The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1910-01-27
ENGINEERS AND SURVEYORS
IOF ILLINOIS MEET IN CAIRO
Welcomed by Mayor Parsons---vaIuabIe Papers
Read by Membess---Cty Engineer Thistle
Wood Tells About Cairo


within the levees in times of hgh
water in the rivers was met and
solved by the use of pumps After
one complete failure, in the early
days, with pumping it was abandoned
as impracticable and not until as
late as 1897 was the first successful
pumping done In that year a Menge
pump was temporarily installed which
proved that pumping was simply a
question of horse power and pump
efficiency Two permanent pumping
plants were at once installed and have
been in service ever since. by means
of which in times of high water the
level of the accumulation of storm
water, sipeage and sewage is kept
several feet below the street grades.
! The rise and fall IN the rivers is
fiftytwo feet. the street grades are
from nine to twelve feet below high
water mark and the outfall of the
sewerage system is approximately
half way between low and high water
When the river is low the flow is a
gravity flow but when the river rises
above the outfall a valve in the sewer
closes and pumping is resorted to. The
length of the period OF pumping
varies with the length of time the
rivers remain high but will average
about ten weeks each year.
These are the obstacles that have
discouraged many but have gradually
been overcome by experiments and
perseverance until the inhabitants
, today sleep soundly with fiftytwo
fleet Of water on the gauge and the
time has passed when the ringing of
the fire bells during high water ind-
Gated an alarming condition and was
call for aid
: After feeling of absolute security
had been generated in the inhab-
itants the question of permanent
municipal Improvements such as were
enjoyed by other cities presented it.
self and was taken up by the munich
pal authorities and the present era
Of improvements was launched. A
sewerage system, several miles of
street pavements. the filling of low
streets and cement walks We're
planned and have been partly carried
ont.
The system of sewers consists of a
s l. !, su.
with the city and thirty-five miles Of
, vitrifed tile pipe laterals. The main
sewer is nine thousand seven hundred
feet in length varying in diameter
; from four to six feet, circular in sec.
! ton and constructed of concrete Of
the proportions one part cement two
parts sand and four parts limestone,
This sewer was constructed in open
cut with the exception of one hundred
feet through the Ohio evee which was
tunnelled. The interesting features of
the sewer are; reduced sub-merger
out-fall. a seventy-two inch automatic
flap valve to protect against a back
flow of river water and the Difficult
ties encountered during construction
which were largely due to quicksand
> in the trench, so bad was this that
! in certain portions of the work that
the ordinary methods of plank sheath,
ing had to be supplanted with steel
piling and it was with difficulty that
no buildings were damaged apparently
along the building line thirty feet
away The method Of construction
was as follows; The bottom of the
trench was eXcavated and shaped to
the required sub-grade and a layer of
concrete was placed across the
trench, the top Of which was the
( flow line of the sewer. this course of
concrete was allowed to set for TWEEN
ty-four hours then the forms for con
/ structing the lower half set upon il,
! these forms were then filled and also
allowed TO set for twenty-four hours
after which the forms were pulled
ahead and the arch forms set after the
, arch had been turned and allowed to
| set for twenty-four hours these forms
were pulled ahead for the same opera
ton. Blaws steel centers were used
and Potter trenehing machine, the
excavation and digging being done by
Inland The best days record for one
gang was seventy four feet of 5A foot
,sewef.
/ The construction Of this main
sewer has taken two and one-half
years forty per cent of which time
has been lost to work on account of
the stage Of water in the river. The
various prices paid for the different
sizes of concrete sewer were as fol
lows:
| 6 foot diameter inch shell steel
reinforced. $1,000 per foot.
foot diameter 8 inch shell not re-
f..E, a ~