One of the many Texas Engineering Landmarks in celebration of Texas ASCE’s Centennial: 1913-2013 “Engineering a Better Texas.” Visit them all!
The 35 story, art-deco Gulf Building, completed in 1929, had the distinction of being the tallest building west of the Mississippi for 33 years. The project was a landmark in the development of foundation design and has forever changed the way buildings in the region are designed.
The use of a mat foundation, rather than piles, was agreed upon after an extensive geotechnical review (with advice from Dr. Charles (Karl) Terzaghi, the "Father of Soil Mechanics").
Settlement records -- taken from a set of special bolts set to monitor the structure for 19 years -- pioneered data collection, informing the development of other Gulf Coast buildings and the use of mat foundations.
“After 14 floors had been completed,” writes Betsy Tyson in Engineering a Better Texas: ASCE and 100 Years of Civil Engineering in the Lone Star State, “building owner Jesse Jones decided he wanted to add four more stories to be sure his building was the tallest west of the Mississippi, and he placed a call to Simpson who responded it would take time to calculate if this would be possible. Jones replied, ‘That’s all right. I’ll hold the line open for 20 minutes waiting for your reply.’ Simpson and his chief engineer, Manfred Gerhardt, determined within the allotted time that they could add the requested stories after strengthening the main columns for the first 14 floors.”
Upon completion, the Gulf Building rose 430 feet high. One could see Galveston from the observation deck (with the help of a strong telescope). The deck was also home to a nighttime Aeronautical Beacon consisting of two searchlights: one directed vertical, one horizontal.
Listed as an ASCE National Historic Engineering Landmark in 1997.
Also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, added 1983 - - #83004436 (http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/tx/Harris/state2.html)
Quick Facts
(Source: ASCE Landmarks: Texas Commerce Bank (formerly Gulf, now Chase) Building (
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1. At the outset of the project, the plans were to construct a 32-story tower, 112 by 109 feet, 425 feet high of fireproofed structural steel. The remainder of the site was to be occupied by a five-story building of reinforced concrete.
2. Months after the mat foundation was complete and the steel erected to the 14th floor, Jesse H. Jones, the building owner, stated his desire for the building to be not only the tallest building in Texas but the tallest west of the Mississippi, requiring the addition of four stories. The foundation accepted the additional load with no adjustments, although the steel columns required strengthening.
3. The tower was designed to rest on a continuous reinforced concrete mat, 4 feet thick, with the base of the slab 24 feet below street level. The columns transfer their load to the slab by means of reinforced footings, 6.5 by 5.5 feet, 4 feet thick, which in turn rest on square slabs 10 by 10 feet, 2 feet thick. The columns of the adjacent concrete building rest on 9-foot-square spread footings independent of the mat.
4. Underground conditions were visible to Dr. Terzaghi from the level of the partially excavated basement by means of a lined test shaft in one corner. A 6-inch-wide vertical strip was left unlined on one face of the shaft to allow examination of the soil in an undisturbed condition. A test boring was augered in the bottom of the test shaft to a depth of 47 feet.
5. Two nearby buildings, the Niels Esperson Building and the Petroleum Building (both built in1927), were constructed using (roughly) 20-foot-long concrete piles. Dr. Terzaghi refuted the need for concrete piles and instead, recommended supporting the building on a mat.
6. Settlement readings were made on nine of the columns resting on the mat. By 1947, the total settlement had reached about 3 < inches, which was in good agreement with Dr. Terzaghi's prediction.
7. The Texas Commerce Bank Building was the first in which field welding was used extensively in the erection of the structural steel frame.
Ten Things You Might Not Know About the Gulf Building via TexasEscapes.com (http://www.texasescapes.com/Houston/Gulf-Building-Houston-Texas.htm)
1. The house of Charlotte Baldwin Allen, wife of one of the founders of Houston, had originally been located on the site. By the time of Mrs. Allen's death, in 1895, the neighborhood was already in transition from residential to commercial use.
2. Two annexes, one of 13 stories and the other of 16, were added after World War II but are freestanding structures and not attached to the building proper.
3. Atop the 37th level was a viewing platform which housed the Jesse H. Jones Aeronautical Beacon. This beacon was described as two searchlights, one pointed in a vertical position emitting 15,000 candlepower and another pointed in a horizontal position emitting 8,000 candlepower. It was touted as an aid to government mail planes.
4. Also mounted on the roof of the building was an observation deck equipped with a telescope. It was said that on a clear day Galveston was easily visible.
5. From 1965 to 1974 a 53 foot high rotating sign with the name GULF was mounted atop the building with 4,700 square feet of display area and 7,350 lineal feet of neon tubing.
6. Pneumatic tubes, like those found in old department stores or in drive-up bank windows were installed in the building. Leather pouches from this system are said to be on display on the 17th and 19th floors.
7. The great window above the Travis Street entrance, with its stained-glass depiction of the Battle of San Jacinto, was installed in 1960.
8. It was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until 1931 (surpassed by a Kansas City building), and the tallest building in Houston until 1963 when it was surpassed by the Humble Building.
9. The three original tenants were to be the National Bank of Commerce, the Gulf Oil companies, and the Sakowitz Brothers store.
10. The Gulf Building was one of only two Art Deco skyscrapers erected in Houston.
Records:
Owner/Developer- Jesse H. Jones (Financier, Director General of the Texas Centennial Commmission and U.S. Secretary of Commmerce (from 1940-45).
Architect- Alfred C. Finn
Consulting Engineers- J.E.R. Carpenter and Kenneth Franzheim, and R.J. Cummings (structural)
W.E. Simpson Company (chief structural)
Dr. Charles Terzaghi (foundation)
Raymond F. Dawson (geotechnical investigations)
Contractor- Bellows Construction Company
Links/Sources/Further Reading:
HB p. 36 Nomination Packet
• Betsy Tyson, "Engineering a Better Texas: 100 Years of Civil Engineering in the Lone Star State” ASCE Texas Section; 1ST edition (2013) ISBN-10: 0615830102 ISBN-13: 978-0615830100
ASCE Historical Landmarks: (
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Wikipedia: (
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Preservation Houston: Houston Deco (
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Houston Architecture: (
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Handbook of Texas Online: (
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Houston’s Historic Oil Buildings: (
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Downtown Houston Online (video): (
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Former Gulf Building Gets High Honor: (
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Other waymarks: (
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