The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-02-21
TO PAY MORAN
FOR POOR WORK
American" Councilmen Would Allow
Him Big Extras" for His
Own Mistakes.
CONDUIT GRAB is SCANDAL
BAD CONCRETE is CAUSE OF
LEAKS WHERE IcIcLES FORM.

Contractor p. J. Moran. who Yields
a powerful influence with the ''Ameri-
can" party leaders in the city govern
ment, is to be paid more than SIS, 600
for extras on the Big Cottonwood
conduit, instead of being compelled to
replace at his own expense leaking
and crumbling concrete which he has
used in the conduit Such is the COM
ment of engineers on the big conduit
grab contemplated by the American"
party leaders.
Nobody disputes that when water
was run through the finished portion
of the conduit, it seeped through In
places, and icicles hung down from the
bottom; but at other places water did
not seep through and iCicles did not
form, showing cOnclusively, engineers
say, that where good concrete, proper
ly coated with ''grout," was used, the
conduit didn't leak; that the leaks oc-
Cured only where Contractor Moran
used poor material.
Big Bill for Plaster.
But there is no intention of the
american" leaders to compel Mr.. Mo-
ran to live up to his contract and to
comply with the specifications under
which he took the contract Instead,
he is to be paid s17.51959 for plaster
ing the inside of the conduit with GEM
ent paint, and 1898 for adding two
inches to the sidewalks.
Competent engineers say that the use
of cement plaster i'm covering con-
crete work is pronounced unnecessary
by all late authorities on engineering.
It's use is decried where IL is likely to
be washed away by water, and where.
owing to othe presence of water, it
{ Il !, Il e.
The SPECIFICATIONS under which Mo
ran took his contract required him to
cover the surface Of the conduit with
"grout." which is a thin coating of
cement, and which, in all cases where
first-cIass concrete is used. seals up
the pores of such concrete, and renders
it water proof.
The thickness of the sidewalks Is
merely matter of computation En-
gineers in determining their thickness
I figure on the amount Of water pressure
II the square inch inside the conduit
and the amount of earth pressure on
the outside. It was on this purely
mathematical basis that the engineers
who prepared the plans for the Big
Cottonwood conduit determined that
six-inch sidewalks were thick enough
Moreover. the concrete used in the
conduit is called reinforced concrete
| This means that at intervals of a few
| inches twisted steel rods are imbedded
| I'm the concrete. These rods are placed
/ through the entire top Of the concrete,
and at all points in the sides where the
| earth pressure requires ii.
In Switzerland there is a conduit the
/ size of the Big Cottonwood conduit
| in which the walls are only four inches
| thick. and one in Texas larger than the
/ Big Cottonwood one in which the walls
are but six inches thick, the same
/ ,frI- those in 5TTfF
No Danger From Floods.
Notwithstanding the fact that Utah
is noted for it's dry climate, several
| american" councilmen almost slliver
with fear that, where the conduit
| crosses ravines and small streams, it
will be washed out by floods, and this
shiver is responsible for an item in
| Mr.. Moran's plan for extras" OF
! S24, 315 for covering the conduit with
| earth for its entire length.
/ Among engineers not connected with
/ the conduit grab this item is the sub
| ject of unrestFained hiiaFity. In all
! places where the conduit crosses "a
vines it is built so high In the air that
| any water which may run down the
ravine will not come within several
I feet of the bottom of the concrete
| work The concrete crosses ravines
and streams after the fashion of an
aqueduct bridge. The piers are fifteen
/ feet apart from center to center, Civ
ing ample scope for a flood which
would have drowned Noah and all the
animals in the ark to sweep unvexed
under the conduit. The piers are also
imbedded so deeply in the ground that
| there is no chance for them TO be dis
lodged by any flood that ever came
to Zion.
Black and Moran.
Councilman T. R Black is chairman
of the engineering and sewerage COM
mfttee which will recommend the Mo
ran bill for extras" Mr.. Black is
| the american" leader in the council.
| and is the warm and intimate friend
of Contractor Moran. When the engi-
| neers' recommendation for the $4,000
expenditure came into the council
| Monday night, Mr.. Black was quick to
move that it be referred to his own
/ committee
Mr.. Black has a son named Bud
Black He is employed under City En-
gineer L. c. Kelsey, and at one time
! he was employed under Mr.. Kelsey's
PREDECESSOR, He lost the last named
lob. however, and, until the 'AmeTi-
cam party came into power and he
was restored to the public payroll he
was employed by Mr. Moran out Of
consideration for his father, then and
now a. member of the city council.
The friendship between Councilman
Black and Contractor Moran, there
fore. is much deeper than that founded
uron mutual respect and esteem, and
If Is a subject of comment among those
who are aghast at the conduit grab
contemplated by the American" party
leaders