260 COLLAPSE OF TEXAS TOWER NO. 4 



Mr. Kendall. That is the point I had in mind, sir, that I wanted 

 to clear up. 



JSIr. RuTLEDGE. The legs sat on the ocean bottom, with a small ring 

 through which the piles penetrated and fastened the piles to the leg. 

 Then when the contractor requested a change from piles to caissons, 

 we computed a range of possible combinations of required diameter 

 and required depth of embedment to accomplish the same result, and 

 gave this to him, from which he selected the 25-foot diameter and the 

 20-foot depth. 



ELIMINATION OF PILINGS 



Mr. Kendall. Now, the elimination of the piling, I believe, sort of 

 resulted in a chain reaction of changes, did it not? The result of 

 the elimination of the piling made possible the elimination of the tem- 

 porary platform, is that correct ? 



Mr. RuTLEDGE. No, sir; these were independent changes. The con- 

 tractor first requested to shift from piles to caissons because he felt 

 that he would have difficulty drivuig the piles. Then he later re- 

 quested that the temporary platform be eliminated and that he be per- 

 mitted to use the permanent platform in lieu of the temporary plat- 

 fonn. 



Mr. Kendall. Yes, sir ; but didn't he say that we do not need the 

 temporary platform because we have eliminated the driving of the 

 piles ? 



Mr. RuTLEDGE. No, sir ; that was not the reason. He still had 



Mr. IvENDALL. That was not one of the reasons ? 



Mr. RuTLEDGE. He still had to sink caissons and place concrete in 

 them, which was a factor 



Mr. Kendall. The fact that you eliminated piles did not contribute 

 in any way to the elimination of the temporary platform ? 



Mr. Rutledge. To me, these are completely independent. 



INIr. KJENDALL. ]Mr. Kuss, what do you say ? 



Mr. Kuss. I would say they are independent. 



Mr, Kendall. Tlie elimination of the temporary platform did lead 

 to the lashing down of the braces during the tow, didn't it ? 



Mr. Rutledge. That was one of the consequences. The adding of 

 the caissons added 20 feet to the length of the legs. That meant that 

 when the foundation structure was placed on the ocean bottom, the 

 braces at minus 25 feet would be 20 feet higher, or minus 5, 5 feet 

 below sea level. 



Then w^hen he wished to use the main platform in lieu of the tem- 

 porary platfonn, the main platform weighed something over 4,000 

 tons, and had a draft of about 11 feet. So that in order to use the 

 main platform for construction, he had to fold these braces down. 



]Mr. Kendall. And that brought about a situation which you orig- 

 inally intended or attempted to prevent; that was the making of con- 

 nections under water? 



Mr. Rutledge. Yes, sir; because this is a difficult construction oper- 

 ation. However, our responsibility in terms of our contract was in 

 terms of the ultimate structure, and his proposal, if carried out com- 

 pletely, would result in the same ultimate structure. 



Mr. Kendall. But that did compel you to face the problem of con- 

 necting these braces under water, which you originally set out to 

 obviate ? 



