New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-09-28
WORK on THE NEW AQUEDUcT'
-, ,,,rv,s WAGER Supply TO BE TREBLED.
TIfE CII1'o " In o =
v,s sErN IN TOUR OF OBSERVATION

., the work of building the new aqueauos 10y. tn
more than treble the water supply % en' ,ra,er
s.ort Croton aquednc was begun In 1881 anu ""e'
NV IL into the city in 1872 Ihe cee-
49,, q, the introduction of Croto1 water ih'o .n
a,ropolls was the occasion for q notapie u'oPiS -
49,. aavs The aqueduct was intehoeo !" No..
eo oooo gallons daily. although LOT SEVERN
.hat ouantity was not passed through IT. wac 70
,aS NV those who projected and constructed 'that
-. that IL would furnish ample supply OF water
- Navvyork for at least half century. NO ono
a.. dreamed that the population Oh the CITY "ou'~
increase as rapidly as it has.
. the aoueduct was built the natural how OF the
ro,on River and the amount OF water held IN Oroon
Iaks were deemsd enough for the daily supply
av as the wants the city Increased IL was lounu
sa.aarv tn secure larger reserve supply espeolaiy
a, x seasops The Croton River drains water-seu VI
aeo miles 1t IL marked by wide fluctuations III w uo
.harge Its daily flow at the present dam Is sometimes
~ nigh as O0o 900 gallons per day. running uowh
20 100000 gallons. and during the summer
leasing altogether Because Of this wide VARIATION III
nss storage capacity was gradually found necessary
A. g,vo the city its regular daily supply. Moreover,
All heen found by actual observation that at frequently
acprrng seasons region drained by the CroVou h
was subjected to long drouths, and these hao " 10
nrovided against In $50 and 1881 the city cae h"
rax,nc a water famine. Had the drouth lasted TWO
,a,gar in ether year the result would have been
extremely serious And this in spite OF the taet
the various storage reservoirs which had been con-
strueted from time to time contained "hon
arst drawn on after the how OF tne
Croton River had ceased, S,OoV'ooo'VVo
s.,,ons-ahout eighty full days supply for the city
% aoueduct has been strengthened at Intervals where
signs OF weakness until for the past ve years
a. ba. been delivering nearly 1o0o0oo0o gallons day
This Is its utmost capacity In fact the engineers have
proteste from time to time thatt was being
and that there was constant danger of bad breaks.
Several years ago the plan Of obtaining an addiona
war
tho annoyed district was discussed and finally carried
ont From that source there have been obtained Tor
acme time 10 900 gallons daily, and TINS VIII SOON
be increased to 1000 900 gallons But this Is merely
nm auxiliary supply For number OF years IL mas oee
annarent that NewYork must have such en- increased
suppy ms would only suffice for its present wants
but be ample for many to come 1t had been dem
onstrated by careful observations made by Benjamin D.
Church the present chief engineer OF the new aqeouc
land for many years previous inc fesusn of the
Department of Public works., that inc Ir 0s0
would the ey was stored and thus
made available. instead OF running 70 waste ZOE eis1e
superacai survey for lima ;or the nquednct and
the fine as present adopted Is In the MAN Tue one
TSs annonttSent Of the Aqueduc Commission under
the provisions providing that the city might
Known bsoutsde of those directly interested in the
construction of the great WORK rev persons kuo"
thing its details. The old aqueduct Is miles
In length from the Croton Dam to High Bridge, ~
follows the line Of the Hudson River towns most p, tIe
fhrty-one miles long, following shorter and more oreet
seet in diameter except where lined with brick, when
the mean diameter wiz be iour1e EN- i de-
lance n the aaneduc win be tunnelled through
solid rock, aud at depth varying from 40 10 o2o
ns%ber ia fest Ground was broken for the
in March last The contracts specify that the contrae
tors shall complete their work In thirtythree months
from the time of signing the contracts All the shafts
are down to the grade with the exception OF about
u faat I'm shaff q
Iast week reporter Of THE TRIBUNE in company
with Chief Engineer Church passed over that part OF
the the Pocantico River cut as Is termed
aud the Croton Dam The country is rolng3-a sue,
cesson OF hills and valleys, with scarcely any pateaus
OF considerable extent To the mind OF any out
teen feet in diameter for more than thirty miles
such country would have seemed chimericaL Never
fheess the is going forward rapidly. and under
suoh minute plans and specifications that there Is no
doubt Of its successful within the
doubt. The first point visited was the Pocantico cut
This is about two mules norSae@St o 0 ed;
tracied for by Brown. Howard co.
ing the squeGuct from the POcantco the bank Of
the Crot0n River Their contracts for these -FOUR sec
The Pocantco cut gives the ordinary observer better
idea of the work which has been done is TO be done
than any other part OF the undertaking. There is here
open cut Of $50 feet The earth and rock are cut
away from a hillside down to the required grade. ON
either side Of brick tunnel heavy walls OF stone are
built up twohirds OF the height OF the brick tunnel The
layer Of bricks slightly cOncave Above this and inside
% hs s AS sR &c aSd 81
thick at various places according TO the height the
over to protect it from surface water and above
this five feet OF earth are placed This part OF the tunnel
Abont I5o feet Of the open cut remains At the south
end Of the cut high rocky ground begins again The
the north side of the cut the tunnel enters the rock Also
and has been s1caystsd soS1t 200 feet dt massive
commodate an apparently insignificant stream which
Ilppes down me nsiae' D9' when aI.er nsayy st9rm
been constructed little to the east Of the open out
.bIow-of" viii admit the passage OF good-sized
1t Is intended to be used for the quick empty
ing Of the aqueduct In case repairs are needed.
AT shaft No. q the first north OF the Pocantico cut
good nSs been maze Ths SHAT Is i9i seaS
and the north heading lo4 feet.
Shaft No. Q is a side hill Standing at the mouth.
6ne view obtained OF landscape made mp of charm
ing bills and valleys This shaft Is sunk % the grade,
been driven fifteen feet each way.
shaft No good progress has also been made. The
Last week the headings were driven II feet an exceed
ingly good rate OF progress The north heading Is
fset.
Beginning with shaft No. high ground is reached,
sSnk to depth Of 24s SO feet before the grade Of the
floor of the aqpeduct Is reached The work OF sinking
square about 10 feet in length by in width, in order to
the same time The shaft is tnbered 10 prevent earth
aud rock falling on the men at work Several fatal acci
precautions taken by the engineers sinking these
shafts through rock as is the all along the lne IL is
necessary to drill sufficient depth 70 TX the blasting
cartridges the then ascend TO the surface and the
blast discharged Tho lsborers descend the debris is
carried to the surface and disposed Of and the bastes
once more begin operations After the shafts are sunk
and the work OF driving the heading in other words
excayating the tunne-is begun, the progress much
more rapid. because much greater force can be EN-
ployed The headings driven north and south from
each shaft There is distance OF miles be-
tween each shaft and the calculation necessary bring
the excavations together far underground calls
the exercise OF great skill the part OF the chief and
division engineers AS a OF fact, there Is
likely to be variation OF moro than few inches when
the connections made. All the work OF driving the
drills and hosting and lowering the buckets and
Is done by compressed air transmitted In pipes from the
enginc-h0uses by The headings In shaft No. are
driven In sixty-four feet
Shaft No. is fraction the deepest Of ali.
1t has been necessary TO 20 down $50 feet
TO reach the grade. The headings along the