The Savannah morning news., 1901-01-06
COST OF HOUSE DRAINAGE.
REPORT UPON THE WORK MADE
BY THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE.


Alderman Thomas Has Submitted
His Report to the May or--Hist tory
of the House Drainage system
Since the beginning of the work.
Difficulties with which Worlxmen
Had to Labor Are Mentioned-The
Actual Cost TO Date of the system
and the Estimated Cost of Its
Completion - Director of Public
Works Now Has Force mt work.
The Special Committee of City Council
on House Drainage. through its chairman.
Alderman d. r. Thomas. filed its annual
report yesterday with Mayor Myers. AL
derman Thomas gives a complete history
of the work on house drainage and its
cost.
when the firm of Miles & Bradt noti-
fed Council they wished to give up their
contract for completing the house drain
age system" Alderman Thomas says
Council wisely decided it would complete
the work by day labor and abandoned
any further idea of letting any part OF the
work by contract. 1t was found that the
work done by the previous contractors.
Rourke Mitchell and Niles & Bradt,
was none of 1t in condition for use. The
flush tanks had no water connections, the
lateral lines (S-inch) were in most cases
not connected by so feet with the main
sewer, and only small part of the main
brick sewer had been built. No outlet
to the river had been made.
the main sewer as far removed from the
city proper as gravity would allow, and
an agreement was made with Gen. w. ".
| Gordon, whereby the necessary right-of-
way was secured through the Gordon
wharf property as far as Bilbo canal. 1t
was necessary then to build a 42-inch
brick sewer from the foot of Bay and
Randolph street down Bay street, across
Lamar creek ana through the Gordon
wharf property to a point 30 feet from
Bilbo canal, and 24l feet from the river.
AT this point the bIick-work ended. and
| 59-inch iron pipe was used for the remain
| ing al feet The foundation for the sew
| err this entire distance was made OF a
! heavy 3-inch floor, with 3-inch mud stills
every ten feet, as the soil was a soft mud,
impossible, without this plank floor, oil
! carrying the weight of the sewer,
"A great deal of difficulty was encoun-
tered on lower Bay street from the fear
of undermining the walls of the Lower
! Press. These walls had to be shored up the
| entire distance, as they had no foundation
| Nt,ateVer The sewer was carried over
Lama. Creek with railroad iron, with pile
| foundations on either side and a 6-foot
water way lei. A 6-foot dam was built
| across this cree, on the west line of Bay
! street, so that tire rise and fall of the
! tide would not intef fere with the work II
building the sewer. The rest of the sewer
on Gordon wharf was built parallel with
and ten feet from az open ditch. which
| necessitated leaving in all the sheet pill
| ing along this ditch. This entire $500
| feet of 42-inch sewer was built. at a depth
| that was almost exactly the same eleva-
| ton as mean low tide, through a soft
blue mud, full of Cypress stumps, with the
| rise and fall of tide water to contend with
I all She way, in sixty-seven days. The iron
outlet pipe, $40 feet in length, presented
many dficulties before II was success
fully put in place. Where the brick sew
er ends and the iron outlet pipe starts
/ is exactly mean low water. From this
( point 1t is a straight grade to the bot
tom of the river at the harbor line, where
/ there is fifteen feet of water at low tide
"Of this work, IT'S feet was done be-
tween tides. The remaining sixtyfve feet
of pipe next to the river was first pointed
up above low water. and after the proper
grade at the bottom Of the river bank
had been secured, the sxty-hve feet of
30-inch pipe was lowered as one section
into place. A great deal of difficulty was
! encountered in obtaining the necessary
grade for bottoms OF this pipe. as our
! line ran through an old wharf the en-
tire distance. necessitating the cutting and
pulling of old piles and logs, all under
water.
after the completion of this outlet and
during its construction, work was COM