The morning news., 1899-02-07
CITING THE STORM SEWERS.
.,r, rNGINEER's RIGHT OF sU-
prRyIsION IN DRAINAGE WORK.

IL. surface Water Sewers with
soIIer sewers win Eventually
,,,ot, the FIOw-The Council Com
.,,i,tee on Drainage 10 Investigate
49,. Waiter To-day and VIII Also
notermine whose Duty II Is to su-
,,ise the House Drainage Work.
,-,. piercing of storm sewers by the
house drainage contractors has been
,...tt IN the attention of the new drain
,,n,r1ittee. which VIII meet this after
~oo, for the purpose of looking into the
,t,.r II has also been determined to re-
=. tho friction which has existed be-
,u.ssr the drainage and engineering depart
s,..ts and thoroughly define the powers
and 9n,ies of the city engineer in super
visins the work.
In the recent Investigation of charges
u.,e.rrel against the drainage contractors
nv local engineers, one of the principal OBJ
,.ctians urqed was the manner in which
storm water sewers had been treated. 1t
,,.. claimed that a sewer had been pierre
ed hc a house drainage pipe. The result of
which was to form an obstruction which
might interfere with the flow. of water.
Engineer Sugden who was witness in the
INVESTIGATION. said he considered it bad
engineering TO go through the storm water
sewers in this way. City Engineer Winn
said he thought a cyphon should have been
made al the intersection of the sewer and
the drainage pipe. A foreman who testified
contractors
thought the pipe might have been carried
either above or below the sewer, and there
bv avoided breaking into it.
The contractors claimed that the drain
age uipe could not be run underneath
without a serious risk to the sewer which,
II was claimed would sink if the founda-
ton was impaired in any way. AS the
lesser of two risks they pierced the sewer,
not believing the obstruction would i'm
pede the ready flow of storm water There
was only one instance brought out in
which the sewers had been cut.
During the progress of the work on East
Broad street, however, it seems the con-
tractors have recently tapped the six-foot
sewer there for the purpose of passing an
eight-inch drainage pipe through 1t. The
committee understands it is the intention
of the contractors to pierce the sewer at
a number of other points for the lateral
sewer pipes and as this is looked upon as
bad move, the committee desires to Learn
If some way cannot be adopted which will
not impair the usefulness of the. storm
sewers With these pipes passing through
the sewer at various points, it is claimed
its capacity win be greatly diminished
and that there is a possibility of It's clog
ging If matter collects around the laterals.
City Engineer Winn has objected all
along to the piercing of storm water sew
ers He thinks syphon could be made at
the intersections, thereby running the
pipes either above or below the sewer,
which would not only leave it free from
obstruction, but would save il from the
physical wear and tear of breaking
through it. The syphons are apt to be-
come oostructed at times, but there are
man-holes at each of them, so that they
may be cleared of distractions at any
time Col. Winn has not intimated as
much, though his idea seems to be that
the contractors would make good house
drainage system at sacrifice of the sew
ers. There should be a strict superintend-
ence of the work by a representative of
the city not connected with the house
uiahage, Col. Winn thinks, which would
insure the protection of all city property |
An estimate has been made in Col |
Nlnn's office Of the damage the penetra-
Vlhg pipes have been to the sewers. The
estimate was made some days ago, and
SHOWS that the discharge of the sewers
mas decreased from 131 cubic feet a second
10 1VS cubic feet a second. In places 1t
Is stated the laterals block the point
Wnere the flow is heaviest, and thereby
form an obstruction which will consider
apS lessen the capacity of these sewers
Cndrinan Graham of the drainage COM
mittee was seen yesterday in regard TO
s1e meeting which he said has been called
ioI the purpose Of considering the pass
,Hs u lateral pipes through storm water
"V9' "hHe ne had not given the mat
great deal of thought, and was nor.
-. eiCiore' prepared to express an opinion.
~ - ufaham said he had been told bv renu-
'apie engineers that it is not advisable
D.oeAaue the sewers in this way. 1t ts
rL j" give trouble in the future. and. be-
nv, '"e uanage to the sewer in break
,bo~o soush II should not be tolerated if
A. g. any other way to do the work.
il'sl 'hought it seemed to him the LAT
e.a'S @ are an obstruction. and that tbe
opu0HS OF the sewer is lessened ia nro-
Lsruou 70 the number of nines nasse5
am, IT, me committee will nor take
rr9.aS 'ioil until the question has been
fciaI considered, but it seems. some Of
sbol+,, ulrectly connected with tha city
Tho aaNe taNe concurrent superintendence Of
tho intge iptaInage work, no matter how eood
Nrare r.estl!ohs .Is OF the Contractors NAV he
erptrlsIian tnan once the question of tbe citv
ege e,eer I.tI, right to have say in the drain,
the foorl ~onh mas come up, but it was dnrins
are ,orIner liner administration, and the drain9
on an,l roiiltnlttee l, always poured cold water
corn,1I.. conn., suggestion of this kind. The tban
FararbCe Frrils'ee held that waring. cbann,an ,,'e
neers Lar are the city's consuIting an,J-
neer ' USin ana that the services of Cit1 Enei-
ed tba+ nm were not necessary. II is stat
Wi1n '"S C.o on more than one occas,on Se% co.
or5Ip.1l 5T1 caled attention to the fact cVI c,t
The 'ie draie made it his duty to sunar,,iss sy
carrv image work, and he took tbis ''t ~
care 10 q responsibility which he did NJ,
the mass No assume unless he had ynico I "E ~
not %g,hod degi1 of doing the work tIa EIics en- 10
up. and TO see the storm sewers tor 49,
out the the carry the responsibility OF n uitb 11fn
Nacbon.IIisssh Iisht to protest. section as, %''n ns
oIt sbl{i %bu{es' is as follows: 'ne ehgi-
reer i-''ll in a, De the duty of the cit, o,o,
rection oc py city ordinances, under now W. pre-
~ tllG M9VOr a. Nf NAiS vi |