Evening star., 1937-02-20
OFFICIALS SPEED
ACTION T0LAUNCH
MEMORIAL WORK
Borings at Tidal Basin Site
Ordered Begun I'M
mediateIy.
PROJECTS COMPLETION
IN 3 YEARS POSSIBLE
Foundations on Jefferson Project
Expected to Prove More Costly
Than for Lincoln Unit.
BY WILLIAM A. MILLEN.

On the heels Of the official Selec-
ton of the Tidal Basin as the site for
the Thomas Jefferson Memorial by a
Congressional Committee, headed by
Representative Boylan, Democrat, Of
New York, the National Park Service,
Interior Department, today moved
to start work on the project. Survey
ors of the Park Service were ready to
begin the preliminary work and Maj.
Walter D. Luplow, district engineer
for the War Department for the
Washington area, was asked to start
borings at the site Immediately, to
determine exactly how far down to
bed rock the foundations will have
to go.
With an official request before the
Bureau of the Budget for some ST.
100000, half of the S3,O00,000 re-
quired, little delay is foreseen in push
ing the memorial to completion. The
Fine Arts Commission is known to be
favorable to the plan and President
Roosevelt is represented as support
ing the findings of the Boylan Com
mission. Frederic A. Delano, chair
man Of the National Capital Park
and Planning Commission, who Is
close to the White House, is also un-
derstood to be favorable to the plan
to have the memorial constructed at
the Tidal Basin.
Time for Construction.
The Lincoln Memorial, which also
cost 100000, was started in 1914
and dedicated in 1922, but the World
War intervened, slowing up the con-
struction. Just how loNg it will take
to construct the Thomas Jefferson
Memorial has not been announced, but
it is expected the job can be COM
pleted within three years, If desired.
At the outset, Government engineers
believe that the work on the foun-
dations for the Thomas Jefferson Me-
mortal will be a much more difficult
task than was the Lincoln Memorial,
for, they say. it will be necessary to
60 down about twice the distance to
reach bed rock. This does not mean
merely double the cost, for, they con-
tend, the increased cost accelerates
with each foot down. The founda-
tions for the Lincoln Memorial cost
$215,918 Since then, officials point
out. labor and material costs have
mounted.
On the basis Of present information,
the Government engineers anticipate
they will have to go down at least 10
feet below average low tide to reach
rock bottom at the Tidal Basin for the
Thomas Jefferson Memorial. The
United States Engineer Office. how
ever, will study the newest data. For
the Lincoln Memorial foundation, the
engineers had to penetrate 40 feet
below average low tide to strike solid
rock.
The bed of rock slopes sharly down.
ward to the south of the Lincoln
Memorial, the officials say, with the
outcroppings of the ledge being found.
starting at Georgetown and in the
upper Potomac River region At the
Highway Bridge, solid rock is reached
at from 80 to ITO feet below aver
age low water, while at Hams Point,
at the tip of East Potomac Park,
because Of the sloping ledge, it would
be necessary to go down to 300 feet
to reach bed rock.
The Washington Monument does
not rest on bed rock, but on a knoll
Borings conducted in recent years
show that bed rock is reached there
ut 50 feet below average low water.
Streets to Be Extended.
While some authorities have been
fearful that many of the japanese
cherry trees around the Tidal Basin
would be lost in the new development
and that West Potomac Park golf
course would be eliminated, those
close 10 the Thomas Jefferson Me-
not correct. Fifteenth and Seven
teenth streets are to be extended
southwark, and east and west cause
ways will connect with the memorial
proper, surrounded by water on a
near-island in the Tidal Basin. Seven
teenth street extended will become,
In effect, causeway and the Govern
ment engineers are expressing some
concern about how this will be "an-
chored," in view of the uncertain con-
dition Of the subsurface formation.
Later, Independence avenue is to be
extended down to the Potomac River
at,the Ericsson Memorial If this prof.
ect be carried forward, the northern
end of the Tidal Basin will be cut
of. This will raise problem around
the John Paul Jones Monument, which
now sets at the foot of Seventeenth
street, on the shores of the Tidal
Basin. The monument would be in
the center of Seventeenth street ex-
tended.
The railroad tracks are to remain
as they are, officials explained, and
later the problem will arise of screen
ing out these public utilities. The
Fine Arts Commission, some time ago,
broached plan, whereby the railroad
tracks would be eliminated, through
construction Of tunnel beneath the
Potomac River, perhaps farther down.
stream. But this now appears to be
o problem for the distant future.
Basin to Be Rearranged.
The Outlet Gate and the Inlet Gate
OF the Tidal Basin will remain, ac-
eording to the preliminary plans for
the memorial development. At one
time it was feared that about half the
Tidal Basin would be filled in and
that this would cause an engineering
and sanitary problem in the Wash
ington Channel. But now that the
commission proposes that the me-
mortal rest on q near-island and that
the water area of the Tidal Basin
remain much as 1t Is at present-al-
though rearranged somewhat-this
fear has apparently been dissipated.
The tide flows up to Washington, part
Of it entering the Tidal Basin through
the Inlet Gate Then, with the out
going tide, the Outlet Gate opens and
allows the water to wash down Wash
3ngton Channel.
The National Park Service has been
designated by the Thomas Jefferson