The San Francisco call., 1909-07-25

as tops for the masses OF piles. The
hundred piers are so massive that they
required 1850 barrels of cement. When
all the piers were finished the mud was
pumped back around them. protecting
the piles from fOuling.
Tie Fife building on the gore formed
by the intersection Of California street
with Market is a neat, compact struc-
ture. which would not appear to be an
architectural marvel and yet one OF the
most complicated problems had to be
solved to make this building firm on
its foundations For, if the mathe-
matical problem is difficult on a gore
where the foundations are laid on
compact sand. 1t is much more COM
plicated when it rests on pile fOunda-
tion. as the weight has to be even more
carefully distributed IN the case OF
the Fife building. piles S5 feet long
were driven until the tops were IL
feet below the waterline. To set con-
crete at this depth without using
caissons required constant pumping
and piecemeal work between tides. At
low tide. when the water which rises
and falls throughout all the lower pOr-
tiOn OF the city had run down. thereon
crete was rapidly laid, and by the
use Of a powerful pump at the return
of high tide the water was kept 50
low that 1t could do no damage How
ever, IL was always necessary to walt
for the next low tide to lay any more
concrete. Working in this way, ac-
cording to the rise and fan OF the tide.
a solid foundation OF concrete and grill
age beams was laid five feet thick over
the whole lot On this the building
rested securely.
Draining the District
When the Hooker & Lent building
was started two blocks farther up
Market street on the opposite side. a
pump was put TO work two weeks
before the foundations were laid and
the entire district emptied OF water.
The building was n complication OF
problems. The lot being only 80 feet
wide, II was necessary to "tie" the
beams together. as in the KOhler &
Chase building; its narrowness brought
the wind pressure IN for particular
consideration. and also the foundations
had to be laid in II feet OF water.
The actual presence of the water
was excluded by the use OF a big
pump which worked night and day un-
til the foundations and basement walls
were completed and set. The floors
and beams or cantilevers were set IN
one solid piece. and. as the floor pro-
gressed. the walls rose, keeping out the
crumbling sand and the dampness. The
question early arose as to how the
whole lot was going to be made int<
one watertight basement with a pump
at work In the very middle OF II. The
pump was necessary and could not be
dispensed with until the whole job was
completed and all the concrete had had
ample time to set.
This little problem was settled by
leaving in the floor round hole, lined
with steel. threaded ready to have a
cap screwed upon IT, Through this
hole the water was pumped until the
concrete was thoroughly set. and then
the pump was withdrawn and the cap
screwed on After that the water could
rise as far as it liked, it could not
penetrate the basement
Only a few OF the many instances
of complicated foundations have been
given, each representing a type sue
cessfully used On each OF these every
architect has a variation. In no two
buildings are the foundations exactly
alike. but all depend Tor their strength
and stability upon the principles shown
IN the buildings cited