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REAL ESTATE
AND
k^ BUILDERS
mim.
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 12, 1914
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I WILLIAM STREET SUBWAY A MIGHTY WORK |
I The Underpinning of Giant Buildings Will Be the Prominent Feature—This
I Will Cost $465 a Front Foot in Cases—Construction Methods Described
H
MORE publictiy has attended the
various steps leading up to the
construction of the subway through
William Street than any other section.
Almost every step has heen a hesitating
one. William street is only forty feet
wide, divided almost equally between
sidewalks' and roadway. Seven thou¬
sand people pass one of its busy corners
in a normal hour. Fearful that damage
would be wrought to the buildings that
line the street, many property owners
were opposed for a time to the con¬
struction of the subway there, and lat¬
terly they entered a
protest against the
erection of trestles
in front of stores
and office buildiiigs
to carry gas mains
and other conduits
while the road is un¬
der construction.
The so-called
"William street sub¬
way" will connect
the Seventh avenue
subway with the
downtown business
district 'of Manhat¬
tan, and with Brook¬
lyn. The route
leaves the Seventh
avenue line at West
Broadway and Park
place and runs
through under the
Post Office property
to Beekman street
and thence into Wil¬
liam. Then the
route is down Wil¬
liam to Old Slip and
under the East
River to Clark street
and Fulton street,
Brooklyn, to make a
junction w'ith the
existing subway
there.
The value of the
property along the
William street sec¬
tion is estimated at
$40,362,000. as the
lower portion of the
street is fianked by
some of the largest
and most expensive
buildings in the city.
Most of them are
built on quicksand,
but the Public Serv¬
ice Commission, on
elsewhere the width will be twenty-nine
feet. The gas mains will be carried in
the gutters, except at street intersec¬
tions, when they must be elevated to
trestles.
The depth to subgrade will vary from
twenty-five to thirty-one feet, through
coarse sand, with some gravel, grading
into fine sand which, below the water-
line, becomes quicksand. At Pearl
street the subgrade will be twenty feet
l)elow mean high water, and sixteen feet
at Maiden Lane. Floor and sidewalls
will be built with brick and mastic
waterproofing, as a matter of course.
WILLIAM STREET, SOUTH FROM WALL.
Showing nature of buildings to be underpinned—National City Bank on the left; the Bank of
America, Atlantic Building, Land's Court and Corn Exchange Bank on the right.
the advice of its engineers, takes the
position that the buildings can be
adequately shored up, and if necessary
caissons will be sunk to secure their
safety.
The closeness of the excavation to
the buildings, the unstable character of
the soil, and the great property values
at stake, are elements in one of the most
difficult problem that the engineers
have had to contend with. At stations
the width of the excavation will be full
forty feet between building lines, in or¬
der to provide for island platforms, and
The great feat required of the engin¬
eers will be to keep the "swimming
sand'* quiescent and confined, when it
possesses a high bearing value, but
when released it becomes dangerous in a
high degree.
Stations will be built to extend be¬
tween John and Ann street, and between
Cedar and Wall. The entrances' will be,
one on the cast side of Fulton street,
for the first-named station, and for the
other station there will be one entrance
on the west side, at Pine street, and one
on each side at Wall. Some anxiety
has been expressed by owners and ten¬
ants over the location of the Pine street
station. The possibility of a kiosk
six feet wide occupyine a sidewalk nine
feet eight inches wide has been appre¬
hended, but this is something that Avill
never eventuate, the Record aiid Guide
is officially assured. The precise loca¬
tion of the stairway will be determined
after negotiations with the owners of
adjacent property, and it is highly im¬
probable that it will be in a position
where it will block traffic or injure pri¬
vate business.
A very difficult and trying part of the
construction work
will be the under¬
pinning of buildings,
it is almost unneces¬
sary to say. The
proposed method
will be decided on
by the contractor,
but must, by the
terms' of the con¬
tract, receive the ap¬
proval of the com¬
mission, because
primary responsibil¬
ity has, by the
cotirts, been placed
upon the city, for the
first time in any
contract for subway
construction. At the
same time the con¬
tractor has not been
relieved of the usual
full responsibility.
The established
practice for work of
this character is to
provide adequate
temporary support
and then build per¬
manent supports for
the existing founda¬
tions from rock or
hardpan beneath the
piers or other points
of load concentra¬
tion. Between the
piers there will be
continuous bulkhead
walls (either of
tight sheeting or
solid concrete), to
stop any tendency of
the quicksand to
flow. Similar walls
will protect build¬
ings having adequate
foundations, i f u n -
impaired by the sub¬
way work. There
are ten buildings of thirteen to twenty
stories in height; twenty buildings ten
to twelve stories high, and forty-five
that have less than seven stories each,
but ali with foundations below the sub¬
way subgrade. ^
Assistant Division Engineer John H-
Madden, in a report which is printed in
the Survey (the official bulletin of the
P. S. Commission), says the construc¬
tion will probably be conducted from
three working shafts, situated (1) at the
southwest corner of Beekman street,
(2) the northwest corner of Maiden