CHRISTCHURCH CITY COUNCIL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1321, 22 November 1864, Page 4

CHRISTCHURCH CITY COUNCIL.

The adjourned weekly meeting of the Christ church City Council was held at seven o'clock last evening. Mr. J. Ollivier occupied the chair ; and th ■ othw members present were Messrs. C. W. Bishou BaiitJ Luck, E. B. Bishop, and Barnard. ' *' Minutes. The minutes of the previous sitting were read and confirmed. ' Correspondence. A letter from the Secretary of the Orphan Asylum was read, thanking the Council, on hehalf of the committee of that institution, for the use of their apparatus for well-sinking. A letter was read from George Allen, calling the attention of the Council to the state of the south side of St. ABaph-street; there being a great accumulation of grass and weeds, and many holes containing stagnant water about that locality. A letter was read from Charles Hilton, asking permission to erect a boat-shed on that portion of the east bank of the river, opposite his dwelling. A most laughable composition was read from the city bellman, expressive of a hope that it was not the intention of the Council to abolish his " solo music" so. much admired. A letter was read from Alexander Dallas, protesting against the injustice of being assessed at the sum of £115 for two small cottages in Lichfieldstreet, which, if always let, would give a rental of £75 per annum. Two residents of the Triangle, named S. Jones and W. Calvert attended, 1 and made application to the Council to give them permission to pay the special local Triangle rate at three different periods. The application was accedcd to SuEVEYOB AND INSPECTOR OF NUISANCES REPORTS. The usual reports of the Surveyor and Inspector of nuisances were read and adopted. The Citt Drainage. Mr. Luck brought up the following report of th# Committee appointed to report on the drainage of Christchurch. " We, the undersigned, being the Committee appointed by the City Council on Monday the 12tli day of September last, to consider the several plans proposed for draining the City of Christchurch, and to report on the general question having brought our labours to an end, beg to report as follows

"We have held seven meetings, each of several hours duration, and have examined thirteen gentlemen who have taken a great interest in the subject, and whose opinions, from their position and profession, are entitled to consideration. " At our first meeting held on the 15th September, we were favoured with the attendance of Mr. William White, Contractor, who fully explained his scheme for the general drainage of the c ; ty. "On the 20th September, Mr. Cyrus Davie, Surveyor, and Mav B«raian,~ Civil Engineer were examined. " On the 27th September, Mr. Strouts, Architect, and Mr. William Davie, Surveyor, gave their evidence —the latter having some knowledge of the drainage works of the City of Chicago, in the Western States of America. A city of 150,000 inhabitants, and one very difficult to drain from its slight elevation above the outfall. " At this sitting we were favoured with a plan and report on the drainage from Mr. M. Bury, Civil Engineer and Architect, which contained entirely new features from the scheme hitherto under our consideration. " On the 30th September, Mr. Beetham, Surveyor, and Mr. George Jackson, Drain Tile Manufacturer, were examined. "On the 4th October, Mr Fitzgerald, Mr. Cass, Chief Surveyor of the province, and Mr. C. 0. Surveyor, attended and gave evidence. " At the meeting on the 25th October, Mr. Dobson, Civil Engineer, Lyttelton and Christchurch Kail way was examined. "And at the meeting November Ist, Mr. Moore, City Surveyor, attended and gave evidence. _ _ , "To the Above named gentlemen we are indebted for many valuable suggestions, and desire to acknowledge with gratitude the readiness they evinced to further the great object now under consideration. " In fulfilment of the duties imposed on us hy the Council, we have been from the first impressed wit the desirability of keeping the waters of the Avon from pollution, and have striven to develope a system of drainage which should as far as possible insure the great desideratum; as well as tliat of equal importance, the prevention of a collision with the lan - owners, did we propose to carry the house anunag of a part of the city down the Ferry Hoad into Heathcote.

" The Drainage of the City as a W ilolE> " We have for the sake of convenience assunietl the drainage of the whole city is at once ' and that no difficulty exists of a financiall el' —learing the consideration of our immediate 11 sities to a later part of this report, —and "e RL mend the adoption of the following schemes:— " i.—surface drainage and carrying oif oi STORM WATERS. "Little need be said on this subject, and it vrou appear that so soon as kerbing and stone eliam are laid, the surface drainage might with P n T - be carried to the river Avon, excepting ri • part of the town lying to the south-east, ttie & j drainage of which must be discharged a> iu . v the Ferry lioad drain. This kind ot draina^ * is not likely to interfere with the purity ot in the Avon.

" lI.—HOUSE DRAINAGE —LIQCIPS ONLI. " The greatest difficulty the Council contend with is the getting rid of the t j lC generally denominated ' house slops, « « - drainage from stables, and other similar P net ■ " Bearing in mind the two great named, we have resolved on reconimen „ Council to seek for powers to carry this« • along the roads to the east of the to "j n ' mrte r the Canal Reserve, with an outfall c <1 ebb tide into the estuary of the river Heath

" The Main ok Outfaix Drain- « This drain, which is coloured browii on accompanying this report, commencing at . . g tion of Cashel street with the East lo* 3in proposed to be of an egg-shape section ab ■-• by 2ft 9in, constructed of brickwork, the the drain being laid at the height of 4 * t j ]C high water (which would be about 6ft 3l!l illt ) surface of the ground at the comment » with a fall of two feet in a mile, and cairrieu flf tance of 45 chains, being to the north-eas - , lU section 175, marked Aon plan; from ,|U!, I t iu:i open drain is proposed, with a fall of twee { ; n g mile for a distance of about 215 c , jl s \ o. uu j|iills only about six chains passing through KV, e . ul( l which must be covered; this is colmire' red on plan. The first eleven chains ot u - would be through private property, SL>Lni,,l '' l only part of the line which must P U ' L V .l^uary, " This would bring us to the bank of r from which point to the channel an 0 f or covered drain must be constructed, '*• To this being at about 4£ feet below big i- * prevent the tide flowing up the open draii, J0 ing flood gates to be fixed—at least insure perfect exclusion of the tidal wa ei- e f or c "The full of the outfall. drain would tncit be nine feet in about 200 chains.

"Drains Within the City. te ® "Info the main drain would be discharges of vitrified stoneware egg-shaped drains, i

jj oW n the centre of each street running Hand south, with minor drains from the other all of these having proper junction for liousS 8 - which should be laid from every dwelling dra i 1 trapped. In order to insure the proper f these drains, we recommend that each house use vided with a properly constructed brick or be pr °sink, with two gratings, fixed about six inches St °" t the bars of one running in an opposite direc- * to those of the other, and the lower grating Tfiner nii'sl). The upper grating to be secured by l >k to be opened only by the Inspector of Nuift pf'or other officer appointed by the Council. Sft l< \t the end of the drains, along the north and th streets, ;ui intercepting sewer is proposed to be , sO -j „?n.i (r Oxford Terrace as far as Chester-street, Se along that street to the Town Belt, and along fSfto the main outfall drain. « The reasons for carrying the north and south ■imins into an intercepting sewer will be given in this import w ], on the works immediately required are system embraces that part of the city _i oU rod red on the plan. " For the north side of the river, or that coloured vpllow on map, a similar system of drains, crossdrains intercepting sewers, and house drains with nks should be observed, and brought to a centre at fie point marked Bon the plan, and carried across the river in an iron tube, partially concealed by the underworks of the Madras street bridge. "The part of the city represented by the green mlonr on the map being the south-east corner, and the lowest part of the town, we propose to deal with in the following manner:— "Drains as mentioned for the other parts of the ritv to be laid, but at a lower level, discharging into f sewer running under Barbadoes street as far as Kihnore street, along Kilmore street, with outfall to the Avon at the end of the East Town Belt. « This, it is thought, being so small a portion of the town, may be drained into the Avon without doing any material injury to the water. The rainfall, as stated before, to go down the Ferry road *?£ advocating this system of draining away the house-slops we are aware that there exist two or three low parts of the town, each of extremely limited extent, which practically may be found difficult to embrace in the scheme. In these cases but a few houses are or can be built; and we think it better they should be dealt with by running their drains into the river. The pollution of the water from such courses (if indeed they are found to exist) will be inappreciable. " We have carefully abstained from the consideration of the capacity of the drain pipes in their several situations, as we do not aim at a professional report, but consider generally that the house-drains should' be from 4in to 6in diameter (and of egg form, if possible) accordiug to the extent of the establishment requiring them; and that pipes from 9in to 15in diameter, egg-shaped, may be found sufficient, according to the distance from the main drain and the number of confluences in the system. "To assist the discharge of the drainage matter, the water from the several artesian wells now in existence, as well as that to be obtained from future borings placed in judicious situations, should be turned at regular stated hours into the street drains; the water thus obtained would be sufficient to keep the drains clear. " Having thus far discussed a general system of drainage for the city of Cluistchurch, under the assumptions named in page 3, we venture to think that the scheme now proposed is both practical and open to fewer objections than any of the other definite plans proposed. We have, for obvious reasons, carefully abstained from any comment on the vaiious suggestions which have been made either in the plans formally laid before us, or in the evidence so kindly given by the gentlemen named in the former part of this report; but we feel that we cannot close this part of our work without expressing our regret that we found on mature consideration so many difficulties likely to arise in the application of the suggestion to carry the house-drains out at the back of the houses and" into the streets through the centre of the blocks, that we were compelled, though with great reluctance, to abandon it. However, wherever such a system could be made available, it would be highly desirable to adopt it. "We are fully convinced that no attempt should be made to carry off the closet soil by means of the drains. This must be, as now, carted away to the Sand Hills, or other reserves, but it is likely that a much improved service may be initiated on the arrival of the closet pans which have been ordered from England, and shortly expected. " It is to be hoped that on the extension of this system some means will be devised for the utilization J of this refuse, which under a system of sewerage i Could not be done. _ j " The present mode of carrying awayashes and I other dry refuse should be continued, andproper sweepers should be employed to keep clean the channels when paved. "We have not attempted to arrive at any close estimate of the probable cost of these works, as it is patent that the city is not in a position to grapple with the necessarily heavy outlay, but consider that the house drainage will cost according to their scheme, about £55,000 exclusive of the drains from each house which must be laid at the owner's expense. "The estimate for the kerbmg and stone channelling for the whole of the city is about £105,000. "But as is not desirable, even if possible, that the whole of the city should be drained for many years to come, this large outlay does not in reality become lo alarming, and this leads us to the consideration of

« Those Portions op the Citt which shodjd be First Drained.

*' As it is of the utmost importance that certain portions of the city should be provided with the means of properly disposing of the house drainage, the necessity arises of a temporary abandonment of the determination not to drain into the river. This necessity has been forced upon us by the fact that to to avoid it at first would be to run into a considerably larger portion of the expense set down for the whole work than the funds likely to be at the dispo«al of the Council would allow. Pecuniary difficulties therefore dictate that this point should be conceded, and we recommend to the Council the following commencing works. "To put down a drain of 12-inch egg-sliaped vitrified glazed pipes below the centre of the roadway in Colombo street from Tuam street to the Colombo bridge, discharging into the river; into this, other drains under Lichfield street and Armagh street, from the Sumner road; under Cashel street, Hereford street, Gloucester street, and Armagh street, from Manchester street on the one hand and Oxford terrace on the other; also under the Sumner rbad. from Madras street to Hereford street. " On the other side of the river, a drain under Kilmore street from Whately road, joining a drain to be placed under Colombo street from Peterborough •treet, and discharging into the Avon. _ " The above being a total of 188 chains, at a cost of about £3000. " The kerbing and side-channelling of this part of the town, allowing for such kerbing as has executed, would cost about £5,500, making the drains about £8,500. "As this would be a more costly work than one year's income would bear, the trunk drain may be put down, and such of its tributaries dispensed with for the next year as could be best omitted. " Say that one-third of the above works are done at the coat of £2800, a general sewer and drainage rate of sixpence in the pound would be sufficient for the ensuing year, and as it is quite possible that some parts of the districts named—such, for instance, as Hereford street and part of Gloucester street —may be surface drained, without the permanent kerb and stone sole, this rate may be assumed to do half, at least, of the work absolutely necessary in these districts. " Other districts may be included from time to time on the same principle. "Foreseeing thenecessity of doing first theworkmost required at the smallest cost, we adopted the principle of running the main drains towards the river, and afterwards intercepting them by a sewer —described in page 6—otherwise we should without hesitation have reported in favour of a main pipe drain being laid from Oxford-terrace, along Cashel-street, discharging into the brick main drain at the East Town Belt, and all the other parts of the town coloured red on the map, made to drain into the Cashel-street main, the drains in the other parts of the town remaining as before described. Thisj but for the great cost (which would be about £7500 in addition, before any good could be effected) we believe to be the best possible system. " The policy of laying this aside must be determined by the Council. If a large sum of money could he raised by wav of loan the extra expense might be incurred to advantage. " Conditions to be imposed on the Inhabitants and IiIiGCLATIONS TO BE OBSERVED BY THEM. " The laying of the drains will in themselves be of no use without it being compulsory on every owner w occupier to lay a drain from his premises to the street drain.

"This should be done under the supervision of the City Surveyor, and by workmen authorized by the Council, as the interference of private workmen would materially injure the streets, in like manner

all repairs to drains between the houses and the Btreet drains should be done by the authorized workmen at the expense of the owner or occupier. "As mentioned in a former part of this report, regulations as to sinks and sink gratings for the proper and due separation of the liquid from the solid refuse must be imposed, and penalties for nonobservance enforced. " General Sewers and Drainage Rate. "We recommend that a rate for this purpose of not less than sixpence in the pound should be struck immediately on the completion of the new roll. No reasonable' objection could bo raised that money raised by rate over the whole town was expended to drain a portion only, as the drainage, if of any use ftt all in preventing fever and other malignant diseases, benefits those living nt a distance from the centre of the city equally with those who reside in the immediate vicinity of the parts drained. "Drainage Pipes. _" We have spoken only in general terms as to size of the pipes, but the consideration of the market from whence they are to be obtained has occupied our attention. It had been hoped that the pipes might be made in Christchurch, and the evidence of the owner of the tile works here, led us at first to think that this hope might be realized, and at a moderate price; however, as we have not received specimens as we had expected, we regret we do not feel justified in reporting that the pipes can be produced here. " The market therefore for the first part of the work, if the Council decide on proceeding with it at once will be Melbourne or Sydney, but we should advise that the permanent stock should be imported direct from England or Scotland. " Having thus brought our labours on this subject to a close, Ave venture to hope that they may be productive of good to our fellow citizens, and that the great question as to how the City of Christchurch is to be drained may speedily be settled. "Appended is a rough estimate of the several works, for draining the whole of the city according to the system recommended in this report. " Isaac Luck, " Edwin Bdrnell, "C. W. Bishop." Work through Sand Hills (extra) Rough Estimate fob the whole Work. DRAINAGE. £ 8. d. 2600 chains glazed pipe drains, exclusive of house drains, average price £16 10s 42,900 0 0 50 chains brick culvert, at £100... 5,000 0 0 215 chains open cutting, at £2 ... 430 0 0 say ... ... ... ... 500 0 0 Brick culvert through mud flat at the estuary with flood gates, &c. ... ... ••• 600 0 0 Iron drain across the Avon ... 400 0 0 £49,830 0 0 Contingencies, 10 per cent, say ... 5,170 0 0 £55,000 0 0 SIDE CHANNELLING AND GUTTERS. 5,000 chains channelling, at £20 per chain- 100,000 0 0 Other works connected with this iand contingencies ... ... 5,000 0 0 £105,000 0 0 N.B.—lt is believed that the sole of the side channels may be laid in asphalte of the same quality as that on Victoria Bridge, which would materially decrease the cost. The report was received and a vote of thanks returned to the committee for the manner in which they had discharged the important duties intrusted to them. After the disposal of some routine business, the Council adjourned.