The Elbert County tribune., 1916-04-07
March 81, 1916.


Honorable Board of Education, School
District No. IL, Ebert county, Colo.
Dear Sir and Mesdames:
In compliance with your request, l
visited the present school building in
the city of Ebert, and made careful
inspection and investigation Of same on
Thursday, March 30, 1916, and beg to
present for your consider alton the fol-
lowing report on the present condition
OF the said school building, with regard
to it's structural safety.
Excavations were made from rhe ou t.
side grade lines down to the bottom of
the footings of the outside brick walls,
at the southeast and northwest corners
OF the building. The average depth of
the bottom of the walls below the grade
is twenty inches, and the walls rest on
loose and soft black loan, and it is
surprise to me that the building has
been sustained in position until the pres
ent time without accident, as the maxi
mum load on such foundation soil should
not exceed 800 pounds per superficial
foot, and then only with the best grade
of a concrete footing, which the present
building has not.
l have maUe calculations of the actual
present loads on this foundation soil,
which included the dead loads, live
loads, possible snow load and the wind
pressure, the result being that there is
n m rst. r nft tu,, t,,n
fetal foot Using factor of safety of
four, for this foundation footing, leaves
the present foundation just a fraction
over the limit of fracture or collapse and
which might occur at any time, from
the effects of high wind, accompanied
10y soft or sloppy snow, or by water get
ting into this soft foundation soil.
Should the settlements in the brick
walls continue, and cause slip of the
bottom of the walls, l am of the opinion
that collapse of the building, would
be very sudden, and practically give the
pupils no time in which to be removed
from the zone of danger.
The present condition of the bottom
OF the walls and the soil supporting
same, a. l have described are sufficient
demn the building and have same va
Gated for school purposes.
The present brick in the walls and
foundations are very poorly burned, sal
mon, sand brick. and are now in a stat,
of disiutegratloG and decomposition, anu
tne coudilion becomes absolutely lem
gerous from every point of view. The
brick work on the outside walls have
shown many cracks and breaks, which
is sufficient to inform US that the pres
ent brick is not OF sufficient hardness to
be used in this class of work, and is al
present menoce to the stability OF the
structure. The cracks in the brick walls
are most pronounced at connections OF
the window and door openings with the
piers, which to great extent are caused
by the settlement of the piers where the
loads are grea a.est.
Should the southeast corner of the
building settle or sink any further, the
the outside entrance doors to slip thru
and fall out, and if this did happen, the
entire front wall would come with it,
close the entrance lobby and stair ano
prevent the escape of those within the
building.
On account of the outside Brick walls
not being sufficiently braced and an
chored by the second floor joists and
the ceiling joists and roof rafters, the
brick walls are considerably out OF
plumb, and during high wind storm
may collapse by the rocking of the
building. causing the second floor walls
to fall in and the first floor walls to fall
out.
The second floor joists and ceiling
joists do not form tie across the full
width of the building, which is neces
sary in building of this class, but are
notched and toe nailed into the girders,
which extend thru the center of the
building on the second floor and ceiling.
This construction cuts the building
practically in two sections, removing