The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-10-20
IT IS SINKING.
Alarming Condition Of the
North Topeka Sewer.
Feared 1t VIII Be Destroyed by
Qnicksand.
USING THEIR SHOVELS.
Street Force Now Digging Out
Part of Main.
Hoped That the Quicksand Will
Soon Dry Up.

Street Commissioner Snyder has made
the startling discovery that the North
Topeka sewer seems to be sinking into
a bed of quicksand. If the sinking can
not be checked, or If the quicksand does
not dry up, the entire sewer system
may ultimately be swallowed up in the
mysterious bed of ooze which seems to
underly North Topeka.
At the present time, the street COM
missioner has a large gang at work
digging out the big 24-inch sewer on
Park street, between Central avenue
and Jackson street. Forty feet of the
sewer has been uncovered, and by
means of tripod borrowed from the
Topeka Water company, the heavy sec
tions of pipe are being raised out of the
quicksand. The pipe had gone down III
feet at this point, forming trap
past which it was practically impossi-
BILE for the drainage to flow. Many
of the great 300 pound sections of pipe
are broken by being twisted out OF line,
and it will be necessary to obtain new
sections of pipe to replace these.
In order to prevent further sinking
of the pipe a solid bed of concrete,
made of crushed stone and lola cement.
will be laid on the quicksand, and the
pipe placed on the concrete.
This is not the first case of su1ken
sewers which Street Commissioner
Snyder has repaired since the flood, but
| it is the first time there has been any
trouble of this kind with the large pipes.
In a number of places the sewer later
ais have sunk in exactly the same way,
making it necessary to dig them up,
and fill the trench with concrete 1t
| has been found that in the smaller sew
ers. the concrete stops further sinking,
but whether this method will work
| where the weight is so great as in a "a
| inch pipe is yet to be discovered.
Of course it is not so much the dam
age which has actually been done 10
the sewer as the possibility, vague atad
terrifying. that the whole of North To-
peka is resting in a foundation Wh1cn
| is so unstable as quicksand is supposed
to be. 1t is not by any means certain
that this is the case. The Qulcksand.
NAV exist only in pockets or drift
The fact that the sewer seems to be
sinking only at certain points would
indicate the correctness Of this theorV.
Furthermore, it is likely that the sand
| is gradually drying UP and becoming
more firm. The sewer had for five
years prior to the June flood without
making any trouble by sinking, and
this would indicate that the Sresent
conditions are the direct result of the
| food.
| After the food, North Topeka was
prolific of quicksand. Certain streets
were impossible for weeks simply be-
cause they, remained so saturated with
In filling up holes in the streets, Street
| Commissioner Snyder observed many
queer freaks of the treacherous sand.
He actually dug out cook stoves. bug
gies and farm wagons which had been
| entirely swallowed up. As he filled in
| dirt at one side of a "sink hole the
weight would crowd the uuicksand up
on the other side of the hole. so that
! by the time he had apparently filled
half of the cavity. the other half would
be full of sand which had been soueez-
ed up by the dirt These incidents SIM
| ply show that the sand upon which
North Topeka is built was thoroughly
saturated with water, forming quick
sand. and it remains to be seen how
long it will take it to dry out
1t is quite possible that the city will