Year: 1875

should have the advantage Of the fullest and farest
that their decision shall be accepted by all We have there
fore thought desirable to have an examination Of the wall
emnence, and invite their suggestions to the remedy
may secure impartiaity this investigation we
have deemed ~ to Your nGnST as the Che
this purpose VfTy g WIS,ss WEsIspSesstssally'


JACOB A. wEsTERvELT,)


DEPARTMENT OF DOCKS, J


OFFICE OF ENcINEER;INGlIrF' y !s'
To Hon. HENRY r. DIMocK, Chairman Executive Commit
now hold in this 9eparmegt received &C eo@mSnieaon
from tho Executive Committee calling my attention to Ger
Canal section of the bukhead WALL and requesting
animation as to the character Of the work perormed and
the manner Of the section Of wall referred to-
in regard 20 the construction Of said wall"


inaon of the Canal street section and have examined the
na s wSSR noe as much % as o
this subject consistent with my other duties The
the greater part of them lies under water, and
amor and although have not yet been able make 50
complete an examination & as wish TO- have aseertaned
lay before you at the earliest possible moment & The
Completed before my appointment and in front OF
which the new pier built my in
on at that time Upon examining the method of the work
details and although feeling lack Of Confidence in the
principle of constructions decided to allow this portion Of
the method Of doing work details should such
$ gSe % ns
dedged out on the site Of the wall TO about eet
for the wall to rest rest upon, Oy means OF tol.
about fourteen feet below mean low water. box
give shape 20 the concrete and prevent the cement from
Being worked away before il had time set This csisson
placing shutters panels Of plank them II
@ b snSs 0g e % ans
and hold in position until it had become hardened set
The spaces between the round piles then filed in with
about sixteen feet below low water the
height with prap stone The interior Of the
then filled with concrete, lowered through the
bottom and allowing the concrete to fall out upon the small
pcs the height Of about or two feet two inches
At this point the top of the concrete was eveled to
ceive tho first bottom Of the granite facing which
backing being also raised to correspond with the
courses of granite as each was laid


sending Diver Mcdonald down under water to place each
the Saser examined te wall already built pier


G @ of the s RT had m bsen bn as o


three Of the shutters panels about twenty feet out
face of the wall by Of rpap stone piled against them
water M They have BEEN removed and the face Of the
wall has never been properly examined can 1t be until
against them are too large to be removed by the
and some device with power must bo used to
them. Upon questioning Diver Mcdonald as the exam
that he had made all the examination under water to





(about eight feet ninety Of built and lying
under the per that this panel he had found the face
feet down from the bottom OF the granite, but below that
curved in and where should till il the
piles wea Just % h s SECOND ad rev piles & from the
Of piles bare Of concrete and useless not supporting the
the wall its tendency rotation rolling is vastly
increased and especially when the earth filing embank
placed behind it. In this particular however,
pier being built against the face of the WALL will prob
idreced Diver Mcdonald to go down carefully ex
anime as much of the face OF the wall as he possibly could
southery side OF the pier all that he could get at
ing distance Of twenty-five or twenty three feet, in
the as T % Ra @ Ses
part Of the wall under new pier No. ~ The removal Of the
time. Its condition be better than that
nor %ay os 81 Being anr s OF S
was completed the level of the base of the coping
north Of new pier No a. an and upon %ppyyng LYING the nsrG
of inch at point seventyeight feet from the north
side Of the pier and proportionae between said point and
point about the distance Two shutters panels
of the pier aud the diver Mcdonald sent down TO examine
He reported the face Of the wall good smooth and hard for
that point small rprap stone intended 70 be placed
tops ay under The down TO the tops
Of the piles and below the tops OF he piles between them
the Top Of e piles so that at this point the
on top Of aud around the piles This condition OF
things Is not due 20 tho principle Of construction,





ness doing the work. diver should have been
the and that they proper
position before the deposited No panels
have taken yet at this point The total extreme
ward Of foot The diver, Mcdonald has also
ined about iorty feet OF the of the wall
at Canal street, and found il in pretty good
order From the rear, however, a piece OF CON
and six inches thick had fallen of and brought up by
him This piece all that has been obtained yet from
low mark t Is very poor specimen Of what
should be. There Is little be
in IT, and II has so little cohesion that it broke into several
pieces by being rolled and could be readily crumbed
and broken pieces by the hand 1t Is preserved In the
Office The King section, $50 feet long,
completed IL stands before accession TO the
Office IL built the general principle as the
much evidently been
taken its construction details than at the Canal
street section. Diver Mcdonald under water and
rpped every box Of and that IL placed
In proper position. Its faults and failures therefore,
my opinion due to Its being constructed wrong pr
Of its face by Diver McDonald-one panel near
the southerly end the nOrthery end and
about the middle Of the section Mr. Kid, assistan
engineer charge Of the work. also went down IN armor
two southery panels smooth and soft but the northery
panel the face of the wall had fallen from top
TO bottom Depth into the face Of the wall Of from nine
inches fifteen and that the concrete sot where
been recently completed suspended the removal Of the
panels several weeks In order TO give the cement time
to set, II IL would do


All The shutters and panels the Of the wall were
then removed, and Of those on the 'front.' Diver
Mcdonald down and examined the wall, panel by
panel coming and reporting the eonuitoh OF eech one
before going " another. =, ~ 80,


lie reported whole of the concrete wall soft that he
could pull out with his hands, and various imperfect
thn