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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL 



[October, 



DRAINAGE BILL. 



Ezlracls from a liill intituled •' An Jet for the letter Drainaye of Towns 

 and Villages," which has passed tite House of Lords, and is now in the 

 House of Commons. 



1. Whereas there is great need of sanatory regulations in the towns and 

 populous places of tliis realm, especially for want of suflicient means of 

 drainage, whereby <lisease is engendered and aggravated ; be it therefore 

 enacted, &.C., that after the passing of this act it shall not be lawful to build 

 any house within the limits of this act, unless a drain be first constructed to 

 the satisfaction of the commissioners of sewers having jurisdiction there, of 

 such material, size, level, and fall as they shall ilirect, which drain shall lead 

 from the intended site of such house to such common sewer, common drain, 

 or common watercourse as the commissioners shall direct, or if there be i.o 

 such common sewer, common drain, or common watercourse witliin 10 yards 

 of any part of the intended site of such house, then to such cesspool or other 

 place as the commissioners shall direct, not more than ten yards from some 

 part of such intended site. 



2. That in all cases where any house built within the limits of this act, 

 cither before or .after the passing thereof, shall not be drained by a sufficient 

 drain communic.iting with some common sewer, common drain, or common 

 watercourse, to the s.itibfaction of the commissioners of sewers, and if a 

 sewer, drain, or watercourse of suflicient size, under the jurisdiction of the 

 commissioners of sewers, and which they shall think fit to be used for drain- 

 ing such house, shall pass along any public thoroughfare or way in front of 



* or behind any part of such house, it shall be lawful for the said commissioners 

 to give notice in writing, signed by .luy surveyor or officer appointed by them 

 for that purpose, to the occupier of such house, rc(|uiring such occupier or 

 the owner thereof forthwith, or within such reasonable time as shall there- 

 fore be appointed by the said commissioners, to construct a covered drain of 

 such materials, size, level, and fall as the commissioners shall direct, from 

 the said house to the said sewer, drain, or watercourse; and if the owner or 

 occupier of such house shall refuse or neglect, during 28 d.iys next after the 

 said notice shall have been delivered to such occupier or left at such house, 

 to begin to construct such dr.aiu, or shall thereafter fail to carry it on and 

 comi)lete it with all reasonable despatch, it shall be lawful for the said com- 

 missioners to construct the same, and to recover the cxpcnces to be incurred 

 thereby by distress and sale of the goods and chattels either of the owner or 

 of the then present or any future occupier of such house as herein-after men- 

 tioned, by warrant under the hands and seals of six or more or the said com- 

 missioners. 



3. That whejiever .any house shall be rebuilt within the limits of this act, 

 the level of the lowest floor shall be raised sufficiently to allow of the eon- 

 jtruction of such a drain as is herein-hefore provided in the case of houses to 

 be built after the passing of this act. and for that purpose the levels shall be 

 taken and determined under the direction of the commissioners of sewers ; 

 and whenever any house shall be taken down as low as the floor of the first 

 story, for the purpose of being built up again, such building sh,ill be deemed 

 a rebuilding within the meaning of this act. 



4. The level of every new street, court, alley, and place which shall be 

 made, and also the level of every street, ivc. in which any new common sewer 

 or common drain shall be made, shall be fixed under the direction of the 

 commissioners of sewers. 



5. The commissioners of sewers shall have avithority, from time to time, as 

 they shall see fit, to widen, deepen, embank, alter, arch over, amend, clean, 

 and' scour all or any of the sewers, drains, watercourses, sinks, vaults, cess- 

 pools, and privies within their jurisdiction, and also to cleanse, drain, amend, 

 and abate all stagnant ponds and other nuisances whereby the health of the 

 neighbourhood is or is likely to be afl!'ected, and to make new sewers, dr.aius, 

 sinks, cesspools, or vaults where none foimerly existed, and also to make re- 

 servoirs, engines, sluices, penstocks, or any other works for better draining 

 any place within their j\irisdiction, in, under, or across .ill or any of the public 

 ways, thoroughfares, or places within their jiuisdiction, and, if needful, through 

 and .across all underground cellars and vaults which they shall find under any 

 of the said )iublic Wiiys and thoroughfares, doing as little damage as may be, 

 and making due compensation for the damage done to the owners and occu- 

 piers thereof; and in case it shall be found necessary, for completing any of 

 of the .aforesaid sewers or drains, to build, cirry, and continue the same into 

 and through any inclosed lands or other place, not being a. public way, it 

 shall be lawful for the said commissioners to build, carry, and continue the 

 same into or through the said lands or other place accordingly, milking due 

 compensation to the owners and occupiers thereof; and all such sewers and 

 other works and premises shall be .at all times under the control, care, and 

 management of the said commissioners, and of their surveyors and officers. 



C. It shall be lawful for the commissioners of sewers, at their discretion, to 

 abandon .any common sewer or common drain rumiing through narrow courts 

 or alleys of houses or inclosed places, or through or under any place uot being 

 a public way, in all cases wherein a new common sewer or common drain 

 shall be constructed, in any public streets, roads, or highways contiguous 

 thereto, and capable of receiving the drainage of such courts, alleys, or in- 

 closed or other places ; and that upon such drainage being turned into such 

 new sewer or drain the said coniinissioncrs shall not thereafter be obliged to 

 maintain the sewers or drains so to be abandoned, but shall order the same 

 to be filled up at their discretion, and th.at all branch drains communicating 

 with anv sewer or drain so to be abandoned shall be turned bv the owners of 



the lands and tenements theretofore drained thereby into the new sewer or 

 drain to be constructed instead of such abandoned sewers or drains, bv mak- 

 iiig drains into such new sewers or drains, conformably to the regulations of 

 the commissioners of sewers : provided always, that if such new sewer or 

 drain shall not be brought within the distance of ten yards from the lands or 

 tenements formerly drained by the abandoned sewer or drain, the cost of 

 completing the branch drains beyond the length of 10 yards shall be defrayed 

 by the commissioners of sewers. 



". Commissioners to give 28 days notice and provide a plan and section be- 

 fore making any new common sewer or common drain under this act, where 

 no common sewer or common drain already existed, and before abandoning 

 any old common sewer or common drain, and before abating any such nuisance 

 as aforesaid. 



10. That before making any drain or watercourse for the purpose of ilrain- 

 ing water directly or indirectly from any land or tenement into any common 

 sewer, &c., and also before beginning to lay or dig out the foundations of any 

 house therein, or to rebuild any house therein, 11 clear days notice in writing 

 shall be given to the commissioners ; such new drain or watercourse shall be 

 made of such materials and workmanship, and laid at such level, as is i)ro- 

 vided by this act, and under such regulations as the said commissioners shall 

 order. 



11.* That it shall be lawful for the commissioners, or for their surveyor or 

 such other person as they shall appoint, to inspect any drain or v^■atercourse 

 within tlieir jurisdiction, and for that purpose to enter at all reasonable times, 

 by themselves, or their duly authorized surveyors, officers, and workmen, upon 

 any lands and tenements, and also to cause the yronnd to be opened in any 

 place they shall think ft, doing as little damage as may be ; and if such drain 

 or watercourse shall be found to be made to the satisfaction of the commis- 

 sioners, they shall cause the same to be closed and made good as soon as may 

 be ; and the expences of opening, closing, and m.aking good such drain or 

 watercourse shall be defrayed by the said commissioners out of the rates and 

 assessments authorized to be made by them by the laws in force relating to 

 sewers. 



12. That all branch drains, «.y ivell irithin us witliout the lands and tene- 

 ments to which they belong, and all watercourses used for drains, and all 

 privies and cesspools, within the limits of this acl, shall be under the survey 

 and control of the said commissioners, il^c, and shall be repaired and cleansed 

 .at the cost and charge of the owners or occupiers of the lands and tenements 

 to v\hich the s.ame shall belong ; and if the owner or occupier of any land or 

 tenement to which any branch drain, watercourse, cesspool, or privy shall 

 belong shall neglect to repair or cleanse the same in the manner required by 

 the said commissioners, during 14 days after notice in writing for that pur- 

 pose, signed by any such surveyor or otticer, shall have been given to such 

 occupier, or left upon the premises, it shall be lawful for the said commis- 

 sioners to order such branch drain, l'^c, to he repaired and cleansed, and to 

 levy and recover the costs and expences thereof by distress, &c., either of the 

 owners or of the occupiers so neglecting to repair and cleanse the same. 



21. Commissioners shall cause a map to be made of the district within 

 their jurisdiction, on a scale not less than one inch to 400 feet, and to mark 

 thereon the course of every common sewer, common drain, and common 

 watercourse, and shall cause the same from time to time to be altered and 

 .amended ; and such map, or a copy thereof, with the date expressed thereon 

 of the last time at which it sh.ill have been so amended, shall be kept in the 

 office of the commissioners, and shall be open at all seasonable hours to the 

 inspection of the owners or occupiers of any lands or tenements within the 

 jurisdiction of such commission. 



25. Where any common sewer or common drain shall be made by the said 

 commissioners, under any public way where no common sewer or common 

 drain formerly existed, the cost of making the same shall be borne, in the 

 manner herein-after specified, by the several owners of the lands and tene- 

 ments abutting on such public way on either side thereof, in proportion to 

 the several lengths of frontage so abutting ;t and it shall be lawful for the 

 commissioners, when they shall have undertaken the construction thereof, 

 to charge the said several owners with the cost of constructing a common 

 sewer of the usual sizej in tlie jurisdistiou of the commissioners, to be paid 

 by^ce equal yearly instalments, the first instalment being payable as soon 

 after the completion of the work as the commissioners shall require the same. 



26. And whereas by the laws in force relating to sewers the commissioners 

 are empowered to lay sep.arate and distinct rates, as occasion shall require, 

 for every separate and distinct level, v.alley, or district within their commis- 

 sion, or for any part thereof, whenever tbey shall think fit to do so ; be it 

 enacted, that so much of the cost of making any common sewer or common 

 drain above the usual size which shall exceed the ch.arges herein-hefore laid 

 upon the several owners of lands and tenements abutting on any public way, 

 and also the costs of making those parts of any common sewer or common 



" Clauses 11 and 12 contain very extraordinary poners, and such .as are 

 liable to be used with great abuse.— Editor. 



T For corner houses there ought to be some provision, so as to make them 

 chargeable for one frontage only, and not as is now the case for two frontages 

 — Kditor. 



I We consider that the commissioners ought not to have the power for 

 chargiuf; or enforcing in any case more than for what is considered in London 

 as a second size, sewer. If a Jirst rate sewer be couslrueted, the extra price 

 ouRht to be chargeable to the whole district drained by it, as provided in the 

 following clause.— Editor. 



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