Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-29
Reduction in the Assessments
for the Thirty-Third
Street Sewer.
1000 LOADS LIGHTENED.
The City at Large Will Have to Bear
Portion of the Expense.
EFFECT OF THE NEW STREET ACT.
Nearly Two Thousand Acres Drained by the
Improvement
A LONG JOB FOR A BOARD OF VIEWERS

The assessment for the great Thirty-third
street sewer which was begun in 1889 and
finished in the early part of last year, was
completed by the clerks in the Board of
Viewers office yesterday. The report
covers nearly 200 pages of closely written
legal cap and interests more people, in the
telling way of the pocketbook, than any
other single improvement ever made in this
city. About 1000 different properties are
assessed TO pay for it
The Thirty-third street sewer is the
largest in the city. 1t traverses nearly 2k
miles of the best residence portion of the
city and drains a territory of nearly 1000
acres. beginning at the foot of Thirty
third street, it runs to Skunk Hollow,
through which the Pennsylvania Railroad
enters the business part of the city, and
then proceeds eastwardly along the course
of an old creek which formerly carried of
the sewage it now conducts to the ALLIE
gheny river
Draining a Large Area
1t passes up through Ben Venue, Shady
side, Roup and the buiIt-up portion of East
Liberty to Shady avenue, where it is con-
tinued on in many complicated ramifcations
like the veins IN a living body. But while
the main sewer only runs from the Thirty
third street to Shady avenue, the whole
territory drained by it is assessed for its cost
The total cost estimated by the Board OF
Viewers before it was begun was s3O5, 900,
and in this estimate the assessment
was fixed at 50 Sc per front foot
on property directly connected with
the main sewer, and so cents per foot front
on property drained, but not directly at
tached. The completed assessment reduces
the cost on directly connected property to
81 13 per foot front and to the others so
cents. The total cost assessed bv the new
Board of Viewers is S256, ,091 81, being
1908 SO less than the preliminary assess
ment
The drainage area or watershed assessed
for the sewer is bounded by Thirty-third
street on the west, Shady avenue on the
east, Black street on the north and the top
of the hill in the Twenty-second ward, over
looking Fifth avenue, on the south
The Cost of the Work.
What is known as the watershed drainage,
or that property drained but not directly
connected with the main sewer, Is assessed
for 5000 1S7 of the total cost, and at the
rate of so cents per foot front, any owner of
50-foot lot on Ellsworth, Aiken, Center or
Anderson avenues, Howe, Roup, Lilac or
Ivy streets, or any of the numerous other
streets within that territory, will have to
paw an assessment of S25 as his share
smaller or larger lots in the same proper
ton. The balance of the total cost will be
assessed on the directly connected property
The improvement laws of 1887 and 1885,
under which this sewer was contested for
which have since been aDnulled, provided
that every feature of cost connected with
any work done should be assessed as part of
the improvement, but the new law and the
curative legislation under which it is as
sessed and will be paid for provide that the
cost of surveying, viewing, printing and
advertising shall be borne by the
city. This makes reduction
of S10,156 on the preliminary
estimate alone. The balance comes from
the cost of the work. The old viewers esti-
mated that 5,217 feet of brick and stone
sewer, the largest part of it, would cost
S25 so per foot, but the contract price was
only S19 SO. For the 2,O75 feet of 7-foot |
sewer their estimate was SA per foot, but |
the cost was only SD 80.
A Few Miscalcula,ions Made.
For the 2.919 feet of 6-foot sewer they
estimated SD 80 per foot, but it cost only |
SIi 0O, auU SO on UOWn 10 Cne Z&-1O0t size |
the errors were the same, the only over cal |
culation being on the iron castings, on
which $50 each was estimated for % drops |
which cost $50 each, and $50 each on 81 |
manholes which actually cost S125 each.
The Board of Viewers which had this |
assessment in charge were appointed last |
August, and since that time have performed |
an immense amount of work, although it is |
believed that the old fixed board, with their |
knowledge of the work, gained by years OF
experience, could have finished it in nearly |
half the time The present Board consists
of Messrs r. II. Lee, S. H. French and R. |
T. Hunt, and, although they have been
drawing S. per day each for every day put |
in on this work, they express satisfaction at
its completion.
The city's viewers have now finished up
and presented to the court all but 13 of the |
improvements affected by the curative leg
islation, and these will be turned over early
next month, the viewers being now at work
on them. The report of the viewers on the
big sewer will be filed in court on the 11th
Of May, after which interested persons will
have so days in which to file exceptions