The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1927-11-04

The bearing capacity Of soils depends upon their com
position the degree to which they are confined and
the amount of moisture which they contain.
An approximate idea Of the loads which may be safe
~ placed upon uniform strata of considerable thickness
may be obtained by load test OF by examining and
comparing their quality with the quality of sand that
has been tested for structures of similar character
Ordinary soils viii usually bear more weight the
greater the DEPTH owing to the fact that they become
more condensed from the superimposed load. In any
soil the bed Of the foundation should be below the reach
OF frost
It scarcely happens that soil is loaded with
the full amount of weight which it is capable Of sus-
tanning.
Wet sand when prevented from spreading laterally
forms of the best beds for foundation and is CON
sldered the next best to rock which structure
be erected.
1t is customary practice among architects and engi
neels to design the foundation footngs that the load
on the soil is tons to the square foot without making
any load test. Most cities specify in their bulding
codes the maximum allowable unit pressure on soil of
this character These codes the result of careful
investigation and they may be safely followed in de-
signing the foundations. The Atlantic City building
code allows you to use unit pressure of ~ tons to the
square foot In load tests that have had experience in
making, the sand of the character as found on
this site loaded to Is tons to the square foot with
out showing any appreciate settlement. | am sure
that If the soil is loaded to support 81 tons to the
square foot that there viii be absolutely danger of
any settlement. In my experience know of the fol
lowing list of buildings that are constructed upon soil
of this sort Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Ambassador Hotel
President HOTEL Atlantic City High School, Bell Tele-
phone Building, ST. Charles Hotel and many other
structures.
find the natural surface water level to be 3 feet
inches below the surface This water elevation viii
vary at different times depending upon the amount of
rain fall | believe Ansley Park is developed and
sewerage systems have been installed sidewalks and
streets completed that the water elevation will drop
about it. below the surface The character of the sand
that has been used for fill is clean and of
ture allowing easy drainage Of the rain fall | do not
believe that the water elevation viii be any higher than
that found at the time in making this report.
The chief obstacles that would be encountered in the
foundation work and the most common one, is water
This is condition that is encountered in the erection
Of all important structures that have been erected at
the seashore resorts and is therefore not unusual
condition Where the foundation of a structure must
pied is freed Of water after which the work proceeds
as on dry land The following will show that the
pumping cost is insignificant in comparison to the cost
Of the building in foundation construction with mod
ern methods of pumping the cost should not exceed
$4,000. have arrived at this cost follows, INSTALL
ing and dsmantling of equipment $4,000 as | under
stand the basement floor viii not be below water level
it would only require operation OF pumps hours Gay
using union engineers and allowing weeks to COM
pete the foundations, the cost of operation would be
$371 90 and the cost of power would be approx
mately $175.00.
would also like to state that the surplus excavation
to be removed from the site would only have be cart
ed short distance, and / believe the saving the
hauling cost would more than pay for the cost of
pumping.
of dollars invested in structures that built sand
of the character that existing IN Ansey Park
and in view of this fact all fear OF excess cost ana
settling of the building should be dispersed with.
Respectfully yours,
ANTHONY P. MILLER
C+o4