The morning call., 1893-03-01
BAD STREET. WORK.

One of the causes OF so mucB> bad street
|. work in S N Francisco lies; in the break
down ofyigilant and efficient inspection
Its not so much in the drawing up Of con-:
+ tracts. loosely as this preliminary is fre-
quently done. or in. the engineering plans,
defective as these may be; that blunders
arise: 1t" is in the. actual workmanship.
. the neglect TO make sure that whatever the
plan is. and whateverthe contract calls for,
the contractor does comply with the terms
+: Of his undertaking in requisite labor and
supply Of materials. If permitted to scamp
their work, contractors will accept any
plans on paper. give any amount OF bonds
for faithful performa nee, and make hand-
some profit on any con tract prices. What
is the use Of ordering sewer to be ten feet
deep when the contractor succeeds in lay-
Ing it only four feet deep, and yet charges
the property-OwneFs the fun amount? In
a large percentage of cases the property
owners are precluded from looking closely
after their own interests. Some of them
are nonresident III the block being severed,
others are attending TO business during the
day, and means are, found to silence or
hoodwink the remainder who show a dis
position to be critical about the contractors
specific performance. Unless the city
holds the contractor to his task the righ Is
OF the propertY-owner are apt to be ruth
lessly trampled under foot; Theoretically,
therefore, heavy load of responsibility
rests upon the Street Committee and the
Superintendent of Streets, but the number
Of mistakes and jobs which escape notice
shows that this responsibility is lightly
sh0nidered. 1t is not Incumbent upon the
Superintendent of Streets that he should be
an engineer, or have any special qualifca-
tions beyond that of being elected to his
position. Ifdull in the technical sense. lie
can always secure a deputy to give him ad-
vice, and he is certain to be loaded and
primed with advice by contractors. The
chairman Of the Street Committee may be
still less qualified TO direct operations.
Some such defe ct 10 the system Of fnspec-
tion can alone explain the faulty manner in
which sewer has been constructed in
Eureka street, between Eighteenth and
Nineteenth. The connection at Eighteenth
street Is ten feet deep, but the.sewer iume-
diately rises several feet in zigzag fashion
and drops in the middle Of the block to eight
feet al point where there Is manhole.
Then the piping again rises until 1t reaches
Nineteenth street, where the sewer is ten
feet deep, but the connection falls, having
only depth of four feet There the contrac-
tor has left his work, which had much better
never have been commenced. The city has
accepted the work after examination by the
usual competent inspector" and the con-
tractor has got possession of his certificates
duly issued by the present City Surveyor
and Superintendent. The question is what
inspection worthy of the name could have
been msdeP None. The properiy-owners
are required to pay for useless work. and
the value OF their property is deprecated
until the sewerage is set right. This is no
Isolated instance. III the Street Depart
ment will not do ITS duty some association
with subscriptions, payable by members.
should take MP the work Of inspection and
detection Of jobs, just as some associations
report on the sanitary condition of houses.