The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1901-04-03


presented a petition from the Jersey City
Water Supply Company, the assignees of
Patrick H. Flynn, the contractor for the
new water supply for Jersey City, for a
modification OF the contract according to
the bill passed at the last Legislature.
The petition was referred to the consult
ing engineers. This is the text of the
petition
Jersey City, March 50, 1901.
The Mayor ana Aldermen OF Jersey City,
Board of Street and Water Commls-
siohers, Beard Of Finance
Dear Sirs-On February 2S, 1898. en-
tered into a contract With your city for
a New Water Supply, based upon speci-
fications prepared by your engineers and
adopted by your Board, and my bid there
under.
Under such bid I offered the water shed
of the Rockaway River above old Boon
ton, containing about I11a square miles,
city daily supply of fifty million gal
Ions of water forever, with the right to
divert at any. time twenty million gal
Ions additional. In ORDER to ensure prop
er storage for such supply of SO million
gallons daily, I provided and am building
a storage reservoir on the accepted site
at Old Boonton capable of storing seven
ty-one hundred and ninety t7l90) million
gallons of water, all in strict accordance
with the specifications In my bid l
stated there would be tributary to this
intake and storage reservoir TIE
WHOLE FLOW OF THE RoCKAWAY
RIVER.
thus far expended over two million dol
lars. In order to avoid all litigation ana
question, my first move was to acquire
the rights to divert the water from the
Society for Establishing Useful Manu-
factures at Paterson, the Dundee Water
Power and Land Company at Passalc, the
Aequaekanonk Water Company, the Pas
sale Water Company, the Montclair
Water Company and the East Jersey
Water Company, who had vested rights
in the flow of the Passaic River and its
tributaries, including the RockaWay. All
such known rights have been acquired
with the exception of two small private
mill rights which will be acquired in due
course An agreement was also made
with the Norris Canal and Banking Com
pany, which restricted its use of the
waters of Lake Hopatcong and of the
3 fs0cszss way to the necessities OF nayiga-
ton. and whereby said company agreed
not to supply ~ water for power or
potable uses Il the Rockaway as it
claimed to be authorized by the supple
ment TO its charter passed in 1871 and also
to operate the canal with care, SO as to
avoid pollution.
have also acquired the title to the
greater part of the reservoir site and pipe
llne right of way. The great dam at
Boonton is well under way; practically
al the excavation made, and over one
third of the stone prepared and ready to
places all the false works, derricks and
power plant are finished. Indeed, upon
the dam and the work incidental thereto
over four hundred thousand dollars have
been expended; this includes the quarry
crusherS, railroad, cut stone, machinery
power plant and excavation. The tun-
mel through Hook Mountain has been cut
through and is ready for lining. About
Cne-third of the long tunnel through
Watching Mountain, has been opened
The excavation for about all of the ma
sonry conduit between Boonton and Hook
Mountain has been completed. Twenty-Five
thousand feet of the steel pipe line have
la T1d Cnr nt ad xy1i 1n a1xyc
thousand feet more are in process of man
ufacture and delivery. During the past
winter the roadway for the pipe across
to the Hackensack River has been nearly
completed.
In addition to these actual expenditures
amounting to over two million dollars, 1
have become personally liable for sub
contracts entered into for the completion
of the pipe line, the Watching tunnel
and the masonry conduit line. and for
other items amounting to at least two
million dollars more.
The necessary funds to do all this work
have been furnished by me and on. my
credit without recourse to any banking
syndicate. In order to obtain the requis-
ite funds to complete the work / made
application, last fall, to number of
banking firms with view to the fOrma-
tion of a syndicate for the loan of
s4,500,000. The application was faverably
considered; all the legal points connected
with the contract and its award includ-
ing the power of the city to purchase and
issue bonds therefor, We're carefully pass
ed upon by eminent counsel in New York
and in New Jersey, and approved in de-
TAIL
Then the general plan and scope of the
work done and to be done, including the
c9pacity and potability of the watershed
and supply to fulfill the practical terms
of the contract were submitted to several
of the leading hydraulic engineers of the
country, selected by the syndicate, ami
were likewise approved.
Three criticisms, based upon technical
grounds only, were submitted in the re-
port of the engineers.
ID That the basis of yield per square
mile of the watershed in the dry season
fixed by the specification at $4,000 gallons
per day. was entirely too low for the
Rockaway River watershed. and entailed
a large expenditure for storage beyond a
reasonable factor of safety. The estimate
being that with the amount OF reservoir
watershed could be counted on in dry
season for at least 100000 gallons per day
per square mile.
proposal that s'the whole flow of the
Rockaway River" was tributary to the
storage reservoir at Boonton was techni-
Cd east from the Rockaway River at
Roonton single gallon of water.
f3l That if the Morris Canal withdrew
lenallv or otherwise from the Rockaway
River af Roonton any more water than it
cast into the river from Lake Hopatcong,
this excess would be draIl upon every
square mile OF the flOchdWdy lhlfei
water shed offered by me and manifestly
make impossible of correct application the
table for the proportion OF storage ca ca
pacity to area of watershed set out IN the
specification.
Exception / applies only to the economic
features of the specifications and shows
that they are ultra conservative and will
cause results beyond the contemplation
of the contract
Exceptions 2 and 8, if well founded, pre-
vent technical fulfillment of the con-
tract, Notwithstanding the works may be
built strictly in accordance with the
physical features of the specifications, and
supply to and vest in the city forever the
full quantity and quality of water called
for.
When these technical objections e and
3 were submitted to the counsel of the
syndicate, doubt as to the ability of the
contractor to fulfill the terms of his con-
f tract and of the city to accept works not
technically in accordance Herewith. was
raised. Under the circumstances the syn
d5cate declined to make the loan unless
the claim Of the Morris Canal could be
eliminated or some other remedy found,
az it would certainly involve. sooner 0r