The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-04-29
NEWARK'S Big Pipe.
The Most Troublesome Por-
ton of the Great Water
works Enterprise.
VERY CRUDE RESULTSSO FAR
Leaks Are Numerous, and the
Whole Job Looks Unfin-
ished--A Trip Over
the Route.
VERY CRUDE RESULTSSO FAR
spccial 70 the Jerseu Cau News.

Special to the Jersey CITY News.
NEWARK. April 90, 1s92-If one section
of the work III preparing for the new
water supply of this city has given the
East Jersey Water Company more
trouble thar another it is the pipe line.
For a distance of twenty-one miles, uphill
and down dale, this great iron tube ex-
tends across the open country. AS put
together it is like Il great spiral. There
is no break in it from one end to the other.
1t is constructed of heavy steel. The
plate was riveted together in such a way
as to form a long iron tube, and after
each tube was placed In position it was
carefully riveted to the adjoining section,
the whole forming an endless spiral.
From the very first the company had to
contend with great difficulties i'll this part
of the work. The condemnation of the
land through which the pipe line passes
had to be resorted to in q number of In
stances, and in one case the attending
legal complications delayed the final COM
pletion of the work considerably. The
pipe line passes over the country in al
most a direct line from the intake reser-
voir. on the P%equannock river. to the
Bellevilie reservoir, as already stated,
twenty-one miles. 1t follows the
course OF the Pequannock river for a short
distance below the intake reservoir.
then strikes off to the south OF the river
across the foot hills to Pompton Plains.
1t crosses the plains, which tor several
miles are nearly level. and then mounts
the elevated ground separating the plains
from the Passaic River valley, where the
river turns from Little Falls to Paterson.
it is on this elevated ground north of
Mountain View That it reaches the high
point after leaving the Pequannock. This
is at what is knowp as Aunt Sally's Hill.
CoURsE OF H PIPE LINE.
The line then descends the elevation on
the east to the Passaic River, which it
crosses about a mile below Little Falls.
mounts the elevated ground again to
Great Notch and then, after passing
through that space in the Orange Noun
tain. crosses the compat atively level
country north of Montclair in the direc-
ton of Stone House Plains, crosses the
Morris Canal at Brookdale and then
takes u direct course to the Bellevllle
reservoir. The elevation at the intake
reservoir is 585 feet about tidewater.
Where the line crosses the Passaic
River the elevation is ia feet. At
Great Notch it is $40 feet and at the
Belleville reservoir it is 173 feet. The
Z line Is at as low u point as seventy-hve
feet above tide water. The hydraulic
grade IL eleven feet to the mile. and ac-
cording to the levels of the engineers en-
"a SA ~ - - No~e - -
thai grade at any point on the line. AT
Amt Sally's Hill and at the Great Notch
approaches it very closely. just west
of the Belleville reservoir, a branch of
the pipe. three feet in diameter, runs off
to the south, passing through sRoseville,
over to the South Orange avenue reser-
voir. This reservoir is at an elevation
of 230 feet, and the high service is from it.
The branch pipe line uescends to as low a
level AS ifty-seven feet above the tide
--I tr- lt~t @rk - N re fn .f cha Tot
minus. Through q valve arranged at the
intersection OF the main pipeline, there
is sufficient pressure to force the water
into the South Orange avenue reservoir.
A TRIP OVER H PIPE LINE.
During the past day or two your cor
part of the main pipe line. The work as
a wholeshas a very unfinished appear
auce. 1t is in its rough state almost
The pipe line has been put in place, but
that is about all. The ground about the
line has been left in a most disorderly
state. From appearance 1t would seem
that the pipe has been covered with two
feet of earth. In some places, where the
contour of the country would warrant it,
it has been placed at a greater depth.
Nowhere has the work a finished look,
though it seems to be substantially Gone,
except for the evidences Of leaks, which
appear on all sides. These, the repre-
sentatives Of the company claim, are be-
ing rectified as rapidly as possible.
An important part of the pipe line Is
the "blow-of" or air valve MS 1t is called.
There are a number of them, and they
are to be used to let air into the pipes
When.i 1t is desired to empty them of water
and to let air escape when 1t is desired to
fill them with water. The valve is sur
mounted by a large square frame struc-
ture having two chimneys. In the centre
OF each of these chimneys is an arrange
ment very much like the damper of a
stovepipe, the position of which Is regu-
lated by a leaden ball. These chimneys
are intended to keep out the cold air
in winter and keep the valve from freez-
ing, If a current of air strikes the damper-
like contrivance in one of these chimneys
the weight of the iron ball immediately
causes the damper to fall back to its
proper position. The inside of the main
box is covered with a stout floor OF planks.
and over this Is q blanket. Below the
floor is the valve. which is very ingeni-
ously arranged and works automatically.
There are seventy-seven of these air
valves, and they are situated OH the sum-
mits of hills betw cen the Macopin intake
and Belleville.
HOW TO EFFECT LEAKS.
Near the intake arises on the line of tine
pipe a tall frame structure that looks
som ething like an oil derrick. This, Mr..
Herschelinformed the reporter, is a water
meter. He said that there are three of
these on the pipe line between the intake
and Belleville. Mr.. Herschel said the
pipe main is laid from four to fifteen feet
below the surface OF the ground and is
constructed of the best Carnegie open
hearth steel. Every one of the steel
plates used in the pipes has been carefully
tested and a record is kept of each Que.
There are m~anholes in the pipe line every
1000 feet. The pipe line is divided into
sections by gates arranged so that in case
of a leak or accident of any kind in any
section of the pipe line that section
could be cut out and the water
emptied from the pipes by means of the
air valves spoken of above, and the re-
pairs made without the necessity of emp
tying the whole pipe line to make the re-
pair, which in the majority OF cases would