Year: 1876

THE FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE


MAYORS BOARD OF EXAMINING ENGINEERS


on OUR BULKHEAD WALLS.


When General Mcclellan took charge of the Depart
ment of Docks he inaueurated the using of beton
blocks the formation submarine foundations for
the granite bulkheads which designed for the i'm
proving of the ctys water front Under General Mo-
Clean's direction these blocks were made in lumber
forms and cured in the air that before they were To-
Gated in their positions in the foundation adhesion
Of all the ingredients had taken place and they
mpervious to tho action OF the water Later General
Graham succeeded General Mcclellan. and, with an
idea OF reducing the of building the bukhead wall,
he instituted plan for the making OF the beton founda
tion under water and en- nadsse BY this plan II was
hoped to bring the actual below the original esti
by about eighteen per cent and with this under
standing the work went on


Practical experience demonstrated the fact that the
new work was unstable and insecure, and to ascertain
howthe difficulty could be remedied the Mayor appointed
a commission OF engineering experts to examine the
King and Canal street bukheads and report their Ind
ings and recommendations back to him. The commit
tee, which composed of General John Newton,
General Quincy A. Gilmore and Mr.. Northam, have
each completed report, and all three combined in
jonreport, and the papers have been given in They
find that the beton substrucure which has beer laid at
the foot Of King street the North River is Of
the character claimed In several places the engineers
have found assures IN some instances six feet Deep
having been probed to that distance with steel rods.
In many places the concrete, it is called crhmbed
beneath the pressure of the hand, and



ease. The water in the vicinity OF the
experiments murky that the engineers un-
able satisfy their eyes in regard many particulars
which could not be investigated by the OF feeling.
To this dhculty they caused to be made,
under the direction OF General Graham, eighty ton
beton concrete block after the plan which had
been formed the defective substructure under invest
CATION This block allowed TO remain under water
Tor about two months and then raised by the
colossal derrick and placed the dock for the nspec-
ton of the Board. 1t found that there in
tegry In the block that adhesion had taken place.
and that the thing crumbling Shortly after tho
block had been placed on the dock the base OF ii began
10 fall apart and large 1ssure discovered in its
side. This experiment demonstrated the uselessness
OF the system of making blocks under water and con-
flrmed many OF the theories which had been formed
during the submarine investigation.


This investigation was most timely. for had II not
been made the original plan of making the foundation
OF the bukhead wall from Grand street. East River,
around the Battery and up along the North River
far Little Twelfth street would have been carried out


THE RECOMMENDATIONS


The examining engineers recommend that plat
form be built behind the present section OF the bulk
head wall, prevent the mud and concrete ILL.,
ing from pressing against IT and forcing ouof place.
OF course the plan Of General Graham will be aban-
doned In the yen to be done and the old arcured
bcton blocks such support the bukhead wall at pier
No North River, will be used in future