I)uring tin- cm-dun of the work hundreds of 

 s|>ectators daily lined the streets and fruin every 

 vantage jH>int breathlessly watched 

 the hoisting of the material from 

 the trucks until it was safeh MA 

 in place hundreds of feet above 

 traffic of all kinds passed under- 



PIBLIC 

 INTEREST IN 

 THE WORK 



the street, while 



LOCAL 

 MANUFACTURE 



ENTIRELY 



ncath without interruption. 



The erectors, beginning on the ground floor and 

 gradually working upward to an ever-increasing alti- 

 tude, until they reached the top of the building 612 

 feet above the sidewalk scarcely noticed the change 

 and felt just as secure at the top as they did when 

 they began work on the ground floor. 



A notable feature of this work was, that begin- 

 ning with the raw materials which were made into 

 steel in open-hearth furnaces, cast 

 into ingots and rolled into plates 

 and shapes in the rolling mills, then 

 transferred to the bridge shops and 

 there sheared, punched, assembled, riveted and ma- 

 chined to proper dimensions, and finally were put into 

 place in the highest building in the world, all the work 

 was done in New York City by New York workmen. 



Not a single important piece of material was 

 drop|>ed during the erection and there was not a single 

 fatal accident. This is unprecedented in the history 

 of steel construction and stands as a record for careful 

 and skillful management. 



The steel used in the construction of the Singer 

 Building, if made into a f-inch wire cable, would 



reach from New York to 1Jm '""" 



A y res ' South America ' about 7 ' 100 

 miles. The total length of the 



steel-bearing columns in the Singer Building is about 

 53,220 feet, or 10 miles. 



The old Singer Building was 10 stories high, and 

 in order to increase the height of the building to the 

 level of the Singer Tower Building 

 it was necessary to run two new 

 columns near the front of the build- 

 ing, up from the basement. These 

 columns rest on riveted grillage gir- 

 ders and extend up to the llth tier. 

 The top of these columns supports a cantilever riveted 

 plate girder, which, in turn, supports three columns 

 extending up to the roof. 



In the rear of the building, three new columns 

 resting on riveted grillage girders extend up from 

 the basement, and were specially designed to r en- 

 force old columns in the building. 



ALTERATION 

 OF THE 

 ORIGINAL 

 SINGER 

 BUILDING 



The new columns wen- made in two lengths for 

 each story so as to facilitate the erection. Holes were 

 cut in the floors, through which the columns passed; 

 a- -non as a column was set in |x>sition under the 

 existing floor beams, the beams were shimmed up 

 with plates resting on the top of the columns, a 

 section of the beams was then sawed through and 

 removed so as to allow room for setting the next story 

 column, which passed through between the ends of 

 the beams and connected to the column below; this 

 operation was repeated until the new columns were 

 brought up to the level of the 10th tier of the old 

 building. All of this work had to be done at night 

 so as not to disturb the tenants. 



Six new floors were put in above the l()th tier; 

 the curved mansard roof was continued along from 

 the Tower building. The curved mansard on this 

 building was very complicated on account of the 

 building being somewhat skewed. 



All the new work had to match the connections 

 in the old building. Unusual time and care were used 

 in the preparation of the shop drawings, the result 

 being highly successful, the new work connecting up 

 with the old work without a hitch. 



The erection of this work called for a great deal 

 of care and precision, and the erection was carried 

 on and completed in a very quick and satisfactory 

 manner, despite the unusual character of the work. 



The steel work for the old building was fur- 

 nished and erected by the same contractors about 

 ten years ago. 



In the Bourne Building, which adjoins the rear 

 of the Singer Building, three old elevators had to 

 be removed and four new elevators 

 installed. In order to accomplish 

 this change, it was necessary to put 

 in entirely new framing, requiring 

 much additional framing in the floors around tin- 

 elevator shafts. In the roof of this building new 

 pent houses had to be built over the elevator shafts; 

 only one shaft could be changed at a time and tin- 

 work had to be carried on without interfering with 

 the elevator service. This work required a great 

 deal of cutting and fitting in the field to alter the old 

 steel work. 



In May, 1907, Millikcti lirothcrtt. Inc., were 

 awarded the contract for the ornamental iron work 

 for the Tower Building, and in Oct., 1907, the con- 

 tract for the ornamental iron work on the old Singer 

 Building was also awarded them. A brief description 

 follows and will prove of interest. 



82] 



ALTERATION 

 OF BOURNE 

 BUILDING 



