100 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



more difficulty in construction and in operation than any one of a 

 large number of crush zones encountered at other points along 

 the aqueduct line. 



As a matter of fact, no unusual difftculties are presented for 

 the construction of a tunnel at this point although at the time these 

 .facts were discovered there was less complete confidence in the 

 success of pressure tunnels than came to be felt later. It is entirely 

 probable that at some future time this link will be established in 

 such form also, replacing the steel pipe by a pressure tunnel. An 

 interesting thing in a geological way discovered by such explora- 

 tions is the depth to which decay has reached in these crush zones 

 and the support that it gives to the interpretation of the general 

 structural habit of the district. 



The artesian well damage claim. An interesting side issue drawn 

 out of the explorations, and the condemnation of the ground on 

 which the aqueduct is located, was developed at this point. The 

 former owners of the ground where these borings were made, 

 brought claim for extraordinary value when the land was condemned 

 because of the taking of their artesian water supply. This flowing 

 hole, discovered during exploration, furnished water which spouted 

 out of the casing to a height of about lO feet and it is, of course, 

 excellent water. This ground was not known to carry artesian 

 water before these explorations were made and it would probably 

 never been discovered except for them. Nevertheless a claim was 

 made for something like $75,000 because of the taking of this water 

 supply which, it was held, has unusual purity and is capable of 

 being placed on the market. The defense furnished by the city 

 took the stand that this water-bearing crush zone doubtless con- 

 tinues for a considerable distance and extends into and across the 

 residue of the property still remaining in the hands of the owners, 

 and that it could be tapped by the same process of boring on the 

 ground still retained. The theory was advanced that the water 

 was carried by a crush zone extending for a long distance and was 

 fed by the surface waters falling on the mountainsides farther up 

 the valley. As these waters pass downward toward the river, where 

 the surface is lower and where they are held in by a heavy over- 

 capping of glacial drift which does not allow rapid dissipation, 

 they can be tapped by boring into this vmderground supply which 

 has all the structural characteristics of a certain form of artesian 

 reservoir. This supply as a whole is not in the least interfered 

 with by aqueduct construction as it was not allowed to enter the 



