Sacramento daily record-union., 1881-11-19
THE BURNS SLOUGH CANAL.
Some Facts About the Work-Its Present
Condition,

papy with City Engineer Bassett, shows th'
following facts as to the advancement OF tbs
work and the prospects of completion. Thl
canal is now finished from the point WHERE
il receives the water through East Park at G
and Thirty-irst streets, to K and Thirty frs
streets. and at the other end, commencing Al
Sixteenth street, along Y to Twenty-eightl
street, on Y, and from R to Y on Thirty frs
street, excavation has been made from six tC
eight feet in depth, and further depth OF
from four TO five feet is required. Abou,
twenty teams and thirty five men are now al
work upon the unfinished portion on Thirty
frststreet. where plows ndscrapers are mostly
used, and upon street about eighty China.
| men are engaged with picks, shovels and
! wheelbaTr0ws. The Chinese are sub-con.
| tractors of that portion. Mr.. Toohey, the
contractor, expects to have the canal com.
| pleted in about week, but with the present
! force and fair weather it is more probable
that it viii take until the 1st of December.
The project of changing the course Of
| Burns slough TO this new route was a much
greater one, and has required far greater
amount OF labor, than is generally supposed
| by those who have not been upon the ground
since the work was in progress. From G to
o street, on Thirty first, the cut is from six
TO ten feet in depth, and ths earth and hard
pan removed has been used in constructing a
levse along Thirty-frst street by raising the
ioadbed to a uniform hight above the bed of
the canal. From T to o streets, TO prevent
overflow into the city from any backing
up of water in the canal or urusual ac-
cunulation of flow from above Thirty-frst
street, this levee IS about . feet in hight
Il Al, l1oJ J,EI n
the slough heretofore entered the city, and
this level is maintained between T and o
streets. The -embankment is 20 feet wide
upon the top, with slope of i to upon the
sides.
with thu hight of Shis levee, and the depth
of the canal outside of it, SO great an accu-
mutation and flow of water would be required
to overtop it, that the City Engineer appre-
hends no further difficulty within the city
from the waters of the long considered and
much protested Burrs slough.
The depth of the canal at 0 street is about
ten feet, and from this point there is a sharp
rise il the ground, SO that half block farther
south the cut is fifteen feet in depth, which
will be the deepest excavation in the entire
length Of the work. Frem this point to z
street the cut will average about twelve
feet in depth, and about seventeen feet in
width upon the top. The depth of the top
soil or adobe, above the hardpan, variescon-
siderably along the line of the canal, but over
this portion the average is about thirty
inches. From r to j street the average depth
to the bardpan was between three and four
feet, and north Of j street the hardpan was
not reached.
The slope of the sides of the canal is one TO
one until the top of the hsrdpan is reached,
and one-fourth to one below that point, the
canal having a uniform width upon the bot
tom of five feet. The walls below the top of
the hardpan seem nearly perpendicular, but
Mr.. Bassett states that in the excavation of
the city drainage canal back Of Freeport, ard
also in sinking wells, it has been found to be
safe to make even perpendicular walls, as far
as the danger of its caving is concerned, as
the effect Of the sun and weather upon it
renders it harder than when first exposed.
The old Burns slough canal across Thirty
first at G street has been closed, and what
ever water comes from above now flows into
the new canal and stands in it north of L
street. There would be no water coming
through Burns slough now were it not for the
wells on the SaEborn ranch. Considerable
has been said of late by people residing in
the upper portion of the city about
these wells, from fear of inundstion
before the canal is finished and opened, from
the fact that Sanborn is still boring more
east of Twentieth street as to what the con-
tinued sinking of these additional wells is
for, but thus far the only answer given, is
because the owner of this artesian section
is great bore" The City Engineer thinks,
however, that the flow from them is so slow,
and that the canal will be completed so soon
that no injury will result from it beyond
what it may prove to the contractor in max
ing the last part of the excavation. The
water at the end of the completed portion of
the canal at Il street is now from four to
FIVE feet deep, but has only slight depth where
il enters at the upper end, near q street.
A fence to protect from accidents is be-
ing constructed along the edge Of the canal as
fast as the excavation is completed. 1tconsists
of posts at intervals of eight feet, with eight
inch boards about two feet from the ground,
and 2x4 caps spiked upon the top of the
posts.
Substantial bridges have already been
built at all crossings. These have striDgers
3 by r.. by II, and by II inches, accord
ing to the length of the structure, and the
floor planks are by II inches. At the
OdeH place, at Twenty-fourth and Y streets,
brick arch has been thrown over the canal
$50 feet in length. The sides of the arch
rest upon the hard-psn, five feet above the
bottom of the canal, and the crown
Of the arch is s feet above the
canal bottom. The earth is filed in
over the arch, and thus the canal viii be COW
cred and hid from view for a distance OF
about fifteen rods This brick masonry is
found to be cheaper, where there is the hard
pan to build upon, than the wood bridges, as
wooden bridge, twenty-four feet in length,
such as above described, costs about 50 %
per lineal foot and brick only about 81 60.
Brick will probably therefore be used in
| future for most of these bridges.
The turn made in the canal from Thirty
| first and Y streets describes the fourth part
of circle, from points half block north and
west from the city corner.
At the mouth of the old canal, where it
emerged from the city through the Y-street
levee at Sixteenth street, new and improved
hood-gate and bulkhead have been erected
il such manner as to prevent any further
trouble from back water from the outside.
The hood-gate is kept housed at the city
water works, as it will be required only in
case of high water backing up from below the
city. The old Burns slough canal along Six
teenth street has been cleaned out from
Twentieth and o to Sixteenth and Y streets.
Also from Ystreet leyee, down about aquar-
ter of mile TO the southwark, SO that there
shall be nothing to obstruct a free discharge
from the new canal, nor from the outlet tc
the drainage Of the eastern portion of the city,
which will still be by the old Burns slough
course, but relieved of the accumulated waters
which come down from above Thirty-fr
street.
Fun AHEAD.-On Saturday evening, No
vember 10Th, Joe Goddard, the new propri
etor of Franks Saloon, opposite the Metro
politan Theater, will give grand opening tt
his friends and the public. On this occasion
will he spread fine turkey lunch and Joe
knows how to serve up all the necessary con
diments. All are invited to come. eat, drink
and be merry.
TURKEYs.-We have made special arrange
ments for turkeys for Thanksgiving, and WI
promise the public that we shall have th'
largest and best display of turkeys, geese anC
poultry that has ever been made in this city
Longton & May, Fulton Market, Fifth ant
K streets.
Book AUcTIoN.-This is positively the las
day on which standard and miscellaneou