192 THE PLAN OF THE PLACE 



"The arrangement made for the removal of 

 surface water from the street must also take care 

 of the surplus water from adjacent lots, so there 

 is a practical advantage in having the level of the 

 street lower than that of the ground adjoining. 

 The appearance of houses and home grounds is 

 also much better when they are higher than the 

 street, and for this reason it is usually desirable to 

 keep the latter as low as possible and give the 

 underground pipes sufficient covering to protect 

 them from frost. Where the ground is high and 

 the sewers very deep the grades should, of course, 

 be determined with reference to surface conditions 

 only. It sometimes happens that this general 

 arrangement of the grades of home grounds, 

 which is desirable on most accounts, causes water 

 from melting snow to flow over the sidewalk in 

 the winter time, where it may freeze and be dan- 

 gerous to pedestrians. A slight depression of the 

 lot away from the sidewalk and then an ascent 

 toward the house would usually remedy this diffi- 

 culty, and also make the house appear higher. 

 Sometimes, however, a pipe should be placed 

 underneath the sidewalk to allow water to reach 

 the street from inside of the lot line. The aim in 

 surface drainage should always be to keep the 

 traveled portions of the street in the most perfect 

 condition for use. The quick removal of surplus 

 water from sidewalks, crossings, and roadways 

 will help to insure this result." 



