666 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



ENGINEERING. 



SANITARY ENGINEERING IN KANSAS CITY. * 



BY ROBERT GILHAM, C. E. , KANSAS CITY. 



Kansas City requires very extensive sanitary improvements, and the question 

 of method should have been determined long ago. Instituting works of this 

 character, at the present stage of the city's history, will require larger sums to 

 complete than if they had been organized earlier in the city's growth. It is appar- 

 ent that time has been wasted. 



It is necessary first, to become acquainted and familiar with the local and 

 general requirements of the city. A topographical map of the city should be 

 made, indicating the contour of the surface, including a great portion of the sur- 

 rounding country, and especially that territory which will soon be incorporated 

 in the city. All the main drains, outlets and laterals, districts and sub-districts 

 should be clearly indicated, including also diameters, areas and inclinations, in a 

 table of references, which should be determined after a careful and extended 

 examination of the maximum and minimum amount of rainfall within the proposed 

 drainage area, and all other means that will directly or indirectly contribute to 

 the volume in the sewers. 



The nature of the soil, and inclinations of streets and surface generally 

 should be carefully considered, as they become important factors in the computa- 

 tions. After all the facts have been obtained, the city government should adopt 

 such plans as the engineering skill employed can furnish. There should be a 

 general plan, and all local improvements should be made to conform to it. Mod- 

 ifications may become necessary in the execution of the works, to meet unforeseen 

 circumstances which can be overcome without materially changing the general 

 plan. No modifications should be made to accommodate ward politicians for the 

 sake of political influence. Politics should have no part in the execution of these 

 improvements. It is the experience of other cities that where politics play a part 

 in improvements of this kind they inevitably prove a failure. It is true there is a 

 great cost attached to sanitary improvements, and usually it requires years to 

 complete them, but when fully completed the city possesses a work of the greatest 

 possible utility. In studying the topography of our city we find that the natural 

 summit lies very nearly in a line, the direction of which is as follows : Beginning 

 at Woodland avenue near Eighth street, thence running in a southwesterly 

 direction to Ninth street, following the same, westerly, to Locust, south to Tenth 

 and west to Grand avenue, northwesterly to the corner of Ninth and Walnut, 

 southwesterly to the corner of Twelfth and Main streets, thence northwesterly to 



* Read before the Kansas City Academy of Science, January 27th, 1880. 



