The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-08-24
WORK OF AMERICAN ENGINEERS
Hold the Palm for Daring Feats In
Construction.

AlluOuSn lHCT0 are uany smart en-
gineers in Europe, there is no country
where they achieve the heights Of fam,
they do in the United States. The
palm for colossal daring in construc.
ton, whther it be in the line of sky
scrapers, bridges or tunnels, certainly
belongs here.
1t is only in the United States that
one can see huge rats going down
stream carrying complete houses OF
brick and stone which are to be
dumped down in some spot more fa-
vOrable than that from which they had
been removed. But the removal of or
dinary dwellings Of five, six and even
seven stories is SO usual sight that
10 one save visitor to America would
now be surprised to meet a mansion,
with gardens and a nice bit of shoot
ing attached, ON its way to some dis
tant part OF the country.
1t Pittsburg, the city of steel, it was
found necessary to remove the Grand
Opera House a distance of 20 feet in
order to admit the widening of Dia-
mond street. Engineers came and had
look at the structure and unanimous
ly agreed that 1t would be quite fcasi-
BILE to move it intact. The builing is
not small measuring 12SxSO feet, and
weighing about 5000 tons.
Progress was necessarily slow, some
times not more than an inch an hour,
and the work, which was begun on sat.
urday, was not completed until the icl-
lowing Tuesday. Forty-seyen mel were
engaged on the job night and cay, and
the cost of removal was $l50,000. 70
the purpose of transit a foundation Va.
erected beneath the building enG q
house was then placed on rollers. g..
the spot where it was intended TO cree.
the opera house another foundation, o.
course, had been built, and here the
big building was successfully placed.
Not Il crack in any of the walls was
visible, and as an example of house
moving" it is unique.
At the Columbus Railway Company's
works, at Columbus, o., there are no
fewer than 100 smoke stacks of vary
ing heights These answered all prac-
tical purposes until the time came
when, on account of the introduction
of mechanical stokers and economizers,
a greater amount of draught was found
to be necessary, and it was decided to
add so feet to some of the stacks. The
fact that the work was accomplished
without in any way interfering with
the duties of the chimneys renders it
"A CT
was heightened and completed within
a few days, the furnaces being kept
going all the time. The cast iron cap,
which surmounts each of the stacks,
was removed, the brickwork cleaned,
and on it built a new single she'll of
brick so feet high, which was support.
ed entirely on the old outer she'll The
biggest water pipe in the world, capa-
Bile. IL is said, of holding an average
river was laid by the Ontario Power
Company on the Canadian side of Nj
agara Falls. The gigantic pipe, which
is made of steel throughout, is mile
and a quarter in length and sixty feet
in circumference. The steel plates have
a thickness of half an inch, and in put
ting them together 200 tons of rivets,
were required.
Philadelphia is noted for many dar--
ing engineering feats. One of the most
daring, perhaps, was when four foot.
water pipe was moved distance OF II.
feet without interfering in any way
with the water service 1t Is said that.
no other country offers an exact par
allel to this interesting and great un-
dertaking. To realize the remarkable
nature of this feat it must be under
stood that 1900 feet of pipe, weighing,
with the water, about 10000 tons, was
moved out of line II feet and then.
lowered II feet.