Minneapolis Sewer System 423 



surface into separate trunk systems discharging into the river has 

 developed on the basis of the natural topographical divisions of the 

 city, modified, of course, by the irregular growth and varying ne- 

 cessities of the districts of a western city. 



The first sewer was built on Wash. Av., from 8th Av. S. to Henne- 

 pin; was 44" in size, and designed to drain ultimately from 300 to 400 

 acres. Using the experience of Milwaukee and Chicago their for- 

 mulas were adopted for determining the size of the sewers to the 

 acreage drained. But the maximum of 1 inch of rain per hour 

 as the basis of this formula was found by experience not to be suf- 

 ficient for this locality where the average rain fall for 47 years has 

 varied from a minimum of 16 inches to a maximum of 39 inches, and 

 where a sharp shower will precipitate at the rate of over 2i^ inches 

 per hour. So the Adam's formula was adopted, allowing for li/^ to 2 

 inches of rainfall per hour. 



The region drained by this first system, as the sewer exten- 

 tions draining into this 8th Av. outlet were gradually built, in roughly 

 bounded by 8th Av. S. to 3d Av. N and back to 7th St., with a loop 

 taking in Western Av. to the railway and Hawthorn out to Lyndale. 

 Only two and a half miles of trunk and collateral sewers were built 

 in this first district during the first 11 years, i. e., to 1882. 



By 1882 the growth of the city demanded the beginning of a 

 second sewer system and a 6 foot brick sewer was started from the 

 river at the foot of 11th Av. S. and going up that avenue, it was 

 designed to drain the district bounded roughly by 9th and 13th Avs. 



5 out to 8th St., thence west to include Nicollet and south to include 

 Franklin. Similarly in 1882 v/as begun the third system by starting 

 another 6 foot brick sewer coming up 4th St. S. from the river and 

 turning up 15th Av. S. This system was to drain the district bound- 

 ed by the river, 14th Av. S, and Franklin, with a loop between Bloom- 

 ington and Chicago Avs, out to 25th St. 



In connection with the third section of this 11th Av. S. system, 

 the blocks from 15th St. to Franklin, occured the important change 

 from construction by contract to construction by the city by day 

 labor. This change was occasioned by the contract bids for this 

 sewer being $40,000 above the City Engineer's estimate. So the 

 City Council provided $5000. for tools and the work was done under 

 our department within the estimate and with a few thousand dollars 

 to spare. The first sewer had been built by contract by Spink & 

 Nichols; and the 25 miles constructed by contract up to the end of 



1885 were built by E. T. Sykes & Co., J. J. Palmer; Trainer, Forestall 



6 Brandt; J. Gleason & Co., Tobin & Fallon, Thos Daley, Andrew 

 Dolan, J. Burnes, J. H. Nevins, and R. M. Riner. But beginning with 



1886 all sewer work has been done by the City Engineer'^ Depart- 

 ment. This has been found a better plan in that it insures more 

 thorough workmanship, — for sewers must be built for permanance 

 rather than cheapness, — and it is not more expensive than contract 

 construction when the costly extras of contract work are eliminated, 

 as they are by the city work. 



The beginning of the sewer systems of the East Side of the City 

 were also made in this epoch-making sewer year of 1882. A small 15 



