Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-17
Great Days Were They.
FOUNDATION WORK.
Wooden Piles Must Be Kept Wet-Uses
of the Sink Pit.

From the New York Tribune.
There are certain skyscrapers in New
York City, including many OF its tallest
buildings, which have a secret place IN the
foundation, known by the few initiated
as the "sink pit" Though 1t contains no
family skeleton or Bluebeard's wife, yet
it Is tightly closed to the inquisitive pub
lic Few tenants who have offices In such
a skyscraper know Of the existence OF the
sink pit" and should they learn Of one
they would have a hard time trying to
find it. Buildings which have sink pits
are constructed on wooden piles and, al
though they are regarded by engineers as
safe under all normal conditions, as II
built on the native rock, nevertheless the
owners Of skyscrapers with sink pits
prefer to say nothing about the existence
of these mysterious places. No other part
of a skyscraper Is so obscure and debased
as the sink Dit. 1t is Tar below the side-
walk. below the basement and below the
subbasement. In most cases Its mouth
is sealed with a cement lid, which. II lift
ed. would show waving trellises OF SPIDER
webs. and a grand circuit racetrack
around its edges for beetles. bugs and
other forms of insect life which shun the
light And yet despite its obscurtty and
debased position. there Is no part OF the
building under certain conditions more Inn
portant to it's safety than the dark. Shiny
sink pitt
AS long as the clusters of wooden piles
which support the steel and concrete
foundations of a building are constantly
submerged in water, engineers say they
will last indefinitely. Wood when water
logged can resist the ravages of time, but
such wood as soon as its meets the air be-
gins to decay rapidly. For this reason the
wooden piles OF a foundation are driven
many feet below the level OF the ground
water and the sink pitt Ia dug as
precaution against subsistence of the
water So long as water remains at the
same height in the ground as at the time
the foundations were laid there Is little
IL any need Of the sink pitt but as soon
as these subterranean waters begin to fall
away this hole 10 the only means by which
the deeply buried wooden props OF the
building can be saved from destruction.
with tho construction Of the subway
there has been recently fall In the level
of water In the porous ground through
which 1t has been excavated, and In many
huiidings pumps are now In operation day
and night pouring water into their sink
pits" Pipes carrying the waste water
Of the building are also laid 30 that they
win empty there, and thus contribute to-
ward keeping the ground beneath satu-
rated above the tops Of the piles.
said the engineer of q towering skyscraper
not far from the city hall yesterday. as he
started a pump. This foundation will last
tiIl doomsday, II we keep 1t soaked, but
YOU couldn't convince some people that the
building was safe. after showing them the
sink pit For some reason or other the
hole frightens them. They seem to think
that the water we pump or let low into
Il Is rotting out the underpinning instead
Of preserving II. For that reason the least
said about the sink Dit the better
HAS the water IA the ground sunk APP