The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-18 00:00:00

THE MAIN DRAINAGE OF THE METROPOLIS.

The main drainage system, as it is being carried out, is
designed to meet the present and prospective requirements
for drainage purposes, rainfall, and watersupply of the area
comprised within the limits prescribed by the act of 1855,
to provide for the covering in and diversion of the many
open sewers, now exercising a baneful ',influence over the
localities in which they are situated—to afford deep and
permanent outfalls for the low-lying places ; and to enable'
the local Boards to complete efficiently the drainage of
their districts. The plan comprehends the construction of
about 82 miles of main sewers on the north and south side
of the river, extending from west to east, the erection of
engines, pumps, and apparatus for intercepting the exist-
ing sewers now draining directly into the Thames, and di-
verting their contents to Barking-creek, on the north side,
and to Crossness on the south, thus freeing the river
within the metropolitanarea from the effects of sewage and
foul waters. The scheme is based, as far as practicable,
upon natural gravitation, upon the failure of which pump-
ing power is resorted to.
The works which have been completed are as follows :
The Northern High Level Sewer, comprising more than
eight miles of sewer, commencing at Gospel Oak-fields, and
terminating at Old Ford, taking the drainage of Hackney,
Homerton, Stoke Newington, Stamfoid-hill, Hornsey, Hol-
loway, Kentish-town, Hampstead, Highgate, and the sur-
rounding localities, the total area being 91 miles. The
contract was for £152,430, and with extra works and com-
pensations it has cost £203,816 7s. 9d.
The Northern Outfall Sewer was a most extensive work;
it consisted of 51 miles of double and treble sewer, extending
from Old Ford to Barking-creek. The River Lea and six
other streams had to be crossed by means of iron tubes sup-
ported by iron girders, and the sewer passes underthe Great
Eastern Railway, and over the North Woolwich and the
London and Tilbury Railways. The total cost of the work
was about £643,000. The sewer receives about 14,000,000
gallons of sewage daily, and this quantity will be largely
increased by about the end of the present month.
Two minor works have also been completed on the north
side—namely, the Acton branch of the Western Sewers, at
a cost of £9,820 ; and the Ranelagh Overflow Sewer for
£31,580.

The works completed on the south side of the river are :
The Southern Outfall Sewer, which comprises the con-
struction of nearly 71 miles of brick sewer, beginning at
North Pole-lane, Greenwich, and ending in the Erith
marshes, opposite Dagenham Reach. This sewer takes not
only the Drainage of the High and Low Level Sewers of the
south side, but that of Woolwich, Charlton, part of Green-
wich and the adjacent localities. The cost of the sewer was
X 310,648, and it intercepts and carries to Crossness 12, 000,000
gallons of sewage, which formerly flowed into the river be-
tween Wandsworth and Woolwich.
The Southern High Level Sewer, which drains an area of
about 15 square miles, including Deptford, Brixton, Syden-
ham and Dulwich, has been completed at a cost of £215,299,
and an extension of the EfEra, in connexion with this, was
completed for £19,374.
The Bermondsey branch of the Southern Low Level
Sewer, for draining Southwark, Newington, Bermondsey,
and a part of Deptford, has been completed at a cost of
about £99,000, in addition to which a sewer has been made
under the Surrey Gas• Works at a cost of £15,742, and an-
other under the London Gaslight works at a cost of £648
18s. id.
The works in course of construction are :

The Northern Outfall Reservoirs, a work which has been
described in The Sun. The works are 111 miles below Lon-
don-bridge, and the compartments, four in number, are ca-
pable of holding 39,000,000 gals. of sewage, and are con-
structed to enable the sewage to be discharged at ebb tide
at the bottom of the river. The amount of work executed
at the last annual report was £63,000, and the present value
of the work is £166,000.

The Northern Middle Level extends from near Kensal-
green Cemetery to Old Ford, and has been carried through
the metropolis with but little impediment to the traffic.
Originally a contract was let by public tender for £264,583,
but, the contractor having failed, the work was again let
for £329,800. At the last annual report work to the value
of £258,000 had been executed, and up to the present time
the work done amounts to £314,000.

The Western Area Sewers, for the drainage of Hammer-

rmith and Fulham, have progressed to the value of £62,000.

The Northern Low Level Sewer, which will extend from
Chelsea to Abbey-mills,West Ham, and will take the drain-
age of Brompton, Chelsea, Pimlico, part of the cities of
Westminster and London, Radcliff, Shadwell, Limehouse,
and Poplar, the total area of which is about 22 1-3 d square
miles, is about commencing. The extra portion of the work
has been let for £229,000.

The Southern Outfall Reservoir at Crossness, comprising

four compartments, constructed to hold 27,000,000 gallons
of sewage, is favourably progressing, and work to the value
of -£228,000 has been executed. The work done, by the last
report, was £125,000. The contract is for £300,000. A con-
tract has been taken at £44,900 for the erection of the appa-
ratus necessary to raise the sewage, and work to the value
of £11,225 had been done on this contract. On a similar
contract to the extent of £22,300 for the Deptford pumping
station, work to the value of £lB,OOO had been executed,
and on a contract of £113,136 for the erection of buildings,
work to the value of about £96,196 has been finished.
The Southern Low Level Sewer runs from Putney-bridge
to Deptford, and it will completely relieve. the low tide-

locked districts from the floodings to which they have been
long subjected, and it will effectually remedy certain dan-
gerous nuisances which have long been complained of in
connexion with the uncovered portions of the Falcon-brook
and the Heathwell and Effra Sewers. The contract price
of the work is £234,000, and the work executed up to the
present time amounts to £133,000.
The Greenwich Sewers have been let on contract for
£22,940, and are being proceeded with.
The cost of sewer works executed during the year under
the board amounts to £685,120, exclusive of the sums paid

for land compensations and other contingencies. The result
of these works is that nearly one-third of the entire sewage
and refuse litters of the metropolis is now diverted from the
metropolitan area, and carried to Barking and Crossness.
With the exception of the Northern High Level Sewer, the
completion of which will depend upon the progress of the
Northern Thames Embankment, the whole of the main
drainage works will, it is expected, be completed this year.
Having regard to this, the state of the open sewers has en-
gaged attention, and it is estimated that a sum of £BOO,OOO
will be required to repair and cover these in. It has been
resolved to borrow the money for the execution of this ne-
cessary work, and throwthe repayment over 30 years. The
sewers in the worst condition will be at once undertaken,
and the whole will be completed within four years.