When the new Chi
cago public library was being built SO
tons of pigiron were loaded upon the
top of one of the piles, and the weight
stood for weeks without settlement.
Upon the tops of the groups Of piles
white oak timber platforms are secure
~ bolted, and upon these platforms are
beds of flint-like concrete three feet
thick which have undergone thorough,
searching tests. The masonry for re-
tanning walls is of Joliet and Lemont
limestone. This was laid by eight der
ricks. laying from 1000 TO 1900 cubic
feet of stone per day. In the excava-
tons for the basement in the center of
the lot 22,267 cubic yards Of earth were
taken out, and in the digging of the
outer trenches 54,294 cubic yards more
were removed. Concrete to the extent
of 5,122 cubic yards, 796.352 board meas
ure of timber Gaping. 2s4,l44 cubic
yards of stone and 1897 cubic yards
of rubble masonry have been used.
The whole constitutes typical pile
foundation. one in which engineers and
architects everywhere. are interested,
and one which builders Ct edifices in
Chicago would do well to copy. There
is no danger that the new government
building will settle and crack. Anoth-
err significant fact, and one which re-
fleets great credit upon the architects
and contractors, is that not one of the
surrounding big buildings-Monad-
mock. Great Northern, Marquette or
Grand Pacific-has been moved one
inch from it's place. Notwithstanding
the heavy pile driving that has been
going on for many months. The de-
preston of part of Jackson boule- ]
ward. on account of the pile driving,
was because the temporary plank wall
that had been driven in the outer side
of the trench was not strong enough to
prevent the spongy, watery clay from
coming in to fiji up the depression
caused within the fence by the pile
driving-ChicaFo Times-Herald.
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.