Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1911-05-26
Raising The Maine.

the explosion which destroyed
that vessel more than thirteen
years ago, are multitudinOus.
One of the twenty large cais-
sons which form the great oval
around the wreck of the Maine
spread open a few days since and
has given the men on the work
much extra labor and worry, for
the reconstruction Of the caisSon
Is no easy job. When one con-
siders that the steel piling used
in the construction of these cais-
sons are IS feet in length; three
feet prOtruding above the surface
of the bay at high water, 30 feet
in the water, II feet in the mud
which covers the bottom of the
harbOr, and 20 feet in the earth
beneath, some idea can be obtain
ed of the painStaking work re-
quired by the undertaking. Add
tc this the fact that these piles
come in broken lengths and have
lnterlOcking joints, the precise
ness with which the work must
be done becomes more apparent.
The piling are made of heavy
steel, the interlOcking joints be-
ing comparable to the jaws of
pipe wrench, or to the half-clOSed
hand, with fingers and thumb
bent, the similarity being that
the " fingers clutch into one
ianOther and the thumbs rest
against the backs of the interlOck.
ing fingers. This makes a very
tight joint the entire length of
the piles and adds greatly to the
general strength of the caiSsOns,
az essential feature to the sue
ceSSful issue of the work. There
are $50 of these piling used in
the construction of, each caiSSOn,
each pile being one foot wide,
making the completed cylinder,
or caiSSOn. 90 feet in diameter.
They appear to. be so many great
barrels set up on end surround
ing the historic wreck.
These caiSSonS are separated by
the narrow margin of one foot,
and into this space at the nearest
point of contact, a single pile was
driven after all the caissons had
been completed. This pile closed
the aperature between the Gals
sons. Piles were then driven in
the form of a quarter section OF
a cOaxial circle. connecting each
IOf the caiSSOnS with It's neighbOr,
the apex of the quarter circle
being in alignment with the out
er edges of the caiSSons, making
plug-like. or wedge-Shaped con-
nectiOnS between them, on the
outer side.
These plugs, as well as the
caiSSOnS, are filled with mud and
earth dredged from the bottom of
the harbOr. thus forming steel
incaSed wall of earth about sixty
Eine spans, or fifty-twO feet high;
fifty feet broad and more than a
| thousand feet in length, built
around the wreck soon to be bar
ed to the sight of man, and the
secret, hidden for thirteen years
in the waters of Havana harbOr,
made known by the press to the
peoples of the world.
The spreading of the caisSOn, re-
ferred to in the second paragraph
in the belief of the engineers,waS
caused by one of the piles on the
outer side having come in con
tact with a fragment of steel
blown from the "Maine'. and in
being driven into place this pile
split. This made a weak spot in
the great cylinder and when it
was pumped full of mud by the
powerful suction dredge at work
nearby, thecaiSSOn was strained
almost to the bursting point.
Heavy northeast. winds caused a
nasty sea in the harbOr which
beat against the structure with
unceaSing effort and determined
violence. The weakened spot be-
came more susceptible to pressure
and when one of the bargeS en-
plOyed in the work bumped
against this particular caissOn,
the split pile gave way. As soon
as this occurred the heavy column
of soft earth contained in the
contents slipped out into the bay.
Divers were at once sent down
and their report was that the
steel piling had been so badly
twisted that. it would be necessary
to pull them up and drive an en-