Evening star., 1932-05-10
DISTRICT At ODDS
WITH CONTRACTOR
ON NEW GARAGE
Notice Served to Resume
Work on Sewer Depart
ment Project.
CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
REFUSES TO PROCEED
Demands Entirely New Design.
Dispute Comes to Head
Tomorrow.

The District government and the FL
deity Construction Corporation are at
IoggerheadS over the work of building
the new Sewer Department Garage at
First and o streets southeast. Work
on the job had stopped, and the con-
tractor has refused to go ahead in the
manner demanded by the District
The District has served formal notice
on the contractor to resume work or
the contract will be turned over to his
bonding company. The notice expires
tomorrow.
The dispute centers over "a steel COLI
umns 1ncloSed by the walls of the ga
rage. WindStorm last March blew
the tops of these columns out of plumb
in some cases as much as 212 inches.
AT that time the brickwork inclosing
the columns was partially in place The
District demanded that this brickwork
be torn down, the columns examined
and those which were found bent be
replaced by new steel and the whole
job plumbed up.
Makes New Design.
The contracting firm. through H. S.
Hatton, its president, makes the point
that even after this is done the build
ing vii lbe structurally unsafe, and
demands that the entire structure be
redesigned. With a newly designed
roof and additional steel work to sup-
port the columns and trusses, Mr.. Hat
ton claims, it will be possible to put
up structurally safe building. Unless
the job Is redesigned, he says, he viii
have nothing further to do with il.
The building, in the first place, was
designed by the Sewer Department.
This, Hatton claims, was illegal, since
the law makes it the duty of the mu-
nicipal architect to draw all plans for
public buildings. After the plans we're
drawn the building inspectors ofice
approved the steel work design. but the
municipal architects Office, after re-
designing the foundation design, re-
fused to have anything to do with the
steelwork design, since that had been
approved by the building inspectors
Office.
Harold F. Baker. director of the de-
partment of construction, said today
that the municipal architects office
dld not like" the steel design, but that
since the building inspectors office had
approved 1t, he was satisfied that it was
safe design.
Report Finds Faults.
He said that he was satisfied that If
the steel work is put back in plumb and
warped steel replaced with new steel,
the building as at present planned will
be structurally safe.
Hatton, however, exhibited q report
signed by Earnest c. Ruepsan, a struc-
tural engineer in private practice, whom
he retained to make an engineering in
vestigation of the plans. Mr.. Ruepsans
report says that the steel design is
faulty, and should be corrected by the
inclusion of extra tie-rods, struts and
braces.
The contract was let November II,
1881, the price being $50, OBS. There
have been several other delays in the
work. On December the contractor
was ordered to step work on his trusseS.
and they were all redesigned. Two dayS
later he was told to keep his piledriver
on the job for few days, because the
District was considering placing an ex-
ira row of columns down the center of
the building. On December 10, how
ever, the contractor was notified that he
could let his piledriver go. since the
District had decided that the extra row
OF columns would not be necessary.
Mr.. Hatton estimated the cost of tear
ing out the brickwork and replacing
bent steel at between $4,000 and $12, 600.