The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-07-14
BROKEN PIPE
CAUSED CAVE-IN
AT THE CITY HALL SITE.
HUNDREDS OF CUBIC YARDS OF
EARTH GAVE WAY TO WATER.

ter Pressure Was Cut Down Until
Water Could BE Cut on, but Thou
sands of Gallons Wnsted-Water
Running for an Hour and % Min
utes.
A broken water pipe in front of the
City Hall caused the caving in of
tons of earth on the Bay street side
of the new building, and poured thous-
ands and thousands of gallons of water
through the City Hall site, and on in
to the river early last night.
The break was discovered about
o'clock, though it had probably been
running for some time. and it was
S:55 when the water was finally cut
off and the leakage stopped.
The break was first discovered by the
water bubbling up through the side
walk in front of the City Hall lot,
which is now enclosed by high fence.
The day force had already quit work,
go on, when the leakage was first
noticed.
Undermined the Earth.
1t soon broke forth into a bold
stream spouting up through the brick.
AS the water increased, the earth be-
gan to cave in. During the first half
hour, 300 or 400 cubic yards of earth
had caved. The excavations for the
new building were only a few feet from
the break and as the water undermined
the earth it gradually toppled over in
to the space below.
Within thirty minutes, the superin-
tendent of the fire department, the
superintendent of police, and the chair
man of the Waterworks Committee of
Council were on the scene. Chief Ma
guire, who had reached the scene be-
fore Alderman Garfunkel, had tele-
phoned the waterworks to cut down
the pressure some.
When the break was discovered there
was a pressure of forty-five pounds on
and the water poured through the
break in large volumes. The pressure
was reduced some under the fire chiefs
direction. and as soon as Alderman
Garfunkel, the chairman of the Water
Committee, arrived he ordered it cut
down still more. Within thirty or
thirty-five minutes after the break was
discovered, the water pressure had
been reduced from forty-five pounds to
between ten and fifteen.
Police We're on Hand.
Supt. G'arfunkel, of the police depart
ment, had several of his men station
ed at the scene to keep the crowd
away. Even with the reduced pres
sure, however, the water continued to
pour out at a lively rate and the cav
ing in continued from time to time,
until the street in front of the old
Exchange was undermined and it was
feared it would fall.
Stopping the trolley cars on Bay
street was seriously thought of, though
this was not done. The cars were or
dered not to stop in front of the place
and were allowed to go ahead, while
men were stationed on both sides to
stop them in case the tree should be-
gin to fall.
Hard to Find Break.
Meanwhile Supt. Kinsey, of the wat
erworks. had been telephoned. With
his assistants he drove to the scene
as rapidly as possible. 1t was with
difficulty that anything could be learn
ed about the break, while the water
was still on. as there was danger of
the ground caving in at any time.
There is a 16-inch main near, where
the break occurred, and it was at
first feared this had been broken. On
the southern side of the street, there
is a 6-inch main. 1t was impossible
to find what was broken until the
water had been shut off and this re-
quired some time. 1t was not until
the leak had been running for an hour
and IS minutes that it was entirely
stopped. 1t was then found that the
pipe broken was a 3-inch supply pipe,
but was connected with both the
domestic, and the 16-inch fire main.
Extent of the Caye-In.
BY the time the water was stopped
hole about twenty or twenty-five feet
long, and ten or fifteen wide. had been
washed out to great depth. The dirt
was washed away from the 16-inch
main for about two and a half sec
tions of the pipe and the big main was
left suspended in the air
The director of public works said
there were between 500 and 1000 cubic
yards of earth washed out by the
break. The hole is irregular and
could not be closely examined because
of the danger of a cave-in, so an exact
estimate could not be made.
The immense torches which are used
for the night work on the new build
ing were placed as near the hole as
possible, but good view could not be
had.
Public safety Commission.
The need of the suggested depart
ment of public safety was clearly H.
lustrated in the midst of the excite
ment incident to the break. The chief
of police, the chief of the fire depart
ment and the superintendent of public
works, the three men suggested for
the proposed commission. were to-
gether discussing what should be done.
All three realized that If the water
was not stopped in a very short time
the tree which was being undermined
would fall, and all agreed that a guy
rope should be placed on it to keep it
from falling on the trolley wires. No
one of the officials felt that he had
the authority to take the initiative and
nothing was done.
1t was suggested to Manager Nash,
of the street railway company. that
this would probably be a good thing
hut he was very much like the city
officials.
Valuable Time Lost.
Isn't this the Public Safety Com
mission" asked Fire Chief Mcguire,
the position of the three impressing the
Importance of such a commission on
his mind.
The extent of the damage cannot
be ascertained until this morning, Mr..
Stewart. the sub-contractor, who is do
ing the work now in progress. stated.
as did Architect Witcover. Mr.. Stew
art said he did not think the new
walls had been damaged at all. The
caving In Of so much dirt will, of
course, though cause much more labor
and some loss of time.
How Did IL Happenf
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