, 1881-07-20
CITY ENGINEERING.
penort of the Engineer Depart.
ment of the District OF
Columbia.
n,,ons.ion Of Problems Connected with
the Public Works Of a
City.
t,-onit Block Parcments and Under'
ground Telegraph Lines.

t,t,toteh 10 tIneinnait 0astttt
,r.o,t,St,roS, -. c., July lM-One Of tho
~, ,o,uube public documents ISSUED OF
~. 4 Lhe annual report Of tile operations Of
.t .ss Fuuinecr's Department of the District OF
ss,nanbta. s,J under the direction Of Mini. W. j.
T,rtnInn md his assistants, ltents. X. l..
1nxtc anl f, v. Green, NIL OF the United
't.o v,o,cs Engineers. Tho report Is for the ycar
.sI,nu .Ianr JO,4 1880. Its value Is by no
s'oa,,s local io Washington. but In view Of
.hs hockwarsl condition of engineering lf
.nost of The large cities 1t !s Of quite us much
.niua .s N them, It treats fn detail OF the
,nore important problems connected with the
public works Of city. :,
' Facl, subject is thoroughly Illustrated by
n,.na snd tllere arc eighteen of those, mostly
rr,u,,,r. where tile salient facts nre presented
~ iho eye IL cuiors. Tho maps are twenty
snnr hy thirty lncl,cs. The chapter upon tho
saver systyn and tho maps illustrating II aro
, Of general vallc.
THE yLllJECT OF r.AvEAtrNTs
Ia nrubab)y Of greater ynluu TO other cities
tha,, MY Of those presented ut length. The
oues,totl Of removing telegraph poles and
summing MI the wires under ground receives
piabornte attention, mid Is atlapteN to tho
nroblem which now exists In n1l cities. In
connection with the discussion Of this uilcs-
linn. tbe practical results nttnined In foreign
ranita.s are presented, aild the practlcabflfty
Of successflllly putting wlrcs under ground
st moderate cost Is made manifest.
The colored graphic maps show the diff
ferent levels of tile city by coMtol,r lines, the
valuation. of property, tho kinds Of pave
weuts, the lighting, water, sewer, school,
and tire systems Of tho city and other similar
"details OF city nffnlrs. The figures Of the
cost and durability OF the vurlous kinds Of
payement In use aro Of general value. One
Of the uiost interesting subjects presented Is
That Of the sila4e trees of tha Capital, Of
which there are over 100 miles nlon tha
streets alone, all III n most ilourlsllng coll
diuon. They comprise twenty.seven yarle-
ties Upon tho subject Of
GRANT nLuCK rAvEMRNTs,
such Us are now IN contemplation In Cincin-
natl, the report says:
"TIle grant block payement laid on a
fouiatloi, Ut gravel and salld, md iille4 III
Tue }uLuts with cement af coal tar, gives
gteAt satisfaction III the business. streets
where t5ayel y heavy. ,rhs r.. .expettellcs in
acterot pavement, when laid without cement
III tie Joints, at about thirty years. witt, iii
annual Expense Of about 10 cents yard for
maintenance, and repairs. There Is every
fa% r a y as the snyp stGnS ad
tia. tie cement Iii the julhts, by making the
pavement water tight art! giving the blocks
mutual support, will reduce the annual cost
6f maintenance to two or three cents q yard.
THE ONLY OBJECTION. ,,.,.. ...
xhteh Il ever made to tl,is class Of pavement
at!sss fn,n' r! The |'olse maie; Il by the heavy
sary olay, II on streets wheru there are ii0
business houses or heavy travel, but Wllera
the grade Is heavy tab0ye l10(), or where
the eattlaReway H. very narrow between the
FEailFSaa ,S! ttack a.a curb ,lnall such casGs i
iha residents OH account bt the olse, but
there Is NJ question tint It: fs: much hctter
sAitrl. 10 sncli strects than, >tlte smooth
asp!,a!tnn'. The proportion Of stone to
!uly, lS78. to July, 1850, Is as teli to sevon-
,"Datlng tho present fiscal year, owing to
!he allllrnlty forIucrly expurlehced in conl-
pe!!ll'g contractors y furnish blocks, OF a
own bucks, subject to careful Inspection,
and then lnad0 contracts i'll the usual man
MT Tor laying tho blocks furnished by tile
ilssflet. Ile blocks were bought by Coll-
TRACT awarded to the lowest bidder. The re-
Crude otb blocks, and u reduction iii. the totai
cost OF the pavement Ut tr0in lU to f5 cents q
Yard. IL tjny uvi.r1 11,s ,,hhnt 81 N i, vurt ne
aRa!nst 81 D.! far III voar .0'1 ~'''' '"'"' 40
"For tho present s.y,s,n fha nrtcas ,n,ne,l
aboyn ilays Increas.' nI"'1,t * ;."r r,.nt !;
THAT Dart II Ii" rt,nnrt % ti,at e tr"nte rT. s ~
,,v,,,..o,,o',s,.' ,s... s,."s '' -. :.
:, :, peAnitouSp fEl:huAArll LANES
s'i Feliethl interest anu Importance. 1t Ia
Il" !srtas WI ~ lollows: . a., .,.
,,,,aa lnsfe gre now In this city forty.ono
mics @ o. telegraph lines, consisting Of 1,ajU
n%ssl pn3sIsl carrying npout EW miles of wire. In
suaLt9a su.11I u telcpllune anu tlrc-al!rM wires
tta'1aet osee tn9 tops VI houses, aa estimated
~ ~ auloaht 70 l0O miles OF wirc. They belong
a., @sesfil Inherent e!hp1n!es, VIZ: rtU West
FIJI itmto,u! uhtoh. Atllntlc y Pac'tic, American
un'U'' na,,. hapl1 Eapitnl. the Igleplonc Cnn,.
ESn5, american District Telegraph, allu
insiMaatia: nnsi' bes,des u few miles OF wire BE-
SmsIg % tne General GDrerlslneit mud con.
sisnt .%1 ...,, 1nu V4ies M!o y source OF coll
Oh account of ihatr ,,'utnl',iu maIps
TherU las asn h...n sn,'., tr1o1if!p. r;a,,o.
from the trees wiich ,ntrrq,,nt t'uo ~ wMrHimgE,
with tbs wet fcnvas AZ Tot fila " ,,ns ~St
been very rrcnt hmt fivu 'Soo,a Ias,"o @ tro
naofty al fha ,,st T ',,,t:s ~ ,.. m1M1v s0
On fmr s,raa,. o '.t tMeG nuuets ~ yunh9 t!eEs
the ;.s. ss1etts WIZ nlSanttalnea sucll hight
eu,2oa M!!es cailn0t. with Bl!fgly, be paeel on
Hoses hD0yb theln. lilo difficulty will then
:.