The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-09
Manhattan
POOR WORK CAUSED
HOTEL COLLAPSE

Cement Workers Union. Local No. /,
received a report from its committee
sent TO investigate the collapse. of the
Bixby Hotel at Long Beach, and the
report was accepted at a meeting of
the organization at Maennerbund Hall
last night. 1t is voluminous docu-
ment and lays the blame TO rthe coll
lapse of the building on the employ
ment OF cheap labor and work done
by men not unionized and. therefore,
according to the committee, not COM
petent TO do the work.
The report was presented to the
union by T. T.. Keough, member of
the union; William Koenig, an archi-
tect, and II. A. Schulze, chairman Of
the State Board of Architects.
The report signed by Schulze in part
is as follows:
On November II and Is last. accom-
panied by an assistant, / carefully in
spected the collapsed portion. of the
building. The original drawings by
the architect for the reinforced concrete
construction Except the several floor
columns) were not followed, but were
superseded by an entirely different and
patented system of reinforcement sub
mitted by the patentee through the
contractor and adopted by the owner,
the special merit claimed in the substi-
lessened the dead load of construction
TO about So per cent of the system ad-
vocated by the original drawings.
1t would seem that this substitution
was not made on the part OF the owner
for the purpose OF saving, for the con-
tractor was to be paid a considerable
increase on his original contract price
for the change Therefore the attrac-
ton to the owner must have been other
than financial. though it would seem
to have been Ill advised in that the
system adopted was devoid entirely
Except at the roof, and that only par
TALLY, and first floor levels) OF lateral
stiffening girders at columns and of
brace brackets or launches between
columns and beams at all levels, the
absence of which no doubt added ma
terially to the large extent of damage
and the fatalities to life and limb ac-
companying the destruction.
A careful inspection of the premises
in the basement fails to reveal any set
Element of the foundations or similar
cause for the collapse. The concrete
was OF very good character, and no
against IL. The character of the work
mansi1ip was fairly good in the base
ment and first story, becoming inferior
by degrees IS the building goes up
ward until there was a very marked
degeneration in quality in the top
story
For the purpose of this report I take
ii TO be inmaterial to say whether the
collapse occurred through the skimping
in the forms. their premature removal
the Indifference or sinefficiency Of the
reinforcement. the removal of sections
of the columns or the entire removal
of q column when cast (the supports
being Indifferent during the operation
of removaD. insufiiciently reinforced
columns or other imperfection in the
constructive design, any one which
was very possible with the sails
trimmed as close to the wind as they
ing or shock. However. 7 am convinced
that the accident started in the upper
floor. that one of these various adverse
conditions caused the accident the
others being contributory. but REIN
forced concrete as such, intelligently
applied with due regard to constru
tive mechanics, will have no guilty
part in similar caIamities.