The Libby herald., 1912-04-11
. NE Of the greatest of modern
engineering enterprises is the

~ NE of the greatest of modern
engineering enterprises is the
construction of the new sque-
" duct system, which Is to carry
water to New York from the
Catskills, and the most colossal unit
In the whole Is the Ashokan reservoir,
the principal storage place for the
mountain waters. Ranking with the
interoceanlc canals at~Suez and Pan
anna, the Assuan irrigation works in
Egypt and the projects which are con-
vert1ng western Americas arid wastes
Into fruitful fields, the Catskill aque-
duct, with it's tributary reservoirs,
probably surpasses any one of them in
the variety of problems to be solved.
Although undertaken by a municipal
lty, these works in magnitude and
cost compare with national enter
prises.
Because of it's impressive ruins, the
water supply of ancient Rome is
doubtless the most famous in the
world. The imperial city had nine
aqueducts, with a total of 1853 miles;
but If the water that all those aque-
ducts could carry ESTIMATED at S4,-
100000 gallons per day. were put into
New York's Catskill aqueduct, it
would rise to the height of only three
feet three inches. When the Ashokan
dam is finished, the reservoir it will
create will cover water area of 1878
square miles and have a shore line
of 40 miles. When the reservoir is
full 1t will contain 128,0OO million gal
Ions, sufficient to cover Manhattan
island to an average depth of % feet.
Fifty feet will be the average depth of
water throughout the reservoir. 1t is
reasonable to believe that the Cats
kill aqueduct will be as permanent
as those of Rome. Imperial Rome's
longest aqueduct was 81 miles in
length; the Catskill aqueduct will be
% miles long. Rome, with hordes of
laborers from conquered domains car
ried its aqueducts at hydraulic grade
across valleys on imposing masonry
arches. Modern explosives and rock
drills enable New York to tunnel in
solid rock beneath valleys and riv-
ers, avoiding masonry, which is now
expensive, and which is likely to suf-
fer in New York's severer climate.
Olive Bridge dam is the greatest of
the chain of dams and closes the main
gorge to Esopus creek 1t is a mile
long on top and has maximum
height above it's foundation of 240 feet.
The central portion has a top length
of 1000 feet and the top width is as
wide as an ordinary roadway. The
cost of engineering this spectacular
piece of work will amount to more
than $12,000,000. The thousands of la
borers who are now housed in the
temporary town known as Camp
City," enjoy all the comforts, and are
far more healthful than they would be
in their own homes. A complete sys-
tenn of sewage has been installed, and
In sanitary matters it is, in a few re-
spects at least, more advanced than
some communities, far more substan-
tial and attractive. The laborers are
for the most part Italians and me-
groes.
The Catskill aqueduct is virtually
a subway. Unfortunately a pipeline
will not do. 1t must be remembered
that the Ashokan reservoir is 500 feet |
above sea level, and that with every |
fall of two feet the pressure of wa
ter increases nearly one pound to the ,
square inch. The lowest level to be
reached will have a pressure on the
pipe of 100 pounds to the square inch,
or over $4,000 pounds to the square
foot. A pipe to endure strain like
that would be enormously expensive.
simple means was used to overcome
the necessity of building bridges to
keep the pipe up at level (called
hydraulic grade). When valley was
reached below the hydraulic grade, the
aqueduct was made to dive-not to
the surface of the valley, but hundreds
Of feet below the surface-and then
rise to the level on the other side.
Such plunge of water into the
depths OF rock Is called siphon. Sew
eral of these siphons will be found.
One beneath the Waikiki valley. and
another beneath the Valley of Round.
out, and another, most astounding of
al, hundreds of feet below the bed of
he majestic Hudson.
It is rather ragged course along
which the water will flow from Olive
bridge to the High Service reservoir
It Yonkers. The water begins it's flow
'wiftly, but placidly enough, then
lashes through the Catskill mountains
o meet perpendicular descent of 200
eet and in moment another one of !
100 feet. BY turns it is carried for. ]
ward, upward, forward, downward, ,
lntil, after reaching depth of 700 ,
eet, 1t suddenly shoots upward to the
ade OF Bonticou Crag; it Is then a. I