Daily Los Angeles herald., 1883-01-09

IN response 10 call from the board OF Public
Works OF Chicago upon the City Engineer for his
official opinions as to the .'value Of cement pipe
for sewerage purposes" Nr. Z. s. Chesbrough,
on July 10, 1872, made special report on that
subject, and we append the concluding portions
Of that report:
Cement pipes have been slowly disintegrsted
by certain gases and acids emptied into them
Some very striking instances Of this kind occur
red In San Francisco where urine from priyies
were discharged into the cement pipes. Nothing
OF this kind has ever occurred, SO far as
that hard burnt clay or vitrifed pipe should be
preferred for sewerage purposes to cement pipe,
because OF the much greater certainty Of getting
good article of the former than the latter; and
In this respect have the concurrence Of several
come to their conclusion on the subject after
years OF observation and experience.
Respectfully submitted
Z. 8. CHESBROUGH, City Engineer
IL there Is any man in this country who Is bet.
ter informed on this subject or more competent
TO give valuable opinion on 1t, than MIR. Ches.
hrough. we do not know It.
Chief Engineer stratton, OF the Washington
Navy Yard, says in his report, A. D. 1870;
''The cement pipe wss subject to test Of
pressure. and by practical use In the ground, and
1t was found It would not stand one-third the
pressure Of clay pipe and that the action Of mat.
y ana
made Il rough. In some CASES dissolving the
materials Of which II was composed"
The Secretary Of the Board Of Public Works Of
tae city o. ~, milwaukee,, says, under tbs date Of
1--WE have experienced numerous failures Of
cement pipe in public and private sewers in this
city. consider 1t almost certain that . large
proportion Of the cement pipe laid here viii. at
m n N Itux- 20 ka x.I -.
dened and replaced. ct large expense"
lSigned) W. A. NOVEL;,
sec'y Board OF Public Works.
WIN. II. Chase, Superintendent Of Sewers and
Drains. Warrington. D. G.. says:
'wAsuINeroS. April sth. 1875.
In reply 70 your inquiries Of the I'd inst, l
have to inform you that during my term Of office
as Superintendent Of Sewers and Drains, under
the late Board Of Public Work. Of this District,
| made several tests Of vitrined and cement
sewer pipe, with resulta invariably in favor Of
the vitrinsd pipe, BY hydraulic test. found no
six pounds to the square Inch. while some Of the
vitrihed pipe stood . pressure Of eighty pounds
to the square inch BY . test Of external cruzh-
ing pressure the same relative strength was ex-
hibited.s ! also had thorough chemical test Of
those pipes made by Prof. Craig. Of the U. 8.
Medical Museum, with results entirely satiafac.
tory A. % ths vitrined pipe, but ruinous to the
By another mail viii, II can fsa them, send
You ,s%s s9sy y L q Ps0 g 4. G sos s sl;S q ny
In rsgrading come Of our streets we came
across cement pipe sswers that had been down
several yean. The pipe was In such psrishable
condition ~ to prevent taking up without fall
ing 20 pieces. With the facts before them, the
Board ruled out all cement pipe and used only
vitrifed. = Yours truly,
VIII. H. CHASE.
Late supr Sewers. ETC.. Board Public Works.
u. g."
Report q Prof, Craig sos the Eoasl of Public
Works. District qf Columbia: " - lfs
The only ingredients contained In sewers Of
any cneuical activity are certain OF the com
pounds Of ammonia, such - the carbonate and
the sulphuret- The compounds form as soon as
decomposition commences, and give to the con-
tents Of sewers an alkaline character Free acids
can only b. present accidentally, as where the
sewers receive the waste from certain chemical
tested the samples OF earthenware and ce-
ment pipe ieft with ma by Mr.. W. H. Chase, by
inimeraing fragments Of them In strong solutions
q sulphuret Of ammonia for twenty four hours.
This did not have the least apparent effect on
the eartherware pipe. but was entirely ruinous
10 the cement, and / do not think that any
properly vitu1sd carthenwsro pipe, reasoning
trom general principles. used for sewer, would
e08Iulo8I Agencies.
Mechanical forces, sach - the action Of frost,
etc. would be the only probable cause Of de.
terioration. B. h. CRAIG, NJ d.
Letter from w. A. Potts, ESQ.,, Supervising
Architect Of the Treasury, Washington, b. c.:
TREAsuRy DEPARTMENT.
OFFICE OF SurERvisIso ARCHITECT, April 10, rs.
inst. ] vonid say that / considsr hard d.5urnsd,
glazed saxthenwArs pipe the best for drains or
sewers that have yet come under my notice, and
use such for AL drains and sewers up to fifteen
inchss in diameter. Under no circumstance
you have, etc. Respectfully.
wA A. POTTER. Supervising Architect.
The accumulstsd testimony Of all these civil
engineers, who, froan the nature Of their avocS-
ton. have bad occasion to investigate this sub
ject BY personal observation and experience,
ESs shs aSoSsr sis ssass ans ,sry sonov.
method Of investigating this subject, whereby
all who will take the trouble can see with their
own eyes physical demonstration Of the worth.
les lsssness q Sensnt pipe for sewerage purposes
ing the well known afianity Of acids for alkalies,
the admixture Of which produces chemical re-
action with Just as much certainty ~ water DIS
solves sugar. Now. cement Is Of an alkaline
nature. and seids will Inevitably disintegrate it.
The experiment alluded to eonsiats in immers.
ing piece Of cement plps In common sulphuric
acid. which can Be obtained ct any drug store
me obssrvsrwil not have to walt Eve minutes
before very percsptible effect win b produced
on the pasce Of cement PIPE, which VIII become
% much sotsnsd that portioua Of II can be easily
scrapcd "a the ousside With stick, the piece Of
plps win become Wholly disintegrstsd and sst,le
on the bottom Of The vssssl in he form Of ssdi
mpk
hmlphuxic acid Il not II hand, nuriasic,
nitric, o. other sc1ds viii produce similar results,
whersAs the.s acids viii produce no more effect
than 80 much water on sandstone pipa immers-
ID IN them Tor sny length Of time.
Ihe heterogeneous mass compoang sewage
natter = alwsys liable 10 contain any and every
kind Of add, and what durability can BE- ex.
pectcd of sswsr pipe whose only bond Of union
y hAh1e 70 be utterly destroyed BY the substance
constantly passing through Il, and transformed
Into shApeleH mass of nAnd which constitutes
four afth q the subssAnco Of cement pipe. 90
eallsds sand plps would D. The mora Appropriate
ms szpsrinsns sbovs dssuzshss i within the