THE WORLD'S ADVANCE 



275 



certain to be leakage at some points and 

 infiltration of ground water at others. 

 The measurement of the flow at the 

 Ashokan reservoir, therefore, would not 

 be a true index of the amount delivered 

 to New York City. 



By putting in a meter at Ashokan and 

 another at the inlet to Kensico and com- 

 paring the volume of the flow recorded 

 at each of these points, it is possible 

 to determine accurately just how much 

 water is lost by leakage or gained by 

 ground water seepage. 



The third meter at the Kensico outlet 

 is necessary to determine the quantity of 

 water actually delivered into the city dis- 

 tribution system. It is possible that the 

 aqueduct may be delivering water into 

 the Kensico reservoir at a time when 

 none is being withdrawn, or that the 

 aqueduct supply may be cut off when the 

 Kensico water is feeding into the city 

 distribution system. Under conditions 

 such as these it is apparent that one 

 meter would not be sufficient to give the 

 data desired regarding the quantity of 

 water. 



Each meter is built of reinforced con- 

 crete, with a bronze lining and annular 

 pressure chamber at the throat and a 



A Simple Diagram to Indicate the Action of the 

 Water Meters Used in the Catskill Aqueduct. 



second bronze pressure chamber at the 

 upstream end of the tube. It was de- 

 sired always to have the throats of the 

 meters full of water, and for this reason 

 the tubes were built as inverted siphons 

 with the throats 18 feet below the hy- 

 draulic grade line. 



The length of the depressed section is 

 about 408 feet, including 30 foot transi- 

 tion lengths at either end which convert 

 the i/-foot horseshoe section into a 17- 

 foot circular section. The length of the 

 tapered portion of the meter on the up- 

 stream end is more than 26 fee s t and at 

 the downstream end more than in feet. 

 When one considers that the ordinary 

 meter is not larger than the palm of one's 

 hand, the extraordinary size of these 

 huge meters can be realized. 



CONCRETE STAIRWAY OPENS A 

 STREET BLOCKED BY A HILL 



The accompanying illustration discloses 

 a novel way in which a city in the western 



A Stairway of Unusual Design, which was Constructed in 

 Order to Open a Street. 



part of this country "opened", a street, 

 the end of which ran into a deep cut of 

 about sixty feet in height. 



The improvement consists of an elab- 

 orate set of concrete steps of unusual de- 



sign. At the bottom there are 



two entrances to the stairway. 

 After a short flight at these en- 

 trances these series of steps turn 

 and run toward each other, 

 meeting in the center and con- 

 tinuing upward for about twenty 

 steps. From this point they again 

 part, going- outward until they 

 are about fifty feet apart, at 

 which point they again turn up 

 the hill, continuing to do so until 

 they reach the top of the grade, 

 when it is found that each of 

 the series of steps is directly 



