USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume I > Part 85
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In the matter of organization, the Cleveland builders have manifested partic- ular ability. They established and now maintain one of the best associations of its kind in the United States. As no previous history has sketched the origin and
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progress of this organization, a reference to it at this point may not be out of order. The Builders Exchange of Cleveland was first suggested at a meeting held on March 20, 1881, in the board of improvement room in the city hall, when twenty-six of the city's builders assembled and effected a temporary organization with Thomas Simmons, contractor and builder, as chairman, and Joseph Ireland, architect, as secretary. The first name was the Builders Exchange of Cuyahoga county. This organization was perfected on Friday, April Ist, of the same year and started with a board of directors of thirteen members. Whether this combination of circum- stances foredoomed its failure or not, the association was shortlived.
Other efforts were made from time to time to establish an exchange in the city, but with only partial success until 1892, when the present organization was formed and incorporated with the following as charter signers: E. H. Towson, C. C. Dewstoe, Geo. E. Heidenrich, J. A. Reaugh, C. A. Davidson, A. McAllis- ter, P. Shackleton and R. McQuoid. Headquarters were maintained in the Arcade building until 1899, when the exchange removed to the third floor of the Chamber of Commerce building, where at this writing it is still located. The successive presidents have been as follows: E. H. Towson, 1891-1894; John Grant, 1895; W. H. Gick, 1896; George Caunter, 1897; Arthur Bradley, 1898- 1899; C. W. McCormick, 1900; Wm. H. Hunt, 1901-1904; W. B. McAllister, 1905-1906; H. C. Bradley, 1907; George B. McMillan, 1908-1909; E. E. Teare, 1910.
At present the membership of the exchange comprises three hundred and seventy-five of the leading contractors and material firms in the city and vicinity.
The organization has proceeded upon the broad basis of embracing in its membership all branches of the industry save the architects, and of keeping the latter in as close and friendly relationship as possible. The dealer in material and the sub-contractor have the same rights and privileges as the master builder or general contractor, and each manifests the same interest in the prosperity and the upbuilding of the institution.
Every morning at 11:30 o'clock is held a 'Change Hour Session at which some member is called upon to preside and a typewritten budget of informa- tion is read, giving notice of contracts awarded, invitations sent to the ex- change for proposals and other matters of particular interest. The exchange rooms are used as headquarters by all of the associations in the different trades, and with an attendance averaging about two hundred and fifty each day, there is little lagging in the business routine from the opening until the closing hour.
Features of the year in the exchange program are the annual summer out- ing, usually occupying several days with a trip to some popular lake or moun- tain resort; the annual Christmas party, bringing together several hundred of the members for a period of merrymaking at the holiday time ; the annual water- melon feast in August and the annual Shore Dinner in October. In addition to these events a series of noonday luncheons are held during the winter sea- son, at which men from the various professions and departments of public life are entertained as speakers. There is maintained in connection with the exchange an executive board of building trades employers, comprising dele-
AIR-LOCK-NEW WATERWORKS TUNNEL
MEETING OF THE TWO SECTIONS OF THE NEW TUNNEL
NEW INTAKE CRIB
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gate representatives from all the contracting trades, this board having direct control of all matters relating to the employment of labor and the settlement of disputes that may arise between employers and their workmen.
Prior to the year 1888 there was no municipal building law enforced in Cleve- land. Permits for buildings were not granted under any definite system of regulations, the few restrictions then existing being enforced by the fire depart- ment. In the year named, however, a joint committee of the Cleveland Chapter American Institute of Architects and the Builders Exchange was established and this committee presented a bill in the state legislature creating a department of building similar to a department previously established in Cincinnati. The first building inspector appointed under this law was John Dunn, who administered the law with the help of two or three deputies for a brief term. With some amendments made a few years later, this law remained as the city's building regulations until 1905, when a comprehensive though somewhat elaborate build- ing code was adopted. This code was framed by John Eisenman, an architect of wide experience who was employed by the city under the title of Building Code Commissioner. In his work he was assisted by committees from several civic and technical organizations, the code in its entirety being regarded as a model enactment of its kind.
Many more things might be said of the builders of Cleveland and the vast industry they represent. When it is considered that this industry really em- braces many smaller industries within its scope, and that chapter after chapter might be written on each of these, the bigness of the subject may be better comprehended. A separate book could be written on the lumber business, for instance, another on the stone business, still another on the brick business and so on through the paint, varnish, hardware, cement and many other separate lines directly connected with building any of which would merit extensive ampli- fication. Few people stop to realize the ramifications of this great industry and its direct bearing upon the growth and general business prosperity of the city. In no other industry are so many men engaged, in no other industry do art and science blend in better harmony, in no other industry is the mind of man more delightfully engaged, for in this industry alone do we find those ele- ments which touch alike the poor and the rich, the old and the young-the great human family who must be housed and whose subsistence depends upon the mills and the factories, the stores and the offices-all of which must have build- ings or fail to exist.
CHAPTER LXIX.
WORKS OF THE CIVIL ENGINEER.
By Walter P. Rice, C. E.
The civil engineer, as manifest in his works, has contributed his share to the development of Cleveland. In the bridge line, his work has been bold, original
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and abreast of the times. Some of the most original and noteworthy structures in this country, have been erected in this city, and designed by Cleveland en- gineers. The progress has been eminently praiseworthy, with the exception of artistic design and development of aesthetics, which has received only a slight impetus in some of our small park bridges, where the surroundings obviously would not permit of other treatment. The hindrances to artistic design, in the opinion of the writer, are largely due to the apathy of a public not sufficiently educated on the subject and unwilling to assume the financial burden of grace- ful, artistic structures. This being the case, the engineer fails to make a study of the principles of art, and is to blame in some cases for not making the best of the situation and securing some improvement in appearance by occasionally sacrificing his fetish called the "economics of construction." It at least costs little to display good taste in primary forms, which is not always done.
In the line of bridge work the development is comprehended by the general evolution which has attended this class of work elsewhere, commencing with all timber truss of which the Burr was the best example, followed by the Howe truss, [a combination of wood and iron] running through the Wrought Iron period, embracing such types as the Whipple, Fink, Bowstring and so forth, to the all steel structures of the present time, of which the Pratt truss, or modifi- cation of same is a strong favorite.
Many modern applications of the Bascule type, or lift bridges for special conditions, have been brought to a high state of perfection, and Cleveland is well represented in this direction.
SEWERAGE PROBLEM.
A city of a half million population generally faces a tremendous problem in the proper disposal of its sewage, Cleveland notably so. While modern methods as regards sewerage systems favor what is known as the separate sys- tem, one in which sewage and storm water are isolated in separate channels, or conduits, Cleveland, with many of the older cities, has a fully constructed "com- bined system" on its hands, which introduces a very perplexing factor in the problem of ultimate disposal. This city has joined the general march of sani- tary improvement, as evidenced by the inauguration and progress made upon its great system of intercepting sewers, designed to convey the entire sewage of the city to one point or outfall at the foot of Adams avenue, and being the first step in the solution of its problem.
PAVEMENTS.
In the development of pavements, the city engineer's department has made notable progress. The dressed block Medina stone pavement, as laid under Cleveland specifications, probably has no equal in this country, for what is designated as medium traffic. No better brick pavement exists than that at Cleveland, as constructed by the same department.
One of the first men in this country to fully appreciate the value of the Medina sandstone as a paving material, and to whose advocacy we are much in- debted, was the late Henry M. Claflin, of this city.
CLEVELAND BREAKWATER. SHOWING ORIGINAL AND MODIFIED CONSTRUCTION The Original Construction was Cribwork-the Modified Construction was Concrete Superstructure
Courtesy War Department.
From original photographs in U. S. Engineer's Office CLEVELAND BREAKWATER Showing Final Construction Rough Rubble Work
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THE CLEVELAND BREAKWATER.
From an engineering standpoint the Cleveland breakwater is extremely inter- esting. The great gales that frequently sweep over Lake Erie, while not as severe as those of the ocean, are nevertheless dangerous to vessels and structures and result annually in many casualties and much damage. The impact of the waves is often of tremendous violence and the skill of the engineer is taxed to provide safe harbors of refuge and substantial structures that will successfully withstand the buffetings of the waves. This class of work is entrusted to the officers of the Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., detailed upon harbor works in time of peace- and their work speaks for itself. The Cleveland breakwater has its lake arm located at about the thirty foot curve of depth. Its design in detail has passed through evolutionary stages from the original stone filled timber crib to the rough rubble mound of the present time. The growing scarcity and cost of timber has largely dictated the later form of construction and its rough exterior surface offers great frictional resistance to the oncoming wave and as vessels do not have to go very near or tie up to breakwaters, they are naturally left out of consideration in such case.
The accompanying photographs and the following short description will afford an idea of the character of the work and methods of construction.
REMARKS RELATIVE TO THE VARIOUS TYPES OF BREAKWATER CONSTRUCTION, CLEVELAND HARBOR, OHIO.
STONE FILLED TIMBER CRIBS.
The earliest type used in Cleveland breakwater construction. Such a struc- ture is subject to rapid deterioration above the water line on account of the de- cay of the timbers, combined with the impact of the waves. It is also regarded as unsatisfactory because of the tendency of waves striking the vertical face which it presents, to produce backwash and undertow currents. Work of this character in Cleveland harbor was commenced in 1875. The last was done in 1902.
CONCRETE SUPERSTRUCTURE-STONE FILLED TIMBER CRIBS.
This construction was employed in repairing the timber breakwater first built. The old structure was levelled off two feet below the water line and a new super- structure was placed. This latter consists of longitudinal rows of concrete blocks filled between with small stone and capped by massive blocks of concrete molded in place. This work was begun in 1897 and completed in 1906.
RUBBLE MOUND.
This type of structure was adopted for use in Cleveland harbor in 1902. It is, as the name indicates, a ridge or mound of rough rock. In section it is ten feet wide at the top, eight feet above the water level, and slopes on both sides to the lake bottom where its width varies according to the depth of water. Its base
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width in thirty feet of water is about one hundred and twenty-five feet. The smaller stones are placed in the center of the section, the larger being so placed as to form a covering and superstructure. Among the advantages claimed for this construction are : its permanency, low cost of maintenance, and effectiveness in stopping seas without producing dangerous undercurrents.
WATER SUPPLY.
Pure soil, pure water and pure air make strongly for the general health of a community ; involved and inseparably connected with proper sewage disposal comes the question of pure water supply. In this direction, Cleveland has in the last few years extended a five mile tunnel under Lake Erie, from Kirtland street to a new Intake, located considerably north of the old one, and at a dis- tance off shore to insure a greater freedom from any chance of pollution.
CLEVELAND'S WATER SUPPLY.
Any statement in regard to Cleveland's water supply would be incomplete without reference to those pioneer water works engineers, Theodore R. Scowden and John F. Whitelaw, whose names will always be associated with the early days of the system.
From 1856 to 1874, during the time of Mr. Scowden, the supply was taken from Lake Erie by means of an intake crib, situated three hundred feet from the shore line, and four hundred feet west of the westerly terminus of the old river bed. The crib was located in twelve feet of water, had an outer diameter of thirty feet, and inner diameter of ten feet. The supply was conveyed from the intake well to the pumping station by a fifty inch wrought iron riveted pipe. At the present time the remains of the old crib are almost on the beach, caused by the accumulation of sand in the southwest corner of the west breakwater.
From 1874 to 1904 the supply was taken from a crib (now designated as crib No. 4), situated about four thousand three hundred feet north of the north- west angle of the west breakwater. This intake conveyed a supply through two tunnels, one seven feet in diameter, and the other five feet in diameter, to what is known as the old Division Street Pumping station. As the population of the city increased, the water supply from this intake afforded undisputed proof of sewage contamination, and became a menace to the good health of the community. This state of affairs caused the authorities to take radical action, and led to the planning of a new intake, with new Kirtland Street Pumping station on the east side of the river, the details of the project being worked out in accordance with the general ideas advanced by a board of experts, selected from the country at large, and composed of Rudolph Hering, George H. Benzenberg and Desmond Fitzgerald.
As a result, the new plans have been executed and the present supply is taken from Lake Erie by means of a tunnel located beneath the bed of the lake, and leading to an intake situated northerly, and, of course, seaward of the old intake,
Courtesy War Department. From original photograph in U. S. Engineer's Office BUILDING THE NEW BREAKWATER Placing the Huge Concrete Blocks
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or crib No. 4, the shore end of the tunnel communicating with the new Kirtland Street Pumping station. The tunnel is nine feet in diameter, has a brick lining thirteen inches thick, and a length of twenty-six thousand and forty-eight feet, or approximately five miles. The flow line of the tunnel is from one hundred and one to one hundred and eleven feet below lake level.
The intake crib is of steel, resting on a timber grillage. It is circular in form, one hundred feet in diameter, and has a fifty foot diameter well. The depth from the floor of the crib to bottom of sump is one hundred and thirty-four and six- tenths feet, or about one hundred and thirteen feet from lake level to bottom of sump. Water was admitted to the tunnel at the close of 1903. It has a ca- pacity of one hundred and seventy-five million to two hundred million gallons per day, and cost approximately nine hundred thousand dollars.
The execution of this enterprise necessitated the use of compressed air, and exacted a heavy toll in human lives, about forty-seven deaths from accidents, explosions, fire, etc., not to mention about twenty-one cases of disability from "caisson disease," or the "bends," as denominated in common parlance, a trouble incidental to the use of compressed air.
After the first two explosions "it was deemed advisable to make a chemical analysis of the air of the tunnel at intervals, to determine the percentage of explosive gas." It was ascertained that the "explosive gas consisted entirely of marsh gas, six parts of which, mixed with ninety-four parts of air, consti- tutes an explosive mixture under the pressure maintained on the tunnel, if a spark or light is brought into contact with same." By means of ventilation the endeavor was made to keep the percentage of marsh gas below 2.5 per cent.
During the construction of the tunnel, work was carried on at several points simultaneously by means of temporary intermediate shafts in the lake; differ- ent sections generally met without a variation of more than a few inches in the two circumferences. Surmounting the intake crib is a comfortable residence or habitation used by a care-taker and helper. These men are brought ashore at the close of navigation and generally returned to their post in March. Tele- phonic communication is established with the city by means of a submarine cable, and the crib possesses a twelve hundred-pound bell, with striking appara- tus and clockwork, which strikes a triple blow every thirty seconds.
As before stated, at the shore end of the tunnel is located the new Kirtland Street Pumping station. This is considered one of the two or three finest in the United States. The station contains two vertical, triple expansion, crank and fly wheel type engines of twenty-five million gallons capacity each, two horizon- tal duplex compound engines of fifteen million gallons capacity each ; and one high duty, horizontal compound of fifteen million gallons capacity, the second engine mentioned being relay.
This station was designed and constructed by the engineers of the depart- ment, and its general excellence is demonstrated by the following statement taken from the report of the superintendent: "The average duty, in foot pounds, per hundred pounds of coal in 1905, was seventy-eight million, seven hundred thou- sand, four hundred and thirty-one, and the cast of raising a million gallons one foot was only 1.936 cent.
.
+
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The average cost for operation and repairs for pumping one million gal- lons at this station was three dollars and eighty-four cents, and the average of all the stations four dollars and twenty-two cents-a fine showing.
The quality of the city's water supply is generally good. Biological tests are made daily by the city bacteriologist, Dr. Wm. T. Howard, Jr.
In a report made in 1905 by George C. Whipple, sanitary expert, he stated as follows: "The water of Lake Erie at the new crib is almost unpolluted by the sewage of the city, and may be considered at the present time as reasonably safe from the sanitary standpoint."
In 1907 the superintendent of the Division of Water Works, Edward W. Bemis, says the water supply of Cleveland is excellent. A comparison with forty- one American cities of over one hundred thousand population, showing twelve with lower and twenty-nine with higher death rate, the typhoid death rate in Cleveland being seventeen and sixty-five hundredths per one hundred thousand of population. It may be stated in a general way that statistics show a decrease in typhoid fever corresponding to the progressive increase in the use of water from the new intake.
As to the quantity of water used at the present time the same amounts to one hundred and seventeen and five-tenths gallons per capita, per day.
The names of M. W. Kingsley, C. F. Schultz, and latterly, George H. Ben- zenberg, are identified with the new water supply, as engineers.
INTERCEPTING SEWER SYSTEM.
There is no better index of the degree of civilization of a given community than the manner of disposal of its organic wastes. Cleveland has a great problem to solve apropos of sewage and sewage disposal, but has undertaken the task along broad and comprehensive lines.
A partial solution was offered or outlined in the report of Rudolph Hering, civil engineer, a sanitary engineer of national repute, made to the city of Cleve- land on June 26, 1882.
In 1888, Walter P. Rice, city engineer, with the assistance of an honorary commission authorized by the city council, at his suggestion, commenced a study of the general sewerage problem, and the purification of the Cuyahoga river. Incidental to the former, the engineer in 1890, made a careful investigation into the question of the direction, strength, cause, etc., of lake currents, and their bearing upon the sewage discharged into same, involving proper locations for sewerage outfall and water supply intake. As a result, in 1890 he recom- mended an intercepting system, which was approved by the commission. Pre- liminary plans, estimates, etc., were begun, but a change of city admin- istration prevented any further progress along this line, until the year 1895, when M. E. Rawson, city engineer at that time, called for a board of national experts to investigate and report on Cleveland's water supply and sewerage prob- lem. The conclusions arrived at by this board, and embodied in their report of date of February 4, 1896, practically confirmed the views previously held by Mr. Rice, and the river and sewer commission, and declared in favor of an intercepting system of sewers.
WESTERN PORTION OF THE SUPERIOR STREET VIADUCT, 1909
EASTERN PORTION OF CENTRAL VIADUCT, 1889
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Construction was commenced in 1901. At the present time about twelve and one-half miles of work is completed, including the Doan Valley Interceptor. The cost to date approximates two million, two hundred and fifty thousand dol- lars. The estimated cost of the completed system is four million, five hundred thousand dollars, embracing a total of twenty-three and one-half miles of con- struction.
The main interceptor extends from Lake Erie at the foot of Adams avenue in Collinwood, westerly along the Lake Shore Boulevard, street and private right of way, across the northerly part of the city to West One Hundred and Sev- enteenth street, the westerly city limit, at an average distance of about one thou- sand feet from the lake shore. It varies in size from eight to thirteen and one-half feet in diameter.
The Walworth Run sewer, an integral part of the intercepting system, as now constructed, cost eight hundred and ten thousand dollars, and varies from eight to sixteen and one-half feet in diameter. As a means of comparison, it may be remarked that the old Fleet street sewer in London at its outlet, is twelve by eighteen and one-half feet. The larger channels of the Paris systems are about sixteen feet by eighteen feet. The present outfall or outlet of the system is, as previously stated, at Adams avenue, the effluent being carried by a steel pipe sixty-three inches in diameter, laid in the bed of the lake, two thousand, six hundred and fifty feet in length, with submerged discharge.
The collecting of the sewage of the entire city and its conveyance to a point remote from the intake of the water supply can be characterized as the first, necessary step in solution of Cleveland's problem rather than an ultimate solution. Cleveland alone, to say nothing of the other cities and towns con- tributing to Lake Erie, on the basis of half a million population, will dump eight million, one hundred and fifty-four thousand cubic feet of excreta solid and liquid, into the water of the lake annually, a quantity equal to the solid contents of a block one hundred by one hundred by eight hundred feet.
It is inconceivable that such a volume of sewage with constant accessions in the future can be discharged into Lake Erie with complaisance, or under proper sanitary oversight. Partial purification of the effluent at least will have to be faced in the immediate future, or filtration of water supply will have to be re- sorted to or both.
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