Los Angeles herald., 1905-04-16

the ground shows the field engineers
going to work. How these men man
age to build a tunnel at the delicate
angle Of one foot in 1100 while working
below the ground in necessarily
cramped quarters where the darkness
is peculiarly black, Is a mystery to the
ordinary person, but It is their business
and they go about it with little con-
cern and simply do 1t, and do It right.
Use Candle Light
The only light in the tunnel is fur
nished by candles and lanterns, and It
is very little. The blackness is in
tense, but the tunnel is well ventilated
for such a place on account Of the
number and arrangement Of the shafts.
Brick work has been going on for
some time between shafts and 2 and
about 700 feet of the tunnel is COM
pletely bricked and packed. The
masons work where there is hardly
room to turn. Hardly visible in the
smoky light Of the candles they can
be seen dimly outlined as they spread
the cement mortar and lay the brick
almost at the same instant swinging
down to pick up a brick and a trowel
of morter at the same time, working
against time in sweat and CRIME and
mud. but with wonderful speed and ac-
curacy where the sun never shines
After watching the gangs in the open
cuts 1t seems hardly possible that these
men working in almost total darkness
could build the eliptical sewer conduit
and make 1t fair and smooth, yet when
one passes on past the gang Of masons
it is seen that the conduit Is finished
as well as that part of the sewer built
in the open.
Tunnel Through Gravel
So far the tunnel has been dug
through dry gravel, even though 1t
ranges from forty to 100 feet below the
ground. In this same section of tunnel,
however, water is expected to be struck
at any time as it has reached the In
glewood Water company's basin. A
number of pumping plants will have
to be installed when water Is struck
to drain the tunnel. The presence of
the water will greatly increase the
danger of construction and the brick
work will have to be pressed close upon
the excavation, and several wells have
already been sunk into the water so
that when the tunnel runs into the
underground stream it can imme-
diately be drained. So far there have
been no accidents in the tunnel, but as
the work approaches the water belt the
precautions taken are doubled, lest men
be crushed by the caving in of the
walls.
Between the tunnel and Inglewood,
another phase of the work is illus
trated by what is known as the open
cut method. The land slopes away
into broad valley and level plain, thus
approaching the level at which the
conduit runs so that it is not neces-
sary to tunnel, but it is possible by
making a cut, that is digging a ditch,
| to reach the level of the sewer and
| thus do the brick work in the open air.
|
| therefore faster than tunneling. This
| cut is forty-two feet deep and brick is
dumped into chute from wagons.
Great Aqueduct
This cut was eXcavated with teams
and the dirt moved out into the valley,
where the surface fell below the course
of the sewer, and thus a "fll" was
made. This "fll' is in reality an
aqueduct on top of which the sewer
will be placed and in the center it will
be supported on a series of arches un-
der which the railroad and water
course will be carried. This Inglewood
| fill is the largest one on the sewer and
is about 80 feet high, fifty feet wide on
top and twice as wide on the bottom
and half a mile long. AS the sewer
will be heavy, it is necessary that it
shall have strong foundation, and in
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