The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-04-03
MANY Have Been Blocked BY
the Roots of Poplar Trees
Causing Great Expense for
Removal.
ABANDON ONE SEWER !
ON THE WEST SIDE
City Has Spent $4,000 in the
Past Ten Years Remedying
Conditions Council Viii
Take Action.

Half a dozen sanitary sewers in tA0
city will probably have TO be ahandoit
ed within the next few years because
they are becoming filled with roots
from silver poplar trees. In the last
year it cost the city over $500 to clean
out sewers, which had become stopped
up with roots from these trees. and
in the past ten years there has been
nearly $4,000 spent TO remedy this sers
ious trouble.
A five inch tile sanitary pipe from
IA water fountain at the corner OF
Ridge and Stale street will be aban-
doned Immediately. This pipe eAtenda1
about five squares TO a large sewer.
ooplars from the street have scneJ
down their hairlike roots, and thal
sewer is now useless The water from
the fountain has been running through
the gutter all winter, causing a very
unsanitary condition
To Stop Fountain.
Street Commissioner GEM will or
der this fountain shut off until anoth-
er sewer is bull to carry off its watt
er. Some complaint is expected from
residents of Fairview. To clean the
pipe would cost 500.
! There was similar instance on
South T. street, between Twelfth and
Thirteenth streets. A fountain there
ran into 15-inch tile, which extended
127 feet to a man head, where the watt
er flowed into "A sewer. Poplar trees
across the street, at least 80 feet away
stopped UP the pipe. The roots grew
through the sewer as far as the mans
hole, extending into this in bunch
similar to horses tail.
Street Commissioner Gem attempts.
cd to have the trees cut down, but the
owner refused. Then Gem secured
a A-inch iron steam pipe. which is said
to be the only thing that will check
poplar roots. This was installed at
a cost of about $500. A week later the
owner of the trees cut them down.
The 15-inch sewer on South Twenty
first street. under a cement sidewalk,
extending from South A to South b
streets, is now -two-ihirds full of pop
. lar roots, and it will have to be re-
built within a year. according to Mr..
Gem, who has charge Of the sewer
systems OF the city. At the present
, time, i'm cases of heavy rains, the
, water backs up into several houses,
+ the owners Of which have tapped the
! sewer.
On Main from Tw nty-first street
extending 10 Twentieth street, and
thence south to South A street, there
is sewer which will soon have ia
be abandoned and rebuilt on account
of roots 1t is twenty-four inch pipe,
and has taken about ten years to fill
lup However, Gem states that after
the roots once are in the pipes. they
expand rapidly. 1t usually takes from
ten 70 twenty years to ruin sewer
he says.
p Poplar roots worked themselves un
o der sewer on North Tenth stree'
p and gradually forced it up until the
!. 15-inch tile was broken. In Februar,
J. 1902, when the thermometer stood al
z II below and the ground was frozef
n thirty-one inches deep, Gem and hi
: crew had to dig up the North Tenff
= street sewer and extract roots. Ths
n water had backed into the basement
T. of Grace church and incapacitated thu
, organ. Gem used ten gallons of Goa
n oil, and s5 worth of wood TO thaw OH
the ground SO he could get at th'
j, sewer.
q Il The root question will probably b.
q brought up at council meeting tonight
,s There is an ordinance against piantin;
,e poplar trees ..-.-. ...+