Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-03-01
RECENT EXAMINATION MADE
Report Now in Hands Of Senator
Mcmillan.
S UGG ESTIONS OFFERED

DlStTlCl OIL SOIuIHDld McMlldH
lately inquired Of General Wilson concern
ing the stability of the piers. General Will
son in his reply says: Repairs recently
made to pier No. have been carried on un-
der direction of Lieutenant Colonel Charles
]. Allen, Corps of Engineers, and 1 called
upon that officer for report and have just
received from him a letter dated February
% herewith, in which he states the pres
ent condition of the piers far as could
be ascertained from the examination made
within the limited time permitted, and 1t
will be seen that in his opinion these old
piers can not be regarded as safe for sus-
tanning a new superStructure to accommo-
date street cars, carriages. and traffic which
would unquest.onably make use of an ade-
Quate bridge in this location.
He recommends that the bridge be en-
tirely rebuilt, except pier" No. 4. which Is
now in excellent condition, and he submits
the bridge at a cost of from ss6o,o00 to
$40 Co.,
Defective Construction.
Colonel Allen in reporting to General Will
son concerning the bridge said:
attention appears to have been first
called to the defective construction of the
piers Immediately after the freshet of June,
1889. The sectional area of the river is
much contracted at the site of the bridge
by the number and size Of the piers, and
especially by the extension OF the embank-
ment of the south approach into the river
The effect of this embankment is to pro-
duce violent eddies during freShetS in the
vicinity of the first pier from the south end
of the bridge, known as Pier No 1. Soon
after the freshet had subsidized Pier No.
was observed to have moved several inches
to the nerthward, and nearly vertical
crack was also noticed extending entirely
through Pier No. 4, which was situated
hon in, hn of hn al - fro
the coping down 10 low tide, at least. An
examination by a diver revealed the fact
that the movement of Pier No. ] and the
crack in Pier No were both due to the
erosion of the bases of these piers. Pier No
l was repaired by the use of concrete in
bags with riprap stone protection Pier No.
4 was banded by iron rods to prevent fur
Their cracking This work required imme-
date attention, as delay awaiting an APP
preparation might mean the loss of two
piers and four spans of the bridge and was
done by the District Commissioners.
Recent Examinations by IA Diver.
The inquiry by Senator Mcmillan led to
an examination of the parts of the piers
under water by diver, who found many
defects in the masonry. The examination
was made from the 18TH to the oath of last
month. The nature of the divers report is
shown by the following extracts.
Samples of mortar We're obtained where
it was possible, but only with considerable
difficulty.
Even where the joints were full it was
almost impossible on account Of the soft
and crumbly condition Of the mortar to
get the sample fragments to the surface
before dissolution.
pier No /. The riprap extends up on
front of the ice-breaker to within thirteen
feet of low water extending outward some
distance, but sloping off rather abruptly
around the sides of the pier. There is a
small amount of riprap along the north side,
and a quantity of large stones were found
along the south side. the east end rising
clear from the mud bottom.
"A hole was found opposite the southeast
corner four feet from the bottom and about
one foot high. five feet long and three feet
deep. The stone directly below this and
somewhat larger in size, is loose also and
ready to fall out at slight provocation.
pier No. 8. Several stones about four
feet below water near the middle Of the
south side, nave open joints around them
into which the probing rod could be insert
ed fifteen or eighteen inches.
Worst of the Old Piers.
"Pier No. 5. This is by far the worst Of
the seven old piers. The riprap extends up
to within ten feet at low water on the
front of the ice breaker, and slopes steepy
off in all directions, not extending around
the curve on either side. Along the north
side a quantity Of loose stone, weighing a
ton or two apiece, are sea tered along.
Between the third and fourth courses of
the granite ice breaker the horizontal joint
under the five center stones is open an inch
or more, and into it a three-quarter-inch
rod can be inserted nearly three feet. The
vertical joint, also, between these stones are
clear Of mortar, and one of them Is pro-
jecting probably an inch beyond its original
position in the wall.
Farther down, directly on the front of
the ice breaker, is an irregular-shaped hole
OF about twenty-five square feet area and
from 2.5 to 3 feet deep. The joints at the
back of this hole are wide open, and extend
in several feet. The hole is six feet wide
and extends down visiby to the top Of the
riprap, and in the opinion Of the diver runs
still farther downward, 1t being found pos
sible to probe with a small rod some dis
lance in vertical direction into the bottom
Of it.
"A little farther around to the south and
still on the curve of the ice breaker is a
loose stone two by three feet in dimension,
partly projecting.
The spread of the pier footing here Is
not nearly as great as in most of the other
piers. and slopes up with tolerable uni
formity. Six rows of transverse tmbers
were found in the masonry, instead of three
or four, in the others. and these large
tirbers being only few feet apart, cut up
the masonry considerably.
THE joints on the south side are most
Of them wide open, many from three to five
inches on the face and extending in from
two to five feet, or probably more, had a
The bonding of the masonry is noticeably
poor, and the openings of the joints Of
every conceivable shape. This condition ex-
tends from the bottom of the pier to low
water line.
1.-The north side is in nearly as bad con-
dition as the south. Around all of the tim
bers the joint very large and open,
extending in several feet, and some of them
were Of sufficient size to permit the diver
to insert both arms with ease.
1.-The openness of the vertical joints near
the ice breaker, from the bottom up al
most to the cut stone. is particularly no.
ticeable, and the whole circumstances are
such as to lead to the Inference that the
| masonry OF the lower portion of the ice
breaker has settled down and outward"
or pier No. 8 1t Is said: Below the ledge
the entire face of the pier Is in poor condi-
ton. A considerable number of the joints
scattered around over the whole area We're
open sufficiently to permit the insertion OF
the Divers arm to it's full length and in
several of them he was able to shove an
iron bar five or six feet into the masonry"
Col. Aliens Suggestions.
OF the examination on which the above
| resport was made Colonel Allen says:
1.-The examination by the diver was as
complete as could be made in the time all
lotted for it. To fully satisfactorily ex-
anime the interior of the piers would re-