Los Angeles herald., 1892-12-04
DOCKWEILER'S SEWER.
THE ABLE YOUNG ENGINEER'S
CONVINCING ARGUMENT.
He Shows That The Highest Authorities
Endorse His PIsns-Some Strong
Points Scored-A Statement
from the Council.

The following communication will be
found of interest.
EDITORS HERALD: Public atten tion
has been called to alleged defects in the
outfall sewer plans, and the inverted
siphon comes in for special criticism.
1t is asserted that it is new and un-
tried experiment by man who posi-
lively swore on the witness stand that
he had constructed siphons for sewage.
(See testimony of F. G. Brooks in Times
OF December 2, 1922.
The public can draw their own con-
clusions. An inverted siphon 1400 feet
long was constructed across a depression
near the southeast corner of this city to
convey the zanja water which supplies
the Laguna rancho. This siphon was
built under the direction of Mr.. E. T.
Wright, G. E., over a year ago, and a
certificate in my possession, signed by
Mr.. Charles Ii. Forbes, manager of the
Laguna rancho, states that sit ia In per-
feet working order and has not given the
slightest trouble" 1t is true that this
siphon does not carry sewage, but it
certainly delivers water that is highly
charged with sand and silt.
In his annual report of 1890, City En-
RluCCl L leu I1dtcll ICCOLldlGbQS q lOupO
for the outfall sewer via Inglewood,
which necessitated two inverted siphons.
Paris, Dantzig, Boston and other large
cities have inverted siphons in their
sewer systems.
The scarcity Of water ;s dwelt upon at
length to prove that there could not be
water enough to maintain 81 self-cleans
ing velocity in the siphon. Provision
has been made to turn In river and ZaDja
water sufficient to secure such velocity.
1t is we'll known that the large central
| intercepting sewer crosses the river at
Sixth street, and for distance OF nearly
three miles is laid alongside the river.
In constructing this sewer large volumes
| of water were encountered, and extra
| precautions had to be taken TO make the
sewer water tight, otherw ise the subsoil
water alone would have filled the sewer,
and thus have left no room for the sew
age. The water encountered in con-
structing the foundations of the Brad
bury, Stimson, Bryson, Burdick, Phil
ips and other blocks, proves that there
is a large volume Of subsoil water run
ming through the city. The outfall sew
er could be kept running full by simply
having openings in the sewer, so that
the subsoil water could get in, without
contributing drop OF sewage. the set
Ting chamber, or sand trap, is employed
to scare people by false statement Of
the uses for which it is designed. 1t is
a well-known fact that sand has partial
ly filled some OF the ntercepting sewers,
and this cham ber is designed to intercept
that and any other sand that may get
into the sewers, and will not intercept
the eXcrementitious matter in the sew
age. The chamber will be constructed
of brick, iron ano concrete, and cannot
in any manner prove nuisance. On
the main sewer Of Brooklyn there is q
somewhat similar settling chamber,
which has not occasioned any complaint.
The design OF the outfall sewer was
made after mature deliberation and con-
sultations with Mr.. P. j. Flynn, G. E.,
and other able engineers. In an edi-
torial of the Times of November l, 1892,
in support Of the general design of the
water plans prepared by me, the follow
ing occurs: 1T is true that Mr.. Dock
weller is young man, but he has had
in this work the assistance of 2. j.
Flynn, his consulting engineer, who is
one of the most eminent men in his
profession in the United States. He
has written a text book on hydraulic en-
cheering. which is a standard work all
over the world"
Ali the evidence unmistakably points
to the fact that the attacks on the out
fall sewer emanate from the same source
that organized the deliberate attacks on
the water bonds, and is campaign
dodge, pure and simple.
| herewith submit testimonial from
the members of the city council relating
to my professional work as city engineer
during the past two years.
j. II. DoCKwEILER,
City Engineer.
rnnnlcc Dnn g 1000