Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-15
MAKING A new BACKBONE
PROGRESS OF WORK ON PENNSYL-
vANIA AVENUE SLOW.
But Workmen Are Doing Their Best,
Says a Foreman-Wants q Lit
tie More Sunlight.

Yes, 1 know there is q lot Of kicking
about the progress Of the work in the re-
construction of Pennsylvania avenue" said
an intelligent foreman of a gang Of work.
| men at the intersection of Pennsylvania
| aveue and 14th street to a Star reporter
but the weather Is responsible for much
Of the delay.
We are just as anxious to get through
| with the job as the public is to have US
through with it. but here is an instance
| to show some of the difficulties we have
to contend with in this big piece of street
reconstruction. If this rainy weather keeps
up it will retard the completion of the work
materially and this the public should now
| understand.
Take this car intersection right here for
an illustration. The 14th street car line
| crosses here and at all track functions of
this sort the concrete filing in and around
the iron Jokes of the crossing platform is
of the best material and very thick and
heavy to Withstand the strain and the jar
of the cars.
You will note that # is measure bly, hard
| er than solid rock: in fact, solid rock is a
yielding substance as compared with this
finty and almost unimpressIonab1e con-
crete; solid rock will disintegrate under the
blows of sledge hammer, but sledge
hammer makes no impression upon the
concrete. We can only get it out bit by.
bit in sizes from walnut to your double
| fist and it Is Clipped off by steel drills I'M
der the impact of sledges welded by strong
men.
What Has to Be Done.
You see, the public forget all about this
| track elevation business; they seem to
| think that all that's being done is the re-
surfacing. That's dead easy compared to
the track elevation problem. When the
parallel track excavations are first dug
along the concrete-fiI1ed yokes sustaining
the tracks solid timbers are laid along
jack-screws beneath the rail are placed.
When a section of the track is lacked up
1t is shored with braced blocks, adjusted
to the true elevation sought.
And that's about all the public think
we have to do. when, as a matter of fact,
the work is hardly begun. The packed
earth beneath the concrete body of the
yokes has to be substantially scraped out
by hand, for so cramped is the space that
the men can use only small trowels. This
is woefully slow work in the mud and
wet, but 1t is the only way the earth can
be gotten out-inch by inch. rather than
foot by foot.
THE work on the north side of the
avenue has been entirely completed from
9Th to 7th streets, including the laying of
the new asphalt surface and this COM
pleted portion gives an idea in detail of
what the whole job means when the last
workman packs up his tools and quits for
/ good.
1.-THE new curbing on the north side is
all down, the brick cutters laid and ce-
mented and portions OF the sidewalk have
been graded to curb and relaid The old
asphalt sheet has been entirely removed
from 7th to 9th streets, the new concrete
bed laid thereon. and these two blocks
are now ready for the new asphalt sur
| face. The old asphalt sheet from 9th to
10th streets has been ripped up prepara-
| tory to the laying of the new concrete top.
! The stone copings around the two new
| triangles at 9Th and 10th streets are in
| place, and the sidewalk delineations on
| the and D streets intersections have
| been adjusted, the curbs set and the gut
| tiers laid.
The New Crown ALI Right.
| $50 you see, We are doing something
| after all. and if the sun will only con-
| descend to come out and stay out for a
| few consecutive days instead of minutes
we will go along on this great improve
ment in jumps.
| ''There is one little wrinkle about this
job which has attracted much attention
| on the part of the observing, and that is
the little dip in the crown Of the street
in the center of the square between 9th
! and 10th streets. This is made necessary
! because Of the length Of the square and
the necessity of sewer culverts to take
| the drainage in the center of the block
| have had inquisitive citizens ask me II
the street crown wasn't suffering from a
| broken back at this point, 1t would ap-
| pear so from certain angles on the side:
| walk, but 1t isn't. The vertebra of the
| crown Of Pennsylvania avenue is all
| right, and when the new backbone is en-
tirely in place 1t will take more years to
| break this one than It did the old one"