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THE SURROUNDINGS OF TRINITY CHURCH.
The buildings are, left to right: Trinity, Equitable, American Surety, Bankers' Trust, No. 1 Wall Street.
Among New York sky scrapers, STANDARD OIL BUILDING, No. 26 Broadway, is remarkable for an engineering expedient for the support of the upper stories. The old building had nine stories, and when the addition of six new floors was contemplated it was found that the walls would not sustain the increased weight. Accordingly the lot adjoining on the north was acquired, and on this was erected a steel cage building with a cantilever projecting out over the old building, and of sufficient strength to sustain the weight of the new floors. The six upper stories, then, which appear to be a part of the old building and to rest upon its walls, are really, so far as support is concerned, quite independent of it. The steel cage construction has been likened to a bridge; here we have a Broadway office building which is in effect a cantilever bridge.
The construction of the annex of the MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY'S BUILDING at Liberty, Nassau and Cedar streets involved among other engineering feats the underpinning of an 18-story building adjoining, in which were a safety deposit company's safes and vaults, the working of the locks of which would have been stopped by a settlement of the sixteenth of an inch. The caissons of the annex rest on bedrock too feet below the surface. The cellar floor is 55 feet below the sidewalk, and 35 feet below the line of standing water.
Famous among New York skyscrapers is the SINGER BUILDING, at Broadway and Liberty street. It is forty-seven stories above the side-walk, with pinnacle 612 feet in air. The tower shows on each side an immense bay window, extending from the fourteenth to the thirty-fourth story, each capped with an arch supporting a semi-circular balcony. The roof of the tower, of curved mansard type, includes three stories, the whole surmounted by a huge copper lantern. From the roof of the main building searchlights of the United States naval standard are directed against the facades of the tower, making it visible at night in bold relief for over twenty miles. The lantern crowning the tower contains a powerful searchlight, the rays of which may be seen from a distance of sixty to seventy-five miles. Further exterior illumination of the tower is accomplished by means of concealed incandescent lights.
The Singer Building is a house founded on a rock. The weight of the vast structure, which is 90,000 tons, is supported upon caissons of solid concrete, resting on the bedrock 92 feet below the curb. A novel feature of the construction is the provision of a system of "wind anchors," to withstand the tremendous wind pressure to which the building is subjected during a gale. Assuming a wind pressure of 30 pounds per square foot, distributed uniformly over the face of the building, the engineers calculated the total overturning moment of the wind to be 128,000 foot-tons, a force which would give the building a tendency to lift on the windward side. To provide against this lift, a set of big steel rods was devised, running down fifty feet into the concrete piers on which the building rests, and thus securely anchoring it to the foundation.
Some details of the building are: Height from sidewalk to top of lantern, 612 feet; basement floor to top of flagstaff, 724 feet. Forty-nine stories; 9/ acres of floor space; 15 miles of steam and water piping; 15,000 incandescent lamps. Not a cubic inch of wood is used in the construction or finish. The elevators rise 41 stories in one minute; express elevators 30 stories in 30 seconds.
Other New York sky scrapers adjoining the Singer Building are:
The CITY INVESTING BUILDING, thirty stories in height, with roof 418 feet above the curb, and caisson foundations 8o feet below the surface.
The TRINITY BUILDING (310 feet in height), overlooking Trinity Church-yard, has the advantage of a position which gives the vast Gothic facade peculiar impressiveness.
Adjoining is the UNITED STATES REALTY BUILDING (300 feet), a twin structure. Each building is of twenty-one stories. The combined floor space is 552,873 square feet, an area which if one floor would cover seven blocks the size of the Madison Square Garden. The foundation caissons rest on bedrock 80 feet below the sidewalk.
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