Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-12
PLANS OF GARDENS
ABOUT MONUMENT
AWAIT SOIL TESTS
Solid Bed Rock Expected 90
Feet Below Surface OF
Ground.
NEW PROGRAM STUDY
IS NOW UNDER WAY
Stability of Great Monolith Not
to Be Affected by Plans
for Mall.

Solid bedrock Is expected 70 be
reached this week around che 100000
marx IN the vicinity Of the Washington
Monument, in operations being carried
forward TO determine what program Is
to be adopted for the proposed slpken
gardens.
Lieut.. Col U. s. Grant. Sd, director
Of Public Buildings and Public Parks,
heads a special committee, the person.
mel of which was announced yesterday.
to determine what type of gardens will
be most suitable to be placed in the
Washington Monument grounds, consid-
ertng the type Of subsoil and other per-
tinent factors.
Ten Holes Being Drilled.
Maj. D. H. Gillette, assistant to Col.
Grant, explained yesterday that engi-
neers are mainly interested at present
ground that lies below the surface in
the vicinity Of the Monument. Ten
holes are to be drilled by the Giles
Drilling Corporation of New York in a
circumference about the roadway that
surrounds the Monument, and so far
the first hole drilled has revealed that
sand, gravel and clay have been en-
countered down to about go feet and
that a great bed of blue clay lies below
When data based on drilling the 10
holes has been assembled, Mai. Gillette
said, the special board will go over the
findings and determine what plan will
be most suitable for adoption. Various
types of plans are being considered,
with diggings at different depths for
the proposed gardens most of them
notifications of the 1901 Macmillan
Commission program. The plan that
Is safest and will interfere least with
the stability of the Washington Monu-
ment will ultimately be adopted. BUT the
special board must know first the char
acter of the subsoil and the varying
depths at which the different kinds are
found.
Board Personnel.
Serving with Col. Grant on the spe-
cial board are William A. Delano, New
York architect, and Frederick Law
Olmstead, Brookline, Mass, landscape
architect, who are both members of the
National Capital Park and Planning
Commission; James Vipond Davies and
Lazarus White of New York, consulting
engineers, and Mai. d. H. Gillette, who
is assistant executive oficer Of the
Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission,
as the engineering member of the board.
Cooperating with this group will be
Charles w. Eliot, I'd, director of plan
ming OF the commission, and w. T.
Partridge. consulting architect Of the
commission.
Mr.. Eliot said yesterday that plans
Tor the washington Monument gardens
are In tentative stage and that Mr.
Partridge Is at work on q study model.
An entirely new study of the whole
program Is now under way, in which
the commissions staff is assisting.
Monument Not on Bed Rock.
Contrary to popular belief, the Wash
1ngton Monument does not rest on be
rock, but was constructed on q hillock
In the erstwhile marshy land The
subsurface at the base of the monu-
ment is a bed Of gravel and sand and
lies about 40 feet below the visible base
OF the structure. After construction of
the monument was resumed, following
lengthy pause, it was found neces-
sary to strengthen the foundations,
and this was done by concrete con-
struction.
The special board is anxious to know
how far construction of the sul.kvn
gardens may proceed without disturb
ing the stability of the Washington
Monument. This rests upon a study
to be made following securing OF IN
formation from the 10 holes that are
being drilled at present,