The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-08-09
THE WARRINGTON AaUEpUcr.
A visis Of Isspectien-Intere

THE wAsHINaroH AQUEDUCT.
! visit Of Observation-Disclosures
Facts.
On Saturday visit OF inspection along
he line Of the Washington aqueduct was
,ade by General N. Michler, the engineer
n charge Of public buildings, grounds and
FORKS In this District. On the occasion of
he visit the General was accompanied by
COLONEL Treadwell, Of the ordnance bureau;
Colonel Theodore B. Same, engineer Of the
Washington aqueduct; Colonel A. @. Allen,
Mr.. John W. Jones, Mr.. Sheriff., the con-
tractor for the work along the line OF the
nqucduct, and Mr.. Wilson, of Indiana. The
Of the New York Herald
and Times, and the representative OF the
made up the party, who per-
formed the journey In carriages.
The principal object Of the visit was to
inspect certain work now being done on the.
9-foot connecting conduit which runs around
the receiving reservoir at Powder Mill
branch, and also to take q look at tho reser.
vot and other points oil interest. This con-
ne ing conduit was proposed by Colonel
Silas Seymour, In 1864, so as to enable the
water from the Potomac river to be brought
In pure state into the distributing reservoir
without adulteration with the waters col
lcctcd In the receiving reservoir, Powder
Mill branch,) from the surface drainage of
about four thousand acres Of the surround
ing country. The estimated cost Of the pro-
posed connecting link at that time was
Zoo, 200.
The work upon this connecting conduit
was resumed In 1866, under Col. Same as
engineer, and was pushed along until Au-
gust s, 1867, when 1t was completed and the
water turned directly into the distributing
reservoir, near Drovers' Rest, thereby avoid
ing the impurities attendant upon Its remain
ing In the receiving reservoir In cutting
the "Dclecarlla tunnel" which is $50
feet long and Is part Of the connecting
conduit, Ii was found that the rock was
species Of decomposed gneiss, which was not
self-sustaining. II was proposed to arch the
conduit through this tunnel, but as 1t was a
work Of much labor and expense, and as Con-
gross would not allow the sum necessary to
defray the increased cost, nothing else could
be done but turn the water directly through
the tunnel. The result shows the folly OF
doing "cheap work." for after the tunnel
had been used year or two we find that one
night In April last the rock forming tho roof
Of the tunnel suddenly gave way and slide
occurred, completely filling up the conduit
and opening a chasm on top of Delccarla
hill 20 feet across. OF course this accident
necessitated the turning Of the Potomac
water into the receiving reservoir, from
from whence the city is now being supplied.
The frequent complaints Of the Impure
quality Of the water used In the city are not
without cause, for the vegetable matter to
be found In the reservoir Is sufficient TO render
the water at times unpleasant and unpalata.
Bile.
General Mchler therefore determined 10
arch the Delecarla tunnel and render the
connecting conduit again available for car.
r,,in he frnp he A.
river. Accordingly the contract for repair
Ing Il was placed In the hands of Mr.. Chas.
II. Sheriff., who Is hard at work In repairing
the damage, and Is constructing a nine-foot
conduit inside of the tunnel under the i'm
mediate supervision of Col. Same.
As the bottom Of the tunnel is about fifty
feet from the surface Of the ground the
work is necessarily attended with great
deal of trouble, and as the rocks are rotten
1t Is not without great danger to those en-
ploycd. 1t has been found necessary Ia
"shore up" the rock with heavy timber
before the bricklayers can proceed. Mr..
Sheriff. has large number Of Washington
bricklayers at work under the toremanshiI
of Mr.. Frank Reside, well-known me.
chanic OF this city.
The inspecting party left the city about II
O'Clock, a. M, and AFTER q pleasant drive of a
little over an hour reached Delecarlia hill
where the work was being rapidly pushed
along. The brick being used In constructing
the conduit are from the walls Of the old
penitentiary building, General Michlcr hay
Ing succeeded In purchasing 500, 900 at the
sale recently held. They are admirably
adapted for the purpose. The brick are car.
ricd up via canal as far as the chain bridge,
whence they are carted to the tunnel, about
half mile distant. In company with Colo.
mel Same and Mr.. Sheriff., the company pro
ceeded, with the help Of ladders, to the bot
tom OF the tunnel, tifty feet under ground
Here the masons were found busy at WORK
constructing the conduit, nine feet In TIT
clear, the walls being eighteen inches thick
After being shown the danger attendant
upon the work and the admirable progress
made, the company assembled again into day
light, and visited the reservoir, being showI
on the way the point at which the watc
enters from the Potomac.
THE RECEIVING RESERVOIR.
On August s, 1867, when the Potomac
water was turned into the connecting con
duit, the receiving reservoir was shut of
and was not used again until the acciden
occurred already mentioned The reserved
Is natural creek or branch, and Is know
as either "Powder Mill" or the "Fall's'
Branch. As the grounds around the rcser
yoir for three hundred acres belong to the
Government, and are uncultlvated, II Is tC
| be hoped that Congress will so aid General
Mlchler as to give him means sufficient to
arrange them, In order to make handsome
park, for which they are well adapted. After
some time spent In examining the reservoir
the party resumed their seats in the car
riages and proceeded up the road as far as
| CABIN JOHN BRIDGE.
This magnificent work of art Is said to b,
the grandcst structure of its kind In th,
world, and will stand for ages as a monu
ment to the skill Of General NJ. C. Mclgs, tn,
engineer who designed ii. The bridge Is i5t
feet long, go feet span, and is 100 feet from
the top to the bed of Cabin John Creek
across which 1t is thrown.
The nlne-foot conduit conveying the waite
from the falls runs across and through th
bridge. 1t Is shame, to say the least of 1t
that the bridge has been allowed 20 remain
so long In Its present unfinished condition
Nearly six years have elapsed since worl
upon 1t ceased, and still 1t remains not onl,
In an unfinished but unsafe and dangerou
condition. There is nothing to prevent
team or human being from falling over III
edge save piece of twelve-inch timber
This Is not right. A stone coping at leas
three feet high should be solidly built I,
complete the structure. Gen. Michler, wht
has been in charge Of the matter, Is power
less In the premises, having no funds fol
tue purpose on nhhu, ana not being allowed
TO anticipate. We earnestly hope that Con
gress will, upon its assembling, satisfy ltsel
Of the Importance and magnitude OF thl
work, and make such appropriations as viii
complete the work still remaining to he don
upon the aqucduct. Leaving the Cabin Joh
bridge, the party turned their faces home
ward, stopping on the way at the gate hous
of the receiving reservoir to partake Of re
freshments, which Mr.. Sheriff. had provide
In profuslon. The cline Of march" wa
then taken up, and the carriages proceede
to
THE DISTRIBUTING RESERVOIR,
which Is opposite Droyers' Rest, an
about two miles from Georgetown. Here
scene Of desolatlon met their view, OWN
altogether to the fact that the work ha
been allowed TO cease for five years pas
simply became Congress failed to make an
appropriations to continue Ii. The dis
tributlng reservoir, as originally designed b.
Gen. NJ. c. Meigs, the first chief engineer O
the Aqueduct, covers an area of forty-fou
acres, with capacity of $50, $50, 90
gallons of water. II was used for owe
nine years, but In November, 1868, It wa
found that the embankments were breaking
and that 1t would be necessary to draw tn
water of, and supply the city from a sevel
foot conduit connected to the main conduit
at a point before II entered the distributing
reservoir. This conduit runs about half wa
around the reservoir to the pipe vaults