The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-06-10
AsroRlNs WATER WORKS.
Tho Fame OF the New Plant Conc
Abroad,


Engineering Record,
The paper by MIR, Arthur 1. Adams
on "'rhe Astoria CITY Water Works." IN
the April Proceeding OF the American
Society OF Civil Engineers, II an 0d-
mirahlc record OF the construction OF a
public work of no great magnitude, ana
YET worthy OF more than passing remark
for a number Of rcaAona The city OF
Astoria has population OF about lc.uOO
people. who had. prior to tho e0natruc.
ton OF the new works. vnioyeAtthe full
blessings OF being supplied with water
by a private company, Indeed tho water
question had reached such pass through
had construction and WORSE design that
total collapse was imminvnt at any mo-
menI With commcndahlc public spirit
and foresight the city began tho CON
structlon OF conduit more than ten
miles long Ia order that all probable
future nccds may b. supplied from
source and through system under ttH
own control \ much larEcr munici'
pallty near New York could with ad.
dAntage emulate the example OF the little
city al the mouth OF the Columbia river
Il Is chiefly to the engineering features
OF the work. however, teat We wish to
call attcntlon.
Tho amount OF public money available
for the dcsircd construction was natural
ly not largo for such an undertaking,
and the possibility even OF accomplish
mcnt lay Ia excellent engineering design
and supervision, Indeed, Il may be- said
In season. not only In thia ease. but In
many others during the past history OF
the country. municipal existence almost.
and certainly municipal prosperity, has
been completely dependent upon the skill
and efficiency with which the civil en-
ginccrs In tho public service have adapt
ed their designs to. and Avaiicd them.
selves OF purely local means In order TO
attain both the necessary economy ana
excellence Older prcccdentu have been
ignored and urw ones frequently OF the
boldcst character and exhibiting great
fertility Of resource, have been estab-
llshcd. These features OF American en-.
glneerlng have been developed under the
conditions OF growth OF the newer por-
tions OF the country, but many os them
arc worthy OF the moat careful consid-
Grafton by the practitioners OF the older
Eastern portion.
One Oi ,he first features Of special In
terest In tho Astoria watcr works 10 the
combined wood and steel pipe limo, Ia
spite OF the fact that both types ot Pipe
have been frequently used heretofore.
The wooden stavcs In this case were OF
the yellow ar OF Oregon. and IL appears
TO be well adapted to the purpose The
care used In the dcaisn and couatruc-
ton OF this part OF the work l. aucsted
by the Investigations made 10 determine
the pressure effects on tho ~ood IN con.
sequence OF the swelling OF tho stavcn
and the best maximum prcsHurva under
which the wood should hc used. IL
seemed TO be Indicated by the experience
gained that the latter quantity was abou,
10 pounds por square inch lnaamuch
as the is-lnch gtave pipe Is subjected "a
as great head as IL feet. the proceed
Ing determinations were important, ane
the work was 80 well done that u length
I OF the pine when tested by fllinR above
| n closed gate proved to be without leak
I age. Again, a ls-lnch rivctcd steel pip'
/ about one-elghth OF an Inch thick, lai,
| with lead Joints. under head OF 20 fec
| Is not a usual piece OF water works prac
tice.
open stand pipes IN the line OF the con
dult afforded means OF measuring IN
friction head between them ana thu
determining from actual 10 and ls-incl
pipes the coefilclcnts for either Chezy'
or Kutter's formula. The values foun
In the former were 1898 FOR the woode
pipe and iO9.s for the steel. while the cor
responding quantities OF kuuers TOT
muln were 0.OOO9Ss and 0.0il3. IL IL thu
seen that the stave pipe offers les
friction than the cnHt-iron pipes, III
tests OF which were made by Mr. Kuich
ling OF Rochester, N. Y. and given In III
Engineering Record OF May 2. II Is ais
Important to observe that the Chezy &C
efficient for the rlveted steel conduit
practically Identical with that determine
by MIR. Kuichling for the same class
pipe, although the latter had diamete
OF IS inches Such determinations q
these with actual pipe lines OF gren
length under service conditions are
extraordinary professional value an
mark distinct advances IN civil engineer
ing practice.
The remaining feature TO which "
shall give special attention In the resei
volr lining which was composed Tor IN
bottom, OF inches OF Portland cemer
concrete In 20-foot squares with hall
inch Expansion Joints" OF asphalt. u c'
ment mortar finish and two coats
asphalt aggregatlng nearly IL inches
thickness. The reservoir was excaVate
for more than two-thirds OF It's dept
in clay or clay ana sand, and II wa
essential that the lining OF the bottol
should be capable of adjusting Itself
some settlement without sensible leal
age. II would appear that the deslg
was well adapted to these ends. TT
aspahlt coaotlng will permit even cracl
, ing OF the concrete TO some extent will
out leakage and the Joints OF the san
material will enable considerable irreg'
. lar vertical movement OF the bottom
, take place without dlscontinuIty. TT
, same asphalt joints exhibit in a striklr
/ manner the expansion ana contracuc
! Of the concrete blocks due to changes
temperature and demonstrate the nece
slty Of providing for thermal chang
Of volume in monolithlc concrete stru
lures. These and other features OF Il
paper, including the complete statemen
OF cost, mark II as one Of exception
value In the transactions OF the Amer