The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-12-17

| Beaver Brook, by widening. deepening
and strengthening as may be found ne
| cessary. This is matter which could
| well be treated during several years; a
sary This is a matter which could well
| be treated during several years; a
| considerable small portion being done
! each year In that way reasonable
progress would be made toward fur
nishing relief from the floods which
are so annoying to tenants and prop
| erty owners in that district.
Work upon the separating system of
| sewers was begun in the summer of
| 1897 and has been carried on to COM
pletion with as much dispatch as was
/ compatible with good and econmi-
! cal construction
During the year the east interceptor
/ was completed having been construct
/ ed from Franklin Street in Grafton
! Street to the corner Of Grove and
| Cemetery Streets The course of Mill
/ brook was followed as closely as pos
sible the interceptor having been built
/ through Grafton Street Washington
/ Square, Summer Street, Lincoln Street,
/ l\eefe Place, Garden Street Court Gar
| den Street, Brden Street, across land
Of stephen Salisbury, through Prescott
and Cemetery Streets to Grove Street.
| This interceptOr was completed SO
that the sewage from all trunk connec-
| tons was discharged into it Oct. 30 and
the gate controlling the Crescent
Street sewer was finally opened on
that day in the presence Of the Board
| of Selectmen of Millbury. With the
finishing of these trunk connections
the intercepting system was practically
completed although a large number of
men were kept at work upon small
connections until the end of the sea-
| son. In addition to the sewers men
toned elsewhere "a house connections
! have been cha lged to the new sani-
| tary system from the old sev-SrS-Svhoh
will, in the future, be used only fer
surface water. These connections have
combined length of 1927 feet. Pre-
vious to this year 1912 house connec-
! tions have been changed over having
a total length Of 1918 feet
The most difficult piece of work done
during the year was the construction
Of the east interCeptor from a point
Just south Of the B. &. a. +. +. lOca-
ttOn in Grafton Street to Fulton Street,
a distance of 1912 feet
This sewer was about 30 feet and at
Z a lower level than the bed of Millbrook
(which runs parallel with it and only
about 400 feet away The material
through which the excavating was done
| was mostly fine sand which with the
| large amount of ground water found
! in it would have made the construction
| in open cut very difficult and eXpen-
| sive. This fact together with the in
| convenience which would be inevitable
| because of the two railroad crossings
| the net work of street railroad tracks
and the large amount of street traffic
! led to the conclusion that this section
should be tunnelled This tunnel was
| constructed under air pressure in the
| same manner as was the tunnel in
| Green Street. The drift was six feet
| in diameter being lined with wooden
rings and masonry to the required size
| and shape. The masonry was placed
! in this tunnel as the work progressed
| and no material difficulty was ex-
perienced because of the small size,
viz: 40 inches by "a inches and 80 in
ches by AZ inches.
The total cost of this tunnel was
$3IS51.3l including cost of Shrewsbury
| Street regulator. amounting to $37.4
per running foot Of sewer built.
! The work In Summer Street was car
ried on in three different sections at
the same time. The excavations were
very heavy, ranging from 10 to 80 feet
deep and having an average depth of
about % feet. In Lincoln Street ledge
! was encountered a short distance
above Kendall Street and materially
| delayed the completion of the inter
| ceptor. A short section including the
| curve from Lincoln Street into Keefe
Place was built in tunnel as the cut
was very heavy and the ledge cropped
out on the surface of the street.
1t was while engaged upon this work
that the lamentable accident resulting
in the death Of David Gleason oc-
Cured Mr. Gleason was employed to
run the small air compressor which
furnished air for the operation of the
! drills. For some unknown reason he
| left the compressor and stepped onto
! the street railroad track Immediately
in front of an approaching car by
which he was struck
As soon as the interceptor was com
pleted so as to provide an outlet for
| sewage the section lying between Sum-
mer Street and Millbrook was resew-
cred. As the old sewers in this dis
trict graded toward Mllbrook it be-
came necessary to construct new ones
which could discharge into the inter
ceptor This also required the trans
lferring Of all house cor nections from the
old lines to the new ones.
This work was made especially diff
cult in Union Street because Millbrook
occupies the entire roadway and the
NEW constructions were compelled to be
put in the sidewalk. 1t was at times
difficult to get sufficient room for the
! MlllDIOk
! the building foundations.
| The sewage has been treated in va
! riOus ways. but always with a view to
/ obtaining best results in the river To
/ accomplish this the purpose has been
! 70 litter as large an amount as posi-
/ bic and procure a filtrate in which the
! organic matter was reduced to such an
/ extent that it would not become often
slVe. Accordingly little attention has
( been paid TO notification, which. with
a sewage so strongly acid is difficult
/ to obtain. The limited fltering area.
! IA 10 acres, has of course prevented
treating a very considerable portion of
the flow in this way
Throughout the year the most pol-
/ lutte sewage has been selected for fill
tration which has had a material eff
/ feet upon the results shown by chem
/ ical analysis, as well as upon the
amount Of sewage the filters would
take care of.
The total flow Of sewage received at
the works was 3564.7 million gallons. of
! which 3l3S.S million gallons have been
treated chemically, and 320.40 million
gallons have been treated by subsi-
dence. The only analyses which shows
the results of subsistence without
chemicals were made during October
/ and November and show a removal of
/ aibuminoid ammonia amounting to
1884 per cent and 53.43 per cent re
/ spectively. In November the sewage
was very strong.
/ The separating system was finally
put into use Sept. 6, and on Oct 80 the
last trunk sewer connection was made
/ to the east interceptor.
( This change in the sewer system will
. be of very great value in the treat
| ment Of the sewage and the improve
! ment nf the ElacksEnnn RiNer R1- tha