Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1903-12-17
FIXING A BIG STACK.
How It Was Made Plumb While In
EaiIy Use.

EaiIy Use.
An interesting piece Of engineering
in Grams on was completed last weeEf'
The chimney, 1872 feet high. built IA
few months ago, was brought back 20
perpendicular position and the efgl-
neer who planned the work is c3nn-
dent that there will be no furthe2 set
Ting. The safety of an $4,000 9hlm-
ney seems to be assured, and the n1ec-
essity Of moving a new boiler houfe
to another location is obviated.
Last winter when the foundations
were laid It was supposed that tHe
ground was solid. The site OF tf3e
chimney is near the edge Of Tongue
Pond, which flows into Spectacle
Pond, and it is probable that the 2 C.
ton Of the water weakened the 9pst
side Of the foundation. When the
chimney was partly built there were
signs of settling, and soon aftfr the
LAYING of the last brick the tSll col
umn leaned toward the east distance
of nearly four feet. No instrument
was needed to show that the chiIYney
was badly out of plumb, and it Was
obvious that in time it would fall}ps
the soil was clearly incapable OF ca
rving the load. The company whie2
erected the chimney had no desire y
take the responsibility of straightel%
ing It. and Mr.. Joseph Fl. Gerhard,l
civil engineer. of this city, announced
his willingness to take the chances OF
failure. The plan devised by Mr.. Ger,
hard was simple but patience ana
Judgment were required to carry II 10
completion. and the results are very
creditable to all engaged in the dell
cate undertaking.
One course of bricks, three-fourths
of the way through the chimney was
removed from the west side. wedges
of oak were driven into the space &C.
cupied by the bricks. On the east side
a bed Of concrete g feet thick and hav-
ing an area of 10 by 90 feet was laid
against the foundation. When the
earth was removed a strong spring
was tapped; the flow of water was at
the rate of 10000 gallons an hour, and
the humps available at short notice
were insufficient to keep the excaya-
ton dry. Apprehending that the flow
Of water might further undermine the
concrete supporting the chimney the
engineer discontinued effort to divert
tbe flow and proceeded to bury the
spring under concrete. This departure
from approved methods of concrete
construction appears to have been
successful; the new bed of concrete
showed no sign of settling and was at
once utilized In the work of tipping
the chimney westward.
Two holes were cut into the east
side of the chimney and in these holes
22-inch steel beams % feet long were
inserted. the outer ends of the beams
resting on the concrete. Twenty jack
screws were placed under the beams
and the leverage was sufficient to tip
the chimney toward the west, as the
wooden wedges were gradually burned
out by a gas fame, driven into the
oak by compressed air. The chimney,
as the wood was burned away, gradu-
ally approached a perpendicular line,
the movement averaging about six
inches a day. When the chimney was
straight concrete was filed into the
space occupied by the brick, and the
steel beams were buried in concrete
after the removal of the jackscrews to
protect the metal from corrosion.
During the fitting operation its use
was not interrupted. - Providence
Journal.