The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1900-01-04
DRAINAGE CANAL OPENED.
First Water Admitted to the I'M
mense Channel Without Fol.
NAL Ceremony.
GREAT ENGINEERING FEAT ACCOMPLISHED
Only 10000 Cubic Feet of water n
Minute Admitted Tuesday-AmOuht
Gradually 10 BE Increased Chui
the Full Amount of 100000 CuDic
Feet VIII He Flowing.

Chicago, Jan. AT nine o'clock
yesterday morning water was turned
into the $50, 100000 drainage canal ana
began to flow toward Lockport, where
it will fall into the Desplanes river,
and thence through the Illinois and
Mississippi rivers to the Gulf OF Mex
leo. The engineers of the sanitary
10000 cubic feet of water minute,
but yesterday the water was allowed
to flow into the canal at the rate OF
only $4,000 cubic feet a minute. About
four days from the time the flow be-
gan, according to the estimate OF the
chief engineer, the canal will be full
of water.
Historical sketch of Canal.
Probably no public work has ever been
undertaken by any other state or munlci-
pality which, from its very inception, was
designed to do so much for the navigable
and commercial interests of the country
as the Chicago canal. The requirement OF
law which compelled the construction oil
rock sections to meet the demands OF the
next generation was wise, for ii has Ialo
the foundation of a mammoth ship canal
connecting the great lakes with the Missls-
sippi river and the gulf, and saving the
sanitary district of Chicago and the federal
government the great expense that would
in the future be necessary in rock eXcava-
ton and blasting under the flowing water.
The canal, If confined by law TO the single
requirement of disposing of Chicago's
sewage, could have been constructed fol
from $l2 600 to 100000, so the sanitary
district can justly claim to have expended
of laos n q
great navgabe waterway.
The first work in this great enterprise
was begun on Shovel day." September g.
1892, on the rock cut below Lemont, on the
line between Cook and VIII counties; so
tina a little over seven years have been
con sumed in the entire work, involving an
outlay of about $33,000,000. Over SO per
cent of the entire work was done during
the so-called panic period and, owing to
this fact the entire cost of construction
was reduced about $S,000,0O0. Indeed the
board of trustees and its engineers are
unanimous in the belief that the work
could not now be duplicated under existing
prices for both labor and material for less
than $4,000, 900.
The canal has been constructed in strict
conformity with the requirements OF the
law under which the sanitary district of
Chicago was organized, and 1t is OF sum
cient size and capacity TO produce and
MAINTAIN at all tlHltS Il COHtiiIuou9 hoN "a
at least 300 600 cubic feet OF water per min
ute, with a current not exceeding one mile
per hour. The flow of water is of the min
imum depth of 22 feet in the earth sections
of the canal, and the same depth through
out the rock sections.
The sanitary district of Chicago com
prises all of the city north of Eighty
seventh street, together with some A
square miles of Cook county, outside OF
the city limits. which will be directly bene-
fitted by the improvement. The population
of the city of Chicago in 1890, according &c
the federal census, was 1,090,S50, and the
equalized assessed valuation of real estate
and other property subject to taxation In
the sanitary district for the year 1898 was
$21S. 299,977, being about one-tenth of the
real value