Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-14

l.
ward the broad flowing Severn river the
costly buildings become more squat In
shane and size after the plan of the archi-
tectural arrangement at the St. Louis falr.
Much has been written of the buildings at
the academy. their uses cost and architec-
tural arrangement, but nothing mas, mere
tofore been written with reference 10 tho
gigantic task undertaken by the builders
Of the chanel They have attempted 1eat
in the face of the positive statement on the
part of well-known engineers that 1t couio
not be done and that utter failure would
result from the attempt.
Only Structure Of Its Kind.
In spite of the many discouraging prophe-
cies the contractors have persevered IN
their efforts and now are to be met with
the triumph of success. In very few
days the contractors who have been doing
the structural work will turn the builu.ng
over to the original contractors for the nm
ishing work. This will mark the compile
ton Of the only structure OF Its Kind IN the
country, although work similar to this now
being done has figured in many of the large
buildings of France for number of years.
The fact that the dome. columns and
arches are made of solid concrete Is not
particularly wonderful, nor does it reflect
any great advance in the building line, as
compared to the work of years ago. but the
manner in which the concrete was placed
in position Is what makes 1t so unusual.
Absolutely no supports were used in the
molding Of the different sections OF the
buildings, although many OF the portions
are on a perfect circle. Each and every
bit Of concrete used in the building other
than In the columns is really keystone
When Camille Siquot came here from
France little more than four months ago
to conduct the work for the Ferro Con-
crete Company he was laughed at by many
who heard OF the manner in which he In
tended to erect the concrete building. He
proceeded with his work and today the
practically completed building Is guar
antee that he knew whereof he spoke.
Building Shape Of Grecian Cross.
The building is practically the shape Of
Grecian cross. the central portion OF
which has been rounded. The floor space
of this is eighty-three feet in diameter,
which. with the transepts give floor space
116 feet square. Each Of the transepts is
built in the form Of an orch. they being
four in number. AS each of these arches
has but four legs, each Of which is about
two feet in diameter it will be seen that
the enormous series of domes which con-
tine upward 210 feet stand upon rather
slender legs.
The pillars, or legs, were built in much
the same manner as any other concrete
structure. When the arches were started
1t was seen. however, that Siquot was
going to attempt something never before
seen in this country. Instead of securing
the wooden frames which are generally
held in position by scaffolding to hold the
great weight of concrete which is placed
in position to form the arch no artificial
aids were employed.
1t was In the construction Of the dome
and the walls which support 1t that Siquot
displayed the greatest skill. 1t seemed
more work Of creation than construction,
and stands today as an example Of what is
daily being accomplished along new lines.
In this, the torsOn strength Of concrete is
given test more severe than any other to
o, hoe cd +l,o
dome Is complete arch from every point,
1t has no support outside of the concrete
of which 1t is made. and small iron rods
less than half an inch in thickness.
Feat in Scaffolding.
Many of the contractors. and. in fact, all
who had intended figuring on the construc-
ton of the dome had done so with the Inn
preston Of the necessity for scaffolding to
support the frames used in molding it. This
idea did not enter into the plans of the
contractors who are doing the work. AS
soon a the side arches were completed and
the skeleton of what the building was to be
stood revealed work on the dome was be-
gun OF this the side walls are but eight
inches in thickness, while the arched por-
ton is still Of less thickness. being five
inches thick.
A scaffold was erected on the tops Of
the completed arches and by upward and
successive stages of two feet each the
moldng boards to conf1ne the moist con-
crete were placed in position.
The top molding boards were placed in
position and the ones on the underside
were fastened to these. Concrete was then
hoisted to the scaffold by means of an ele-
yator and poured into position between the
two sets of molding boards.
1t hardened almost Immediately and by
the time It was desired to begin another
two-foot stage of the work had hardened
sufficiently to permit of any ordinary
weight which might be placed upon it. AS
soon as the sides began to take on the
lines of the arc the lay mind was impressed
with the fact that an attempt was being
made to have the concrete support itself
without any aid from the scaffold That is
exactly what was being done. AS the
work progressed the lower portion of the
was removed and added to the
top.
The dome gradually grew in height until
1t finally bent far in from every point and
became perfect in outlines and figure Ex-
cept for the hanging scaffold the men were
on a concrete wall almost level
and held from drop of over two hundred
feet by the mere shell of five inches. All
this had been accomplished without the aid
Of a particle of support from the undersIde
and by nothing more than the arched shape
of the material. Today 1t Is practically |
completed, the wonder and surprise of those |
who before had never thought such feat |
possible.