The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-10-10

loir is now receiving Its nm
.h,nr touches and before long II will
\. a vcritable Mecca for the motorists
and s,ehtsecrs. When completed II
viii be the second largest Of the spec
,,cular features OF New York city's
maintain fed water supply system.
rhe reservoir so formed will hold
,a,er enough to fill the cup of Greater
New Works daily wants for quite two
~on,hs and n half should anything in
,errup, the service above that point.
To-day the metropolis calls for a
SUNNY Of about 100000, 900 gallons
every twenty-four hours. and the Ken
.ico reservoir, when stored to its total
capacitv. will hold $4,000. 000. 900 gal
ions Of drinkable water in It's two vast
basins. Strategy. meaning thereby
calcu ating foresight. IL moi alone a
military art. The civil engineer must
have recourse to II lest his plans fail
when put to the test Of daily service.
and the Kensico reservoir Is evidence
NJ this prescience on a magnificent
scale. True. the storage capacity OF
the kensico reservoir IL only about
one.fourth that Of its rival at Asho-
kan. but IL is still copious enough to
k'eP NV !" 10 III.
nuns n'snr" a, .s.aS.. ,hano.
northward to the Catskills.
Inc Nrio 49,.
city Hall. AS an emergency storage
1, will make IT possible 10 drain for
mspec''os 49, ~. !, .n. ~
me aque'u.. TIL. mn,. ~,
Asnokan vo,, lin ranroson,
ens""e-, a,rshaa ,,.ai o,,,,av
"heh 90 nnn ri. !. -, :. -.
o' nearIs sV ,hn nroisc, cov.
No"".'. ~ . eli. sson acra. ava
rs All - 10. hesn ho,h
49,. =. t.. nronort,nn. ond ex-
"n. xa.,i,r ora d,eBcu,, IN mos,
20 ~ n,asas
ra. r,ina oar,o, hog,n a. ~ra.n
-. :, maors 90 ,mno,nd az ooo mn :
mn so,lons ~ water nv rearing n great
.au 80 ,oo, .ho,,a ,hs or,yina yround
$50 ga h,octing a galley moro
,h.n , soo foo, across AZ the crest of
This structure. This wa. what might
No called the superficial ASPECT OF the
,,st Tho engineers knew that in
o,aer N make the dam stable
,hsv would have to 20 down below the
earth's surface until the ledge was
reached. and then to blast and exca.
ys,e the solid rock until the stone
was found sound enough to support
the thrust Of the superposed masonry.
This meant in the end that the lower
most part Of the dams foundation
should lie 140 feet beneath the lowest
point Of the valleys original surface,
making a total vertical dimension Of
80 feet.
But these figures yet fall to give
\ comprehensive notion Of the mas
kiveness and magnitude of this monu-
mental example Of modern masonry.
While the total length OF the Asho-
kan dam Ia 1850 feet, only 1000 feet
Of Il is masonry. In this respect the
Kensico dam Is therefore s43 leet
longer, and, as 1t happens. actually
higher by a matter OF 20 feet More
than that. the maximum thickness
Of the base IL 235 feet In the case
Of the Kensico structure, as against
100 feet Of the Ashokan dam. The
great barrier up in the
l. also five feet narrower at the top
than that at Kensico, which measures
- feet.
geographically the reservoir Is
formed by blocking the valley OF the
Bronx River about three miles north
n White Plains, and the present
structure lies close to the dam which
was part Of the old kensico reservoir
developed in 1885. When nlled the
new water surface Will he lio zee
above that of the old reservoir. ano
this helps to give a better idea OF
Ne proportions OF h present under
Nking. This water surface VIII nave
~ area OF 3f2 square miles, OF I'-le
ores.
Before any work at all was startec
II was necessary to explore the grount
by means OF borings and test PITS
Two sites for the kensico dam were
thus prospectively examined. one
was Immediately below the old Dam
una the other-the one selecteo-
ABOUT 4oo feet o H. Inc o'
cam consisted or a roiieu ear'h EN-
hankment stlffened by n masonry corr
wall and only a portion of TINS spine
81 to speak was on dock
Inc adoption or n upper location
required mai the wafer IN inc u"
reservoir shou'h ne ura"n o", -
'ne sam" 'iihe, i" orue' W an"
.ne supply which ieeus a portion y
J. IN Bronx TWO SUBSTITUTE TeseTNoir