52 



the steam pipes which greatly interfered with their efficiency. 

 It is necessary, of course, to leave the joints of Akron tile open 

 when used for the purpose of draining the conduit trench since 

 these pipes must take off the water from the trench and prevent 

 it from coming into contact with the steam pipes in the conduit. 

 As long as the joints remain open it is with great difficulty that 

 the roots of trees, etc., are kept from growing in the tile, and 

 sooner or later it is made ineffective. 



Tree roots will penetrate tile protected with carefully cemented 

 joints and become a nuisance, as is shown by the following in- 

 stance. In the city of Newark, N. J., the Shade Tree Commis- 

 sion have been requested by the Department of Sewers and 

 Drainage to omit the planting of Carolina poplars on streets 

 since the roots of these trees proved to be a nuisance to drains. 

 Mr. Edward S. Rankin,* Engineer of Sewers and Drainage of the 

 city of Newark, writes as follows : 



"Replying to your letter of the twentieth inst., we find that 

 the roots go through the joints of tile pipe even when carefully 

 cemented and the trouble seems to be increasing. In 1909 we had 

 15 stoppages caused by roots; for the first ii months of 1910, 23, 

 of which 5 occurred in the month of November. These stoppages 

 were all in house connections, and in addition to these we have 

 also had a number of cases in our main pipe sewers. The roots 

 after penetrating the pipe seem to spread out and practically fill 

 the whole pipe. I have no way of knowing how long a time it 

 takes for these roots to grow. To the best of my knowledge we 

 have had no trouble with any of our brick sewers. The trouble 

 seems to have been caused in all cases by poplar trees." 



There recently came to our attention a notable case of a large 

 drain tile being clogged by the roots of a pear tree. This tile 

 was 12 inches in diameter and was laid about seven years ago to 

 take the seepage waters from a reservoir located in the town of 

 Belmont, Mass. The pipe passed near a pear orchard, and there 

 was a constant flow of water through it summer and winter, 

 although it was never full. At the time the tile was laid the 

 joints were not cemented, and of course there was an opportunity 



*See also Municipal Journal and Engineer, vol. 30, no. i, January 4, 191 1. 



