New-York tribune., 1908-12-22
BRIDGE LOOP DELAYED
TERMINAL Plan HELD W.
Difference Of Opinion Betsoeen
Messrs. Stevenson and Murphy.

The completion Of the Brooklyn Bridge subway
,oon which IS expected decrease the traffic bur
den OF the bridge by third. is likely to be post
-,oned for months unless Bridge COMMISSIONS Ste
~enson convinces Edward : Murphy superintendent
of Buildings in Manhattan that the plans lo1 'Iie
foundation OF the municipal terminal building are
safe The bids for the foundation were opened On
December 5 the lowest being that Of the j h cray
COMPANY. which bid S6e7.0oo. sum S176.I5o less
than The next lowest biddeE J. G. Rodgers Inc
es+ir7a7ed cost Of the building IS TO be SSooo-ooo-
Commissioner Stevenson sent the plans TO super
.v,s.,=err A-rrhv for approval, matter OF rou-
tine To his surprise, he says. the Superlhleluei.
Of Buildings held Up the approval Ihis action II
IS said. was taken on the ground mat me Weien'
VS. 700 great. that specifications should be
,,-e,a-ea calling for an imposed weight OF only
four tons A square foot Al any rate. the plans
were referred the board Of examiners, VINO aiso
shirlzed the responsibility Of approving then- oie
was afraid and the other dassent." Commissioner
Stevenson SAYS
There vas no need Of holding up the building OF
the foundation al. in the opinion Of the CoIIls
sioner de also said he believed that the bullo-
1ngs Superintendent would have 10 approve oA -
resent mans and that the Gray Company Wo1Iu
be able 10 begin work in short time, making me
DELAY comparatively slight
Il the plans are not approved and new specllca
-sons and drawings have TO he made, many months
--5f te lost II took seven months or more TO pre-
rare the first plans, and II will take as nuch more
tine 70 prepare new plans and adVeruse anu Ie-
ceive BIDS At the present rate Of progress II Is @
rac;ed that the subway loop Kill be comp4eteo d
1,ear from January but Il the Bridge Commissioner
s wrong tn his contention the work viii ne helo
ID Indefinitely for when the subway workers are
ready 10 finish that section Of the SUBWAY 'ii7
foundations viii he scarcely begun
Superintendent Murphy. Il IS said. believes that
ruder the law he cannot approve Of the plans until
the weight which the soil VIII be called on 70 cary
IS reduced 10 four square foot Conar1!s-
eoner Stevenson. to support his contention tat Ile
~ Nth requirements OF IEe ldN
cited yesterday Section q Of the Building Cooe
which says that firm coarse sand. stiff gravel OF
hard clay shall be deemed able 70 bear four IONS
SQUARE foot or as otherwise determined oy the
,or,-,,ss5o-er Of buildings having jurisdiction
re also bases his contention on a part OF Section
% Of the Building Code The latter part OF TINS
paragraph reads:
z,-ra, foundations are carried down through earth
nv ners OF stone brick OF concrete in calssons ue
loads saue shall not he more thah IllItb I - +
IONS - ne square foot when carried down TO frT
%oo1 in oper Caissors when carried down 70 rock
The architects Of the building are Mchim, Mead
& White The plans for the foundation were made
after four borings had been made by Alexander
Johnson consulting engineer Of the Department OF
Bridges He found bed rock l0S feet below water
level and lS5 feet below street level The tests tc
determine the sustaining power Of the SANDS ol
~srving fneness and frTnness which were iouno
were made by weighing an encased plunser VIII
e surface Of 16la square feet with TWO tons OF pig
sron a weight increased later to sixteen tons aIo
sn one ease 70 thirty II was found according
= -he department engineers. that the soil had a
sustaining power Of sixteen tons square foot or
5ust twice The weight that The plans called Ior II
70 hear.
The consulting engineers. Furdy and Henderson
--no approved them. They were also approved 10y
The contractors. John T O'Rourke and d c Moran
IN q letter to Commissioner Stevenson the aroni'
1ec1s said
-E-eEa SIS he
more SeErle l-i1 IN lI W Sfe3ff,re5 over larger
and with practically no impact
Commissioner Stevenson is TO make another at
tempt today 10 get the original plans approved
After being shuttled back and forth between the
superintendent Of Buildings and the board Of eX-
a~.fuars Nir. Stevenson applied TO the Corporation
counsel for definite action. Because Of the press
Of business in that department the plans may
s7,ffe~ another considerable hold-up there
y believe that the Bridge Department is author
ized by the special act authorizing the teTmina
10 award The bids without consultation with the
bureau Of huildings'' said Mr.. Stevenson. We
have competent engineers here. and il is a waste
Of time l. have The formal approval delayed.
expect that Assistant Corporation Counsel Sterling
viii advise me that I make the award The
Municipal Art Commission some time ago approved
the plans and any delay now defers the beginning
Of actual construction OF the foundation"
There are several important buildings IN thI
cirv the commissioner went on. Among them
believe, are the Royal Insurance building. th
Cerrnan-Arnerican building, the old Times building
and the ButterIck building. all Of which are bull
on the same kind q soil found in the horing
for the municipal building. and all causing
weight Of from seven and a halt 10 eight tons
square foot on the foundations
In the first test made by the Bridge Department
sEe pllnger was weighted with TWO tons Of pig irol
when 81 had reached sixteen feet below the wate
line or fifty below the curb Later this weigh
was increased TO sixteen tons, the settlement beln
cnly tIree-sixteenJhs of an inch With Welsht o
eight tons the settlement was 7-64 Of an inch
In another test the settlement Of the plunger. a
2 depth OF sixty feet below the curb with egh
tons weight was 7-32 of inch
With sixteen tens weight at the same depth IN
sertlenerr was half inch At - feet below IN
curb or - feet below the waterline with eight ton
weight. the settlement was 1864 o. an inch Wit
thirty tons weight imposed il sank gradually from
27-S2 inches 10 2Jl-64 inches That weight re
rnained on the plunger. which had sunk below Ill
casing from October until December Il Ate
November there was settlement according u
the bridge engineers