Report of the Chief of Engineers U.S. Army

against fire, and all purposes for the proper establishment of said Engineer School and Post not specifically mentioned herein, three hundred and sixty thousand dollars; this sum and all other funds heretofore appropriated for this purpose to be available until expended.

For the completion of the necessary buildings, including approaches, heating and lighting plant, for the Army War College, at Washington Barracks, District of Columbia, in accordance with plans of the architects, three hundred thousand dollars: Provided, That no part of this appropriation shall be used until it shall have been determined, by the Secretary of War, that the entire cost of finishing the buildings, providing the approaches, heating and lighting plant, shall not exceed the appropriation herein made.

Engineer School, Washington, District of Columbia: Provided further, To cover extra expense in the establishment of the Engineer School and post at Washington Barracks, District of Columbia, due to difficult foundations, increased cost of labor, and other unforeseen and adverse contingencies, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to be immediately available.

PROGRESS OF WORK AT THE ENGINEER SCHOOL.

During the fiscal year the following buildings at the Engineer School have been completed and occupied: Thirteen sets of officers' quarters, the officers' mess, one barrack building for two companies, one band barrack, two mess hall buildings, one quartermaster and commissary storehouse, one new stable, and one new wagon shed.

Construction has been in progress on the following buildings: So much of a second two-company barrack building as is not interfered with by the Army General Hospital, six sets of noncommissioned officers quarters, an engineer storehouse, a quartermaster workshop, a post bakery, foundations for bachelor officers' quarters, and two additional sets of officers' quarters.

The two sets of officers' quarters have been completed so far as to get them covered in. They will be entirely completed by fall. The quartermaster workshop and the post bakery are almost completed and will be ready for occupancy probably by September 1, 1905. The same is true of the portion of the second two-company barrack building under construction. The floor framing for the first floor of the engineer storehouse has been completed, and the brick walls are well advanced above the first-story level. The brickwork for four sets of noncommissioned officers' quarters has been brought to the point where it is to receive the first-floor framing, and this framing has been placed. The brickwork on the other two sets of noncommissioned officers' quarters is up to the finished ground level, but has not been carried any higher. Foundations for the bachelor officers' quarters have been completed, but nothing else has been done. The bachelor officers' quarters occupy a site on the east side of the post near the James Creek Canal. Immediately opposite this site, when the filling was in progress two years ago, the sea wall bounding the canal slid out into the canal under the pressure of the superincumbent earth. The trouble seems to be that the soil consists of a soft muck to a very great depth. Whenever any additional weight is piled on it, it settles and causes a lateral moving of the soft underlying material out under the canal, with a consequent bulging up in the bottom of

the canal. This action has caused several serious cracks to appear in the foundations of the bachelor officers' quarters before any appreciable weight was put on them. Because of this condition operations have been suspended on this building. It is only a question of time when either James Creek Canal will have to be abandoned and filled up, or else when the sea wall on its west side will have to be rebuilt with an adequate foundation. In either case the movement in the material surrounding the bachelor officers' quarters would be stopped, and it would then be possible to proceed with the building without inordinate expense. At the present time to make its foundations secure without regard to a sea wall or the filling of the canal would cost more than the importance of the building justifies. For this reason, as before stated, operations have been suspended, and it is probable they will not be resumed until such time as the reconstruction of the sea wall or the filling of the canal will correct the troublesome conditions. In the meantime should a considerable number of bachelor officers be ordered to Washington Barracks for duty a number of the old buildings are still available for quarters.

As stated in the last annual report, it would not be possible with existing appropriations to complete the entire reconstruction of the post as laid out. As stated in that report, this general layout is more comprehensive than anything that was ever estimated for, and it provides for the removal of all buildings, a thing which was not provided for in any estimate of cost. A study of the problem, after appropriations were made, indicated however, that in order to secure the maximum economy in future development it was quite necessary to adopt such a layout, even though it should be left in a manifestly incomplete condition for a number of years. The old buildings are all in an advanced stage of deterioration, and it will not be long before they will have to be pulled down anyway. All the work that has been done during the process of reconstruction has been made to accord with a plan which will provide for the most efficient possible future development of the post. Considering the great advance in the price of labor and materials which has occurred during the continuance of the work, at least as great a return in the way of new buildings has been obtained for the money expended as was ever contemplated in any estimate of cost. Emphasis is laid upon this fact at this time merely to prevent a wrong impression from being made by the incomplete appearance of the work. This was a condition which was deliberately accepted in order to avoid embarrassing conditions in the future.

PROGRESS OF WORK AT THE WAR COLLEGE BUILDING.

The terrace of the War College building has been about 80 per cent completed. The building itself is almost up to the level of the second floor. It would have been in a much more advanced stage of completion but for the fact that the act appropriating an additional $300,000 required that the Secretary of War should be satisfied that the building could be completed within the limit of the appropriation before going ahead. This entailed quite a delay while preliminary but reasonably accurate estimates of cost could be obtained on all those parts of the work which could not be settled until it was known whether an additional appropriation would be granted or not.

The original plans, which were provisionally approved, also showed a good deal of ornamental interior finish, most of which has had to be cut out in the interest of economy. The architects were very loth to do this, and it has required a good deal of time to find something which would be reasonably satisfactory to them and yet come within the limit of the appropriation. For these reasons the building is not quite so far advanced as it was hoped, but there is every reason to suppose that it will be ready for occupancy during the late spring

of 1906.

Some interesting developments in the way of concrete pile work and reenforced concrete work have resulted from the year's work on the War College and Engineer School, but the data are not sufficiently complete to justify a contribution at this time to the technical appendix of the report of the Chief of Engineers. This matter will be reserved until next year, when it can be stated accurately and in a way to be of value to those who are interested in it.

The present condition of appropriations for the War College building is as follows:

Amount appropriated by act of June 30, 1902
Amount appropriated by act of April 23, 1904.