The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-04-27

mittce. consisting Of the Water Committee
aud Committee on Grounds aud Buildings
| was appointed TO select site for the work
! On The eth or Januiry this joint committee
| visited She various sites referred to above,
| and adjourned 70 receive and consider prOp0.
| stlons from parties for The sale oil lanQ al the
sites under consideration; and at n called
mcc'ing of the committee on the Ith OF Feb.
rllarv the present site, known as the ONO.
! hr;.1t!ro tract, was agreed upon, and on the
oh recommended 10 the Council for adop.
| ton. At this cate February 3.h) the Coun.
| Gil, after adopting the recommendation OF
the commttcc to purchase the site, passed IA
resolution directing the Committee on Water
| 10 proceed with the construction OF new
reservoir, and to call upon the Engineer OF
the city for such aid in making plans and en-
ecuting the work as they might require.
| Or the ID Of March plans were carefully
prepared and submitted TO the committee,
| and the plan a> is nov being carried out was
adopted This plau. involving several i'm
p)rtant chlnSeS made upon my recommends
| ton. including more stonc-work than was
| first estimated for and longer and larger
supply main. had for a basis OF estimate an
amount of 1903 ,S1l.20, given in my report of
November Ssh, referred to beiore-an
amount, il must be seen, which could not
have covered the cost of this work; for the
! purchase Of land and changes necessary TO
suit exactly the site after location were con-
tugencies impossible To be forcseen unless
in advance Of any appropriation 1t had been
required Of me to locate exactly the work
and TO make close estimate accordingly.
At this meeting Of the committee certain
arrangements to be observed in the manage
nf l,n L nf
GERS were concurred in by the committee,
leaving others, Including the forcmen, to be
appeuted at another meeting. On the 9th
March, at a meeting called to award contracts
for the hire of carts and ploughS, 1t was con-
cluded to change the management, and ln-
stead of having an assistant engineer on the
ground in immeGiale charge Of the work IL
was decided to appoint superintendent
and certain subordinateS; all OF whom, with
one exception, were selected by the commit
tee. This circumstance, The fixing Of the
pay Of aoorcrs At Sl2j per day, which has,
however. been recently Changed to one dol
lar. and some minor differences between the
committee and myself, have been sources Of
anxiety on my part, for they have been sub
iects of considerable comment outside, and
place me in an awkward position before the
pubiic.
On the 18th cf March work was CON-
ppucad upon the reservoir, and the opera
tons TO december ID la>tate given in my re.
port oc thtt date made 10 the chairman OF
the committee. In the construction Of the
cmblukmentS it vas first intended TO use
| the old process Of pudding with the spade,
| but after correspondence with engineers in
other cities upon the merits Of ne" pre-
| cess Of rolling with corrugated rollers 1t was
! then recommended 10 the committee to
adopt this. and it WAS ihcu decided
TIA, the chairman. the Superintendent of
| the Water-Works, and myself. should visit
these places and examine into the qleS-
ton. The result of this visit was the
adoption OF the process which bas proved
TO be more thorough aud economical than
| the old method. and in many ways more suits
factory.
On the 1lth Of May the committee report
ed upon Il petition, referred by the Council,
of iron.lnoulders and other mechanics, that
rs the best means Of relieving their wants
| they had decided to have portion OF the
pipes for the new reservoir mide immc-
dately: which report was adopted. And
from time to time contracts were awarded
by the committee TO the Tredegar Company,
Tanner IL Co., Talbot e Sous, Hall & Co.,
and Ettcnger Il Edmond for pipes; to Tai.
| bOtt Il Sons for irou gates anu frames; 10
| James NethcrwOUd for stone.work and to
| Ii. o. Locker 4 Co. for cement. In thestone
contract the work had not proceeded very
far before dificuIti"s arose between the con-
tractor and myself as to the manner Of exc.
cutting the work, and after some delay the
| contractor was required 10 abandon his con-
| tract; after whca it was decided TO carry on
the work partly by contract with Parks d
Shaw and partly by city management, one
time procuring stone from the city quarry, at
another purch iSing 1t from Ordway Il Green
and from Michael Hayes.
An agreement was entered into with +.
l.. Hob>on tor baulng pipes and ether ma
ttriaI, after receiving inlormal bids from
parties 10 do this work. Purchases Of mt
tcrial were made from time TO time from par
ties. and by orders and amounts, as will be
seen in the appended tables and in most
cases where the amounts were large the pur-
chases were made upon my order after the
approval OF the chairman of the committee.
| The total amount expended 10 the 10th ILL.,
| slant, when work upon the reservoir pro.
| per was suspended, is S2G7,7,G.IG, and The
amount which is now estimated to finish Is
500, ,242.43.
! The working force had been organized on
the lst of the month, aud we were just get
ting fairly 10 work when tue order Tor suS.
pension was given me. 1t is TO be regretted
| that any interruption in the work should oc'
cur III this time, for ii may result I'D Such ue-
lay in lining the inside of the embankmenls
as TO run Us over to heXt spring TO hnl>h II.
| / suppose there can be no doubt in the mlnds
OF members of the old committee IN regard
to the location Of this reservoir, Win It's
many advantages, both present and prospec-
| tive; and although fear it must be wearl-
soDe 10 have it so continually referred 10, L
| feel that it is necessary TO call the attention
| of the new members 10 it to dlSpei any
doubts they may have, caused by erroneous
statements in regard TO 1t SO publicly circu-
| lated.
| This reservoir, when completed, will have
| its Water.leyel thirly-seyen feet higher Than
the highest water in the old reservoir. Ii
| will be SO feet above the ground in trout OF
| the grand stand at the Fair Grounds, 81 feet
above the ground floor of Richmond College,
and 50 feet above the highest graded street
near the western limits Of the city; It's dlVl-
! sion into TWO compartments, WITH gates ar
i ranged at three different levels, will enable
| the wafer to be drawn from it IN condition
never seriously Objectionable from muddl-
ness. 1t will have storage capacity OF
| IL. .O00, 600 gaions-suttcient TO meet the ordl-
| nary Interruptions OF pumping caused by
| frc,hcts and short spells OF low water-a
capacity large enough, probably, for hlteen 10
| twenty wears with an increase Of pumping
| power after while though | still believe 1t
would bave been better to have made lis
capacity S0,00O000 gallons; it is so far re-
moved from the extension OF streets ana
huildnc, As to prevent contamination OF the