USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1877 > Part 32
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The construction of a new street from Vernon Street to Mill- bury Street, 335 rods long, and building the abutments for a R. R. bridge at the crossing of the N. & W. R. R. over Ham- mond Street, have been the only prominent improvements made under the direction of the Highway Committee. On both of these works, specifications were prepared, and proposals received. The contract for building the road was awarded to Mr. M. R. Edwards, and the work was finished at an expense of $6,761.69.
452
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
. The proposals for building the bridge abutments were all rejected, and the work was done by the Highway Department, under the direction of Mr. Heywood of the committee, and Highway Commissioner Parker. The cost of this work ($5,- 978.02) exceeded the estimate, as also did that on the "New Street," but in both instances more masonry was laid than was contemplated when the proposals were received.
For these abutments the excavation for the foundations was carried down from 9 to 12 feet, instead of 4 as proposed when the tenders were received, as the soil four feet below the street level was found not to be suitable to sustain so heavy a load.
The other orders received by the committee, except one for the grading of Jackson Street to the line established by a decree of Oct. 23d, 1876, have been executed by the Highway Com- missioner. The order for grading Jackson Street which was approved Nov. 27th, involves lowering the water pipe, and is still held by the committee.
It would be well to locate the street across the "Island " petitioned for by Geo. C. Ready, et al., as it can be built from the waste material in the lower section of the extension of the Piedmont District main sewer, the immediate construction of which has been decided on, and it was intended that this street should accommodate the upper section of the said extension. The sewer location has now been made (by decree approved Nov. 27th,) and covers a strip 30 feet wide.
SEWERS.
Of the 30 petitions referred to the Sewer Committee, 15 were for the construction of sewers, 8 for abatement of nuisances, and 7 miscellaneous. On 5 of the first named, orders for construc- tion were adopted on recommendation of the committee. The closing of the old channel of Mill Brook at Green Street, made necessary the extension of the Green Street sewer to the new channel, and carrying the Washington Street sewer across the old channel. A curve has also been built at the junction of the Summer and Central Street sewers, as the emptying of the East Central Street sewer, into the manhole where those sewers formerly came together, decreased the efficiency of the former in draining the county estate.
453
REPORT OF CITY ENGINEER.
The above described work has all been well and economically done by the Sewer Department, under direction of the Superin- tendent, Gen. Chamberlain. The following table gives a list of sewers and their appurtenances built during the year :
ABSTRACT OF SEWERS, BUILT BY THE SEWER DEPARTMENT FROM DEC. 1, 1876, TO DEC. 1, 1877.
STREETS.
Size
in Inches.
Feet
of Sewer.
| Manholes.
Basins.
Feet of Pipe Inlets.
Size
of Inlets.
LOCATION, &C.
Blackstone,
6.0
12 inch.
Near Exchange Street.
Denny,
6.0|
12
Eastern Ave.,
36,0
12
Corner of Laurel Street.
East Central,
16×24
597.7
4
1
15.0
12
From Summer Street, East.
Fruit,
2
12.0
12
Corner of William Street.
Green,
15
76.0
1
15.0
12
From new to old chan'l Mill B'k
Garden,
1
18.0
12
At Crescent Street.
Harrington Av
2
15.0
12
Corner of Westminster Street.
Lexington,
1
15.0
12
Grove Street.
Main,
1
12.0
12
Opposite City Hall.
24x36
14.0
At Mechanic Street.
66
20×30
231.0
2
From
to Pleasant Street.
Richland,
18x27
402.4
3
" Millbury to Ward
Summer,
16×24
35.
2
Curve at Central Street.
Union Ave.,
16×24
524.9
4
1
F'm Ward to E. side Vernon St.
Ward,
9.0
12
At Foyle Street.
Basin at head of Taylor Street.
66
18x27
117.2
2
From Richland St.to Union Av.
Washington,
20×30
24.0
1
6.0|
12
66
Across old chan'l of Mill Brook.
1
6.0
12
Corner of Lafayette Street.
Westminster,
15
31.0
2
12.0
12
66
Across Harrington Avenue.
66
16×24
299.6
3
F'm Cath. St. to "
Woodland,
1
9.0
12
South of May Street.
Total,
2,673.7 23|26
255.0
-
2
7
51.0
12
1
12
130.7
1
1
12.0
12
60
.
18×27
186.5
1 1 HH
1
454
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
The total sewerage of the City is 36.18 miles which has been laid at a cost of $1,370,711.41.
The following table shows the length, cost, and per cent. of each size, and cost per foot, and the number and cost of the manholes and basins :
LENGTH.
COST.
COST PER FOOT.
DESCRIPTION.
FEET.
P. ct. of Total.
$
P. ct. of Total.
Maximum Annual.
Minimum Annnal.
AVERAGE.
9 in.
Pipe.
2,290.0
1.20
$4,060.92
0.30
2.61
0.57
1.87
12 "
42,957.5 22.49
103,887.06
7.58
3.38
0.84
2.44
15 “
42,083.1 22.03
118,587.43
8.65
3.36
1.23
2.82
18 “
17,226.2
9.02
57,032.64
4.16
3.96
1.53
3.31
24 "
253.2
0.13
736.88
0.05
2.91
2.91
2.91
16 ‘
Brick.
594.0
0.31
686.59
0.05
1.16
1.16
1.16
16×24 "
7,209.9
3.76
17,867.38
1.30
3.49
1.32
2.48
18×27 "
66
11,284.0
5.90
39,623.35
2.89
4.21
1.46
3.51
20×30 “
66
16,985.4
8.89
65,693.71
4.79
5.15
1.99
3.87
22×33 "
66
884.5
0.46
2,457.55
0.18
2.78
2.78
2.78
24x36
7,940.8
4.16
31,026.58
2.26
4.95
2.71
3.90
25x26
1,525.5
0.80
1,582.90
0.12
1.04
1.04
1.04
26×32 "
307.0
0.16
307.00
0.02
1.00
1.00
1.00
26×39
9,681.1
5.06
35,114.29
2.56
5.00
1.33
3.63
27x40
3,093.0
1.62
15,320.77
1.12
5.4
. 4.27
4.95
30×45
66
7,812.1
4.14
62,455.12
4.55
10.75
5.63
7.99
32×48 “
1,882.5
0.98
18,179.16
1.33
9.79
8.27
9.66
40×60 "
66
4,201.0
2 20
49,707.61
3.63
12.62
10.78
11.83
48×72 "
66
684.0
0 36
5,858.15
0.43
13.55
7.75
8.56
14x18 “
Brick &
158.0
0 08
147.44
0.01
0.93
0.93
0.93
18x24
Stone. Square Stone.
455.0
0.24
259.74
0.02
0.57
0.57
0.57
21×24 "
576.5
0.30
772.50
0.06
1.34
1.34
1.34
42×48 “
222.0
0.11
1,924.75
0.14
8.67
8.67
8.67
Mill B'k
10,697.4
5.60
571,976.73
41.73 Cost each Minimum maximum
Manh'l's
83,976.89
6.13
73.97
cost. 28.38
53.47 Average cost. 59.99
Basins
No. 1407. 764
81,468.27
5.94
452.19
67.50
106.63
Total.
191,025.3
100
$1,370,711.41
100
66
455
REPORT OF CITY ENGINEER.
Quite a number of complaints have been made of nuisances, occasioned by the surcharging of the sewers in Southbridge and Front Streets. The construction of the Island Sewer, already decided upon, involves the relief of the petitioners on the line of the former, and I was directed by the Sewer Committee to make examinations to find, if possible, some way to relieve the petitioners on the line of the latter, without re-building the sewer. After the necessary examination, the following report was submitted, the recommendations therein made were accepted, and the order for carrying out the same adopted by the City Council :
To the Joint Standing Committee on Sewers : Having made an examination of the Front and Mechanic Streets sewers, in compliance with your instructions, to find if possible some relief for the former, without rebuilding it; I have to report that the area drained by the Front Street sewer is 64 acres (omitting fractions), and by the Mechanic Street sewer 20 acres. As these sewers are of the same size, of about equal capacity, and their districts adjacent, the natural remedy seems to be to take one half of the Pleasant Street drainage into Mechanic Street. This will take 22 acres from the Front Street district and add it to the Mechanic Street, making the drainage of each sewer 42 acres.
The common rule for fixing the size of ordinary sewers has been to give them a capacity of discharge equal to one-half an inch of water from the whole area drained, per hour, but this rule, the adoption of which was mainly due to English influence and example has been too arbitrarily followed. The kind of soil,-the area of roofs and pavements,-the grade of the streets, and contour of the district should be influencing elements, or terms in the proportion for fixing the size of sewers. In a com- paratively flat district with little or no pavements, where the soil is porous and the area occupied by buildings, small,-where all the conditions are favorable-a sewer with a capacity of discharge equal to one-half inch of rain fall per hour, even in this climate where the annual rainfall is nearly double that of England, and the number of stormy days only § as many, might not be surcharged oftener than once in three or four years ; and
456
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
it is better for cities to bear the damage from an occasional sur- charge, than to incur the expense of making the sewers large enough to carry the water from the exceptionally heavy storms. Where true economy will draw this line of demarkation between size and surcharge (if no other provision is made for excessive storm water) is as yet an unsolved problem, but the sewers should be so arranged and constructed that the surcharging will be neither an annual, nor a biennial occurrence.
The natural capacity of the Front Street sewer is 120,000 cubic feet of water per hour, and ¿ inch of water from the whole watershed amounts to 116,000 cubic feet ; hence, under the rule for a capacity equal to ¿ inch of water from the whole shed per hour, the sewer is large enough; but § of the district is on a hillside; and, since the construction of the sewer, the duty demanded of it has been very much increased by the erection of buildings and paving streets, while its capacity has been reduced by the defective system of right-angle connections. In a dis- trict like that drained by the Front Street sewer, where the upper § is a steep hillside, and a large portion of the district is, or is likely soon to be, covered with buildings and paved streets, I should not recommend the construction of the main sewer of less capacity than § of an inch of rainfall per hour, or one and one-half times that required by the above rule ; and it is possible that ultimately, as the upper portions of this district are paved and more thickly built on, double the capacity required under the above rule will be necessary, unless provision is made for retaining part of the water from the heaviest storms on the surface of l'leasant and Front Streets, to follow the paved gut- ters to Mill Brook, to which I see no serious objection. This can be done by attaching automatic gates to the shoots from the catch basins, to be closed by the water in the sewer, when it reaches a fixed height, or by reducing the size of the inlets until they will admit a little less water than the sewer will carry off.
By taking 22 acres from this district, the sewer will be large enough to take three-fourths of an inch of water per hour from the area left, and should this in the future become insufficient to do the duty required of it (if there is a reasonable objection to keeping part of the storm water above ground to follow the
457
REPORT OF CITY ENGINEER.
gutters as above proposed), or if it is necessary to build a deeper sewer to accommodate the Front Street abuttors, a 16 by 24 inch sewer can be built on the northerly side of the street from Mill Brook to Trumbull Street, and a pipe sewer from Trumbull Street to the City Hall for (on a basis of present prices) about $1,900, to take the Front Street drainage East of the City Hall, leaving the present sewer to drain the balance of the district.
To relieve the Front Street sewer from its liability to be surcharged, I would reccommend that such changes be made in the Main and Pleasant Street sewers as are necessary to cause one-half the Pleasant Street sewage to find an outlet through the Mechanic Street sewer.
All of which is respectfully submitted by
PERCY DANIELS,
City Engineer.
WORCESTER, Sept. 17th, 1877.
Other petitions for sewerage facilities in addition to those that have been favorably acted on, were for sewers in Pleasant, Barclay, Waverly and Lamartine Streets, Union Avenue (East of Vernon Street), and that Lincoln Brook be taken care of. The necessity for some of these, increases each year ; and it will probably not be many years before most of them are built. Lincoln Brook between Pleasant and Chandler Streets has been frequently complained of, and there is a growing anxiety in that vicinity, that the water of the brook should be taken into a covered sewer. A main sewer for the Western District, starting from the brook in Pleasant Street, and following Pleas- ant, Mason, Tuft and Newton Streets to the brook again, would cost about $18,000.
Before main sewers for any of these districts are built, I would reccommend that the expediency of revising the plan for making sewer assessments be considered. By the present system, those who are nearest to natural water-courses, and who, if left to themselves, could get drainage the cheapest, have to pay
43
458
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
the most. For instance, in the Front Street district, the abut- tors on Front Street, between Trumbull Street and Mill Brook, would be accommodated just as well by a 15-inch pipe as by the present 26 by 39 inch sewer, the lower two-thirds of the sectional area of which is entirely for the benefit of property owners in the upper part of the district. The Chestnut Street abuttor who requires a half a mile of sewer, pays three-eights of the cost of a 15-inch pipe on his front, while the Front Street owner, requir- ing but a short piece of sewer, must pay three-eighths of the cost of a 26 by 39 inch sewer. In the Western District it is pro- posed to run the main sewer through Mason Street, and small pipes would then answer for Bellevue and Dewey Streets, in which case the assessments on the former street would amount to about three-eighths of $4.00 per foot, and on the latter streets about three-eighths of $1.00 per foot, and each would have the same facilities. The difference to the City would be but a trifle, between running the sewer through Mason, Bellevue or Dewey Streets, and under the present system, there would be a strong inducement for the Mason Street abuttors, preferring the small assessments, to work for the location of the main sewer in one of the adjacent streets. Again, if the main sewer follows Mason Street, a 16 by 24 inch lateral will answer for Pleasant Street West of Mason, and the abuttors there would pay perhaps 50 cents a foot, while their neighbors East of Mason Street would be assessed three times as much for only an equal benefit. If the assessment was based on the cost of the average size of the sewers in the district, making allowance for extra depth of cutting or ledge excavation, it would be much more equitable than the present system.
The Island Sewer question, in one form or another, has been before the Committee or the Council much of the year; and in the various plans and estimates required, has made much work for this Department. April 9th the Committee was " Ordered to report plans and estimates for the construction of the so called Island Sewer." Hon. Phinehas Ball was engaged as Con- sulting Engineer, to join with the City Engineer in making a thorough examination of the whole subject, and July 12th we reported estimates on three lines, " A," "E" and "F." These
459
REPORT OF CITY ENGINEER.
lines were identical at each end, but between the points where they came together, line " A " followed down the easterly edge of the P. & W. R. R. location ; line "E" crossed the railroad and run nearly parallel to the tracks just outside of the railroad location ; and line " F" also crossing the railroad followed the bank of the river. The lengths, approximate cost of construc- tion, and average cuts are given in the following table. Line "C," following Millbury Street after entering it near Cambridge Street, on which I submitted estimates Dec. 14th, is also included in the table.
LENGTH.
AVERAGE CUT.
COST OF CONSTRUCTION. .
Line "A"
4.058* ft.
17.
ft.
$110,126 90
Line "C"
4,027
66
21.6
66
126,455.25
Line "E"
4.174
13:5
99,220.00
Line "F"
4,579
12.5
105,016.00
* This length is on preliminary line; location line is 26 feet longer.
As a matter of economy we recommended line "E," to the construction of which there is no special obstruction, as there is to each of the other lines; line "C" offering the highway travel, line " A " the proximity to the railroad, and line "F" the water from the river. A decree for the location of " A new channel and outlet for Mill Brook " on line " A " was reported to the Council by direction of the Committee, which was after- wards recommitted, and reported back Nov. 12th, as a decree for the location of " An extension of, and outlet for the Piedmont District main sewer," and adopted with an order for the con- struction of the lower section. Since that time, the advisabli- ity of having the sewer follow the street, having been carefully considered, I have received an order for an amended decree : the new line (called line "C") to follow Millbury Street between the outlet and a point near Cambridge Street, (and, the cost aside, this is much the better line for the sewer to take); which order has been complied with. The size remains the same as by the first decree, which is sufficient to take the whole
460
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
flow of Mill Brook, with which a connection can be easily made whenever it is advisable to take this water around the dam at Quinsigamond, the area of the cross section being 190 feet and the capacity of discharge about 400,000 gallons per minute, or one-ninth of an inch of water from the whole water-shed of Mill Brook per hour. The above estimates are based on an assumption, that through the most of the ledge, the natural rock will have sufficient tenacity and solidity to be used as side walls and support for the skewbacks. If line "C" should be adopted it will permit a substantial improvement of that part of Millbury Street, for less than one-half of what the same improvement would cost if the sewer should be built on any other line.
Under the present system the construction of the sewer, and regrading the street, would come under separate Committees, and in this work there is no reason why the City's interests would not be as well served as though both improvements were under one ; but a season seldom passes without furnishing an example of the disadvantages of this divided responsibility for improvements within the limits of the streets. The defects in the system seem to be, not that there are various Departments to do this work, for these with their funds should be kept sepa- rate, but that these are controlled by different Committees, each one of which is busy with its own affairs, and knows but little of the work or plans of the others, and so each does their own work at their own time. A small example of the defects . of the system occurred on Barclay Street last season. The street was made public in September, 1876, but being a bad one about washing, though it was in a hardly passable condi- tion, the Highway Committee waited a year before grading it, in hopes a sewer would be built first.
The Council were petitioned in August for the sewer, but the appropriation was then nearly exhausted, and the petition was referred to the next City Government. Had the sewer been built, the waste material might have been used in repairing the street. The interest on the city's share of the cost of construct- ing this sewer, amounting to about $30, will probably not half represent the difference between the condition of the street as
461
REPORT OF CITY ENGINEER.
it will be next season, and as it would have been if the sewer had been built.
In the matter of house connections, quite a step forward has been made by the adoption of a set of rules for the guidance of drain layers. The first purpose to be accomplished by sewers is house drainage ; and hence the value of the sewers to the abuttors, depends upon the degree of perfection attained in the construction of the private drains. The City, in licensing drain- layers and compelling their employment, assumes a moral re- sponsibility for their work, and hence, should see that the plans for these drains are not defective ; that the grades are right, the connections such that the current in the sewer does not send a reconnoisance up the drain pipe, and the trapping sufficient. The rules adopted, among other things require that the connec- tion shall be made at an angle not exceeding 65°; that the drains shall be effectually trapped ; and that the return shall show to what grade or grades the pipes are laid. Occasionally instances are found where the grade is " In reverse." Among the locali- ties complained of last summer, on account of defective drain- age, was one where I was called to suggsst a remedy for a nui- sance. Finding the supposed outlet of the long drain six inches higher than the other end, and that the former might just as well have been eighteen inches lower, the remedy was more easily suggested than applied. The drain was laid by a non- resident.
There should be a record in this office of the location of all private drains, as the action of frost, the collection of grease or lodging of other obstructions, the settling of the earth causing a displacement, or defects in their construction, occasionally re- quire that they should be uncovered. More or less of them are dug up every year, and so long as the parties that laid them, or saw them laid, are accessible, it is not so material about the record ; but, if their memories are, as yet, perfect, the time will come when no summons or fee will bring them, and the value of a record will then be realized. The best authorities on sani- tary engineering urge this as a matter of grave importance. The State Board of Health of Massachusetts, who have given much attention to the questions of sewerage, and whose evi-
-
462
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
dence and conclusions are especially pertinent here, furnish the most positive testimony on this point. Mr. E. S. Philbrick, Civil Engineer, in an article on house-drainage (Report of 1876, page 464), says : "However well a system of house-drainage may be planned and constructed, it cannot be expected to be entirely automatic, or to serve its owner for an unlimited period without intelligent supervision. In fact, eternal vigilance is the price of safety, in such matters, in a climate where such violent and sudden changes occur, as in ours. The risks of leakage of drains are of course very serious, and the difficulty of tracing such troubles to their sources, renders it imperative to keep a careful record of their position, and to take the alarm from the only sense by which we can often be led to detect them, acting vigorously to repair the defect when found. Those who do not wish to trouble themselves with such mat- ters, had better dispense with drains entirely, and do as in the days of our Fathers ; viz., carry the refuse water to a safe dis- tance from the house In pails, where it can be consigned to mother earth." Mr. E. S. Chesbrough, Civil Engineer, one of the best authorities on sanitary engineering, in an article on " Sewerage " (State Board of Health Report for 1877, p. 160), says of " House-drainage :" "It is unnecessary to add to the very full and able article on this subject by Mr. E. S. Philbrick, published in the last annual report of the Board."
In writing the rules -as the Committee on the Engineering Department were anxious to keep the work as light as possible - I put on the drain-layers, the duty of making the measure- ments for location, and reporting sizes, lengths and grades. I would suggest that this be changed, and that the City Engineer be directed to have the necessary measurements taken, and grades given, by an employee of this department, as an act of justice to the drain-layer, as a protection to property holders, and that the records of this office be made only from notes of its employees. The number of permits for connecting private drains with the public sewers, issued during the year was 115, making a total of 2,151.
463
REPORT OF CITY ENGINEER.
VENTILATION OF SEWERS.
Nothing has been done toward the solution of this question, to the importance of which all authorities give the strongest of testimony. The necessity that something be done increases each year. The slight depth of water in many of the traps is an insignificant barrier to the currents of air (often laden with the poisonous sewer-gas,) that a favorable wind or sudden shower produces. A connection with a " Down spout" is some protec- tion, but a much better safeguard is a vent into a chimney which, in many houses, can be made at a very trifling expense.
An abstract showing the lengths and cost of the present sew- erage, with the amount of each size of sewer constructed each year since 1866, and the cost per foot; and an inventory of the property in charge of the Superintendent of Sewers, are append- ed to this Report.
STREET LAMPS.
Fourteen petitions for street lamps have been referred to the Committee on Lighting Streets, on twelve of which they have acted favorably, and the other two remain on hand. A few petitions have also been handed to the Committee by the peti- tioners. Seventy lamps have been set-sixty gasoline, and ten gas,-and two gas lamps have been changed to gasoline.
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