New-York tribune., 1909-06-21
MILLIONS MORE NEEDED
litter SUPPLY DISTRIBU-
rION NOT PROVIDED FOR.
rynuel Through Solid Rock Under
Manhattan Into Brooklyn and
Other Boroughs Necessary.

n VIII come IN the nature Of surprise TO
-,,v that the original estimate Of S161. 100000
:, construct the Catskin water supply system
ss ,ot include the distribution OF the water
s. .. is delivered 10 the Hill View reservoir
.,, outside OF Mount Vernon. brand new dis
,sbution system TO cost anywhere from 500
a0opo 10 S40oo00o0 must be installed coinci-
ssntlv with the completion Of the main storage
stern in order 10 derive benefit and revenue
,-c- the system q whole.
financing and constructing this distribution
xrs.un from Mount Vernon southwark is a
--,sle-o now confronting the Board Of Estimate
s,5 apportionraent. Jointly with the Board Of
-r,.ey supply and il is q problem that will be
,,s nv the Mcclellan administration as a legacy
~ ne Board Of Estimate and Apportionment
sl.ct.d this year
A remarkable feature Of the situation is that
vAiis the problem is one for which the Board of
Estimate and Apportionment and the Depart
rsnt Of Water Supply. Gas and Electricity must
hod themselves responsible the only work look
t,rte It's solution has been done by the Board OF
vsier supply
Briefly stated the distribution involves deep
+urnsl through solid rock the length Of Manhat-
t,r Island reaching 20 Brooklyn and connect
tur Hith the Ridgewood reservoir, with branches
running TO Queens and Richmond.
EXISTING MAINS WILL Nc DO.
Merely turning the new supply Of water into
,be existing mains Will not suffice as they would
na stand the pressure Perhaps some Of them
would but inasTnuch the present mains were
hrslt with the idea Of handling water under
CERTAIN maximum pressure. it is not considered
,t all feasible to depend the present dis
,-butiag s1-ste-n-even II il were large enough
.o handle the very large additional supply
..o-, the Catskiils Furthermore. the flow line
st the stored water in the Hill View reservoir
z5n have an elevation OF about three hundred
feet above high tide, afording the necessary
r-asslre to deliver water on the top floors Of
r-actically every skEscraper IN the city
rbus far the only thing that has been done
IN the new distribution problem is the exPendi-
,rrs of sos 600 by the Board OF Water Supply
tr test borings on Manhattan Island and N
various parts Of Brooklyn. Queens ana hlch-
uond TO determine the nature Of the underlying
.,.t Fron what is already known Of the rock
under Manhattan Island the engineers OF Ule
sosrd Of Water Supply are confident OF finding
soud rock through which to drive the main ois-
,1buting tunnel upraises from which into con-
,i,. 80 ,be street surface will facilitate the
handling of the water for domestic and manu-
! acturing use.
! The original plan was to run the nam con
~. ,or Fsroollra and Queens around through
.%s r-,nx. reaching Queens by tunnelhng uiloef
e.p Gate. Now il is proposed to run q laFse
conduit straight down under Manhattan Isl
ard xna drive tunnel under the East hlVer
=, p-oasd,-, between the Williamsburg and
Manhattan bridges After tunnelng TO Ridge
WOOD reservoir the further handling OF the
B-oosrn s,.Tply is regarded as merely an en-
gnserng detail
Contracts LET FOR s43oooooo.
Investing the next Commissioner Of water
Supply with the prosecution OF this great piece
C engineering work will make that official per
hans +be rpost important head of department In
The ciiy Tnasmuch as the Board of Water
Supply has contracted for s43oooe'o worth Of
vosk under fourteen main contracts for the
rev supplv. il is a safe assumption that the en-
tire project will te carried forward despite 'he
| recurring criticism on the score OF EXPENSE
| Meanwhile the biggest new things IN manu-
sre the Kensico and Hill View reservoirs
frnsr close 10 White Plains and the latter just
vest a Noun, Vernon over the New York City
| Hae The Kersico reservoir dam Will be one OF
The highest pieces Of solid masonry in the coun-
/ trr II ,.i1 he .b,ou-n across the valley Of the
/ Bronx River The dam viii be $50 feet high
with length ot 200 feet The top width viii
Be about o feet and the bottom about 23o rect
L 4 there will be one million cubic yards OF
| nssonry The reservoir viii have total ca
paeity ot about forty million gallons oi WHICH
twenty millions will be constantly avaiiaoie-
! For the purpose Of removing tastes ana doors
ron N. water stored IN this reservoir there
VII be built below the dam plant for aeratls
ths water The Hill View reservoir. adjacent 10
Mount Vernon will have capacity OF ABOUT
eight hundred million gallons.
wITHIH ORIGINAL ESTIMATES
Commissioner shaw. of the Board Of Water
Simply said on Saturday that the $43ooo'oVo
I roTTh of- contracts thus far awarded are wen
sshin the original estimates. and the progress
O. he system thus far mas been very satistac-
tor
The construction contract for the main cams
q The Ashohan reservoir was let on SePlehiDe-
is0i. 20 Macarthur Brothers Company anu
gasten & Co for sl2 s70.eo9. The amount ol
snd required Was 100000 and the date set
ir eorapletion is February. 1915. 1T is requifeo'
NafTe-. 4hat by August 1912. the WORK sidii
naEs 50 far advanced as 10 permit OF the stoi
~ q water in the west basin and Of its dehV-
1Esinto The aquecuct.
Ii connection with the work at the Ashokan
AssToir about ten miles OF standard gauge
i5arcad have been built. The main quarry
P7fafsd bY the contractor IS about ti!f'e M
e9lth of the dam site and is reached bE a liie
tailroad crossing thu Esopus creek vi "
a --aatt about four hundred feet long al :" ii0N'
~1n height OF ninety feet , ~.
3 xihf big contracts reulsining TO be Iet are .no
ssieo reservoir and section 95 OF tnS tISIl
rI lying between the Kensico ana the IN"
Ky reSsrVoiTe II, Nrsfcheetcr County