Science: Mushy Foundations

No skyscraper has yet toppled over, from Chicago's Home Insurance Building (world's first skyscraper, a steel skeleton structure) erected in 1885 to Manhattan's Chrysler and Bank of the Manhattan buildings now being completed. But several are in danger. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry, journal of the American Chemical Society, last week solemnly predicted. The names and locations of the endangered buildings the magazine did not report.

Their danger lies in their rotting concrete foundations. The concrete penetrates water-logged ground, but was not made impervious to water. Consequently water, especially where it carries chemicals like sulphates in solution, has reacted with the concrete to make a cement mush. The security of the buildings depend on the tenacity of the soil keeping the columns of soft concrete from spreading.

Communities where such conditions may exist include Boston, New York City, Jersey City, Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago, New Orleans—all places where many buildings are constructed on filled-in or water-permeated land.