The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1900-06-02
BIGGER TUNNELS.
Proposal to Enlarge Water
Supply Gonduits to l0O,-
100000 Gallons
Capacity.
CHANGE WOULD COST $4,000
Street and Water Board Has
Heard of Rumor but Has
Not Been Formally
Notified.
CHANGE WOULD COST $4,000

There is a b. aposition on foot to change
the size of the tunnels through which the
new supply of water to Jersey City will
flow to Belleyille reservoir. These
tunnels are for fifty million
gallon supply with a prospective
&c, 900, 900 supply In view of the
fact that Jersey City may in the not re-
mote future require the 100000 supply,
the carrying capacity of the tunnels, 50 it
is urged, should be at least 10000, ,0C0-
This change would mean about $150,000
There are two tunnels on the line, one
through the Hook or as it is called the
Foremost" mountain, and the other
about five miles west of Boonton. The
latter tunnel is the smaller of the two
and will be about 1850 feet long. The
larger tunnel passes through Great
Notch and comes out at Upper Montclair
and when completed will be mile and
a half long. Work is to be started on
these tunnels as soon as the preliminary
work is arranged.
The smaller tunnel will be built py the
Jersey City Water Supply Company itself
and the larger by the Hudson County
Contracting Company and James p Nc
Donald. These tunnels are to be nearly
eight feet in diameter, brick lined
and cemented and when once built
cannot be enlarged.
From careful observation of the flow of
the Rockaway River at Old Boonton the
engineers are now convinced that sup
ply of 10000 900 gallons of water daily
can easily be stored without raising the
dam one foot, and they are equally con-
vinced of the remarkable fact that the
watershed will yield 100,OOO,OOO gallons a
day more easily than the Newark water
shed can yield 50.000000 daily.
OF course the tunnels, about to be con-
structed,. can be enlarged to convey this
volume of water now, but outside engi-
neers, as well as those engaged on the
work, point out emphatically that here
after they cannot be enlarged. 1t is
understood that the Jersey City Water
Supply Company is willing to enlarge the
tunnel it will build, provided it is
paid a reasonable price for the additional
work, which, outside engineers estimate,
will not cost more than $150,OO0 to $160,000,
and the city will then be largely bene-
fitted by the outlay, having at all times
an unlimited supply of water. To secure
that. after the present tunnels had been
tional tunnel at large cost.
The Street and Water Commissioners
have heard of the proposition, although
no formal notification has been presented
to them. The additional expense, it is
said, will be not favorably received in
certain quarters for the reason that if
there was so much opposition to the city
buying the fifty million supply how can
this project be approved.
'tOne thing is CERTAIN, said an official
this morning, sooner or later Jersey City
will require the 100000 gallons supply
and there is no getting away from that.
The city is growing and what with more
schools, factories and other industries we
will find in a few years 50,C00,00o gallons
insufficient. 1 think it would be econ
omical and prudent to secure the large
supply now; there's no knowing what may
take place. The bigger tunnel would be a
proper thing