Los Angeles herald., 1907-07-09
MORE TROUBLE
OVER FAULTY
OUTFALL SEWER
City Must Stop Leaks
or Face Suit
Mayor Harper and William MulhoIIand
Make Inspection of Work Which
Already Has Cost City

That the new outfall sewer is leaking
and that the route will have to be changed
or hundreds of thousands of dollars added
to the investment is the charge which sent
Mayor A. G. Harper and Water Superln-
tendent William Mulholland to that big
improvement project yesterday on an in"
spection trip
Costly alternatives confront the city.
If these leaks are not stopped at once
the syndicate owning the r-bearing
lands will force the issue in the courts,
arguing that a leaky sewer will contain
mate the water supply in that section. 1t
proposes to sell this supply eventually.
If the city sticks to the old sewer route
the costly concrete cradles or bases which
now form part of the bottom of the sewer
must be strengthened and extended, GER
tain engineers say.
Cement Cradles an Afterthouaht
add greatly to the cost. The original
specifications did not provide for any
cement cradles. The original plan was to
have q tubular sewer. This, it appears,
would have resulted in q disastrous set
tling so the cradle or extra foundations
were set in order to spread the weight
over wider area.
1t is probable that 14O acres which the
syndicate controls in the Inglewood sec
tion will be offered to the city at about
$1,000 an acre. the price reputed to be the
market value, and If the sale Is made the
city will be permitted to do as it wishes
with the sewer.
The sewer land is not owned by the
municipality. A right of way easement
alone is held by the city, and this pro-
vides that the sewer shall be waterproof,
moisture proof and sewage proof.
For some weeks pressure has been
brought to bear on Mayor Harper to have
him go into the sewer and satisfy himself
that there are leaks; and that big timbers
have buckled and broken under the tre-
mendous weight of the quicksands above
and below or of the gravel beds into which
the sewer boreS.
He asked Superintendent Mulholland to
accompany him as adviser, but it is un-
derstood that the latter refused to give
any official opinion, saying he did not
department.
Privately it is said, however, that Mr..
Mulholland has expressed the opinion that
the outfali sewer will "be no good after
ten years. Whether he meant it would
disintegrate. in that time or be too small
for the city's needs is a question.
"BIame Extends Far Back"
In carrying on the work through the
difficult water r-bearing lands it is
claimed on behalf of the present admin
istration and for City Engineer Hamlin
that he is simply carrying out the orig
maj plans. He is at present out of the
city, having gone east on July, 4 to es-
cort his wife back to her parents home
in Iowa. He had intended first going
only as far as Salt Lake City, but Presi-
works and Chief Clerk Taylor persuaded
him to take a three weeks trip as he
needed the rest. He will study street
paving. on his trip. The city council
ing the Following report of the board of
public works: y
Homer Hamlin, city engineer, has re-
quested twenty days leave of absence
ha <~f. ,...sk
ern cities, during which time he pro-
posed to study the street paving meth
ods employed there in order to inform
himself fully along these lines with the
expectation of obtaining data that can
probably be applied to advantage to
similar work in this city.
He will personally bear the expense
of the trip
body TO grant the city engineer, Homer
Hamlin twenty days leave of absence
under pay from the 5th of July, 1907, for
the said purpose"
Make Startling Finds
representatives of Attorney Don
Barker went through the sewer recently
and reported a startling condition of
things. Barker is the man who wants
the city to turn the route, but was met
with many arguments, one of which
was that the city would not then be
able to realize on it's surety bond held
ell. who threw up the difficult contract.
I'VE found many points of leakage"
said Engineer j. II. Levering, who went
through the sewer today, land the MKT
ure of cement, lime and water formed
whltish, flowing mass in the bottom of the
sewer We traversed it for mile and
half and had to take off our shoes and
stockings to do it.
81 have no desire to criticise the work.
but having been employed by the Barker
interests it was my duty to see if there
was danger of contamination from the
sewage when the sewer Is used ,and 1
find there is absolute danger"
Immense Weight Dangerous
Another member of the party said little
streams trickled here and there, showing
imperfections. due probably to the i'm
mense weight above the shell of the
sewer. These imperfections were found in
the finished sections, 1t is claimed.
1--WE will have no objection to the sewer
if 1t is made tight said one of the syn
dicate, but our engineers say that this
tions. 1t will take thicker walls and more
cement. These will add hundreds of
thousands of dollars to the cost.
The city is pumping out and wasting
nearly 400 inches of water daily, which al
the rate we are paying for Owens river
water as estimated will make loss of
$1,000,000 year.
ut costs $1OO a day and over just to
run the pumps It is only four or five
miles to the nearest main, and if the city
buys this land 1t can use the water In the
southwestern division until . the Owens
river Is conveyed here some years hence.
I'VE believe this will be the best way
out of the difficulty. as the city can sell
the land again to ranchers and get $1,000
an acre for it,
The break in the sewer cannot be re-
paired. If you wedge tnem the cracks
will grow. as the walls are dead. We