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 ^*^^^>■'- 
 
 
 
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REPORT 
 
 OF , ^ 
 
 THOMAS C. EEEFEB, Est., C. E. 
 
 m 
 
 ON THE 
 
 WATER WORKS 
 
 OP 
 
 THE CITY OF MONTREAL. 
 
 MONTREAL : 
 LA MINERVE STEAM PRESSES, ST. VINCENT STREET. No. 10. 
 
 1868. 
 

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REPORT. 
 
 Montreal, 10 th June 1868. 
 J. W. MoGauvran, Esq., 
 
 Chairman Water Committee. 
 
 Corporation of Montreal. 
 Sir, 
 
 On the 1st instant I received the letter of the City Clerk 
 dated 30th May asking, on behalf of the Water Committee, that 
 I would " favor them at my earliest possible convenience 
 " with my opinion as to the course to be adopted in order to 
 " obviate the difficulties experienced in the water supply dur- 
 " ing the last winter." 
 
 I arrived here on the 2nd inst., and have since made exami- 
 nations with respect to the different measures possible, and 
 now beg to submit the following recommandations. 
 
 1st. Remove the winter regulation of the water from the 
 Rock Stop Gate, which is two miles below the head of Aque- 
 duct, to the entrance bridge at the head. 
 
 2nd. Run a line of crib work from below tlie present en- 
 trance, in at least twelve feet water for a distance of three to 
 five hundred yards, up stream and as much further as you 
 can now afford to do. 
 
 The effect of regulating the water at tiie head will be to 
 make it possible to reduce the ice troubles within the Aque- 
 duct to a minimum. Hitherto the aqueduct has been open 
 to the winter fluctuations of the St. Lawrence and its floating 
 frasil [anchor ice detached] from the head or entrance as far 
 down as the Rock Stop Gate, a distance of over two miles. 
 The character of these fluctuations may be inferred from the 
 following levels of the St. Lawrence at the Aqueduc entrance. 
 
January Isl 1865. 
 
 t( 
 
 4th '^ 
 
 u 
 
 6 
 
 « 
 
 9 
 
 a 
 
 13 
 
 a 
 
 17 " 
 
 4« 
 
 19 " 
 
 (I 
 
 21 " 
 
 it 
 
 23 " 
 
 U 
 
 24 " 
 
 ': (( 
 
 25 " 
 
 (( 
 
 27 " 
 
 (k 
 
 30 
 
 February 4th " 
 
 (I 
 
 7 
 
 (. 
 
 14 " 
 
 a 
 
 26 
 
 11 
 
 29 " 
 
 35.90 
 37.10 
 35.95 
 37.75 
 36.25 
 37.35 
 36.55 
 37.75 
 36.10 
 37.15 
 36.00 
 35.60 
 37.10 
 35.55 
 37.20 
 36.00 
 35,00 
 35.35 
 
 Ice difficulties. 
 
 C Above summer 
 ^ water Montreal 
 ( Harbour. 
 
 
 When the ice has taken and attached itself to the banks of 
 the aqueduct it does not rise with the sudden elevation of the 
 St, Lawrence but is overflowed by it, its thickness and weight 
 increased by the immediate freezing of the cold overflowing 
 stream and by the conversion of its overlying snow into ice. 
 The supei incumbent weight then presses down this ice and a 
 sudden fall in the river causes it to descend and again attach 
 itself to the banks at a lower level, or else break and leave the 
 broken edge forced down to contract the waterway beneath. 
 
 With the contraction of the water way the strength of the 
 incoming current to supply the wheels is increased, and then 
 the frasil, which is stealing along shore, rising from the bot- 
 tom or blown by the wind into the open improtected mouth 
 of the Aqueduct, is sucked under the Aqueduct ice and pressed 
 up by its buoyancy to the underside of the latter where it 
 attaches itself, thickening the sheet from below, or packing 
 itself in upon the slopes. "i c .;•.'!</,',»' ,i> : . ..;, . , 
 
 ■ By placing the gates at the entrance, where provision is 
 made for them, the fluctuations can be kept out of the Aque- 
 duct, and by forming a large deep water basin, covered with 
 ice, under which no frasil can form, — and which may be 
 
drawn in or blown in, will have ample room to lie up 
 without interfering with the water way and the points of its 
 accumulation will be removed from a comparatively narrow 
 entrance to a much wider one so far distant from the throat 
 of the Aqueduct as to prevent a necessary repetition of that 
 dangerous glacial diptheria to which the aqueduct has been 
 hitherto exposed. 
 
 v These simple measures I believe will have the effect of dimi- 
 nishing, by at least one half, the ice difficulties in the Aque- 
 duct. . A • 
 
 The Water Power and Wheels. 
 
 ' But with these difficulties reduced to a minimum, there is 
 the danger that a low water winter may render the Aqueduct 
 unable to afford sufficient water for pumping the present win- 
 ter supply with the present arrangement of Machinery. 
 
 The Breast Wheels, as will be seen by referring to my pre. 
 liminary report of 1852, were intended to be placed two feet 
 lower than they now are. After they were contracted for, the 
 Victoria Bridge which was only a dream in 1852 became a re- 
 ality, and on my return from England in August 1853 I en- 
 deavoured to procure a discharge for the Tail-Race Delow this 
 Bridge. The history of the movement is on record, and I need 
 only say here that after securing the right of way as far as the 
 Lower Lachine Road, the combined influence of the Govern- 
 ment and Grand Trunk arrested the movement I then wrote 
 Mr. Fairbairn that we would be obliged to raise our wheels, 
 and he replied that their construction was too far advanced 
 for alteration, and they were therefore raised as they were, as 
 the lea^t of two evils, and with the hope that for some years 
 the Reservoir would compensate for the few days, in winter, 
 when (from the Record of guaging up to that date) they might 
 not be able to do full duty, la such winters as last, therefore, 
 these wheels are powerless, not because there is not sufficient 
 water power in the Aqueduct to work one or both, but because 
 that power cannot from the elevation of the sluices, be let in. 
 to the wheels at all. — I think that to have cut down the slui- 
 ces of one or both of the wheels, and thus to have enabled 
 
6 
 
 them to woFK at a lower Aqueduct level, would have enabled 
 thera to do a better duty than the Turbine under the same 
 head ; but novvr it may become a question, should other mea- 
 sures be adopted, whether it will not be found better to lower 
 the wheels altogether instead of the sUiices, and thus gain the 
 fifteen per cent additional power lost in their elevation. I have 
 not had time te investigate this matter, but 1 think it will be 
 found that the Breast Wheels can work, with the exception of 
 a few days, throughout the winter, without back water, if 
 lowered two feet. 
 
 Although I had committed myself to the opinion that the 
 construction of the Bridge wth the solid approaches which 
 fill up so mucli '"f the water way of the St. Lawrence at Point 
 St. Charles would not injuriously affect the level of thp river, 
 I did not feel warranted, with our limited Reservoir capacity, 
 in risking a stoppage of the wheels from back water, during 
 an ice shove particularly, during the construction of the Brid- 
 ge. The Water Works were opened in 1859, and the Bridge 
 was not completed for several years after, during which pe- 
 riod the river was blocked up with the coffer dams, false 
 works, etc., of construction ; and, (having failed to get the 
 Tail Race carried below the bridge) it was evident that the 
 Breast Wheels could not be worked constantlv in winter at 
 any lower level, at least until after the completion of the 
 
 Bridge. 
 
 The water immediately above the Bridge at Point St. Char. 
 
 les is now 4 feet 4 inches higher than immediately below but 
 I do not think it will be found that th^ level at the mouth of 
 the St. Pierre is generally higher than before the construction 
 of the Bridge. 
 
 Had the Tail Race discharged below the Bridge it would 
 have obtained in summer about seven feet additional fall to 
 that it now has or the power of an 18 to 20 feet fall of all the 
 waste water, and surplus water, of the Aqueduct, — for utiliza- 
 tion in various ways during the shipping season. It may yet 
 be deemed desirable to consider the praticability of this scheme 
 and until this is decided it would be well to suspend the fur- 
 ther sale of the Tail Race lands. .. 
 
The guage in St. Lawrence at the Tail Race has only been 
 established for the last two winters. In the winter before 
 last, which was a high water one, the river on 10th December 
 stood about an inch higher than the bottom of the Breast 
 Wheels, and on the 12th was about four inches lower, leaving 
 a fall of that extent between the Wheel House and the river, 
 a distance of three fifths of a mile. 
 
 ',The back water is greatest for a few days in January and 
 April when the ice is shoving — and when your Reservoir 
 capacity is increased you can afford to have the wheels stand 
 for a short time if necessary. The Breast Wheel is the true 
 winter wheel for the Aqueduct, because it cannot let the ice 
 down ;— the Turbine can only be prevented from doing so by 
 an amount of watchfulness not to be expected. 
 
 Tiie Turbine Wheel which is a fine machine, and apparently 
 very efficient under a full head, is not calculated to work 
 advantageously under a low one, and therefore has not been 
 able economically to take the place of the Breast Wheels 
 during the period of very low water, when I understand it 
 becomes a mechanical maelstrom into which a ^ery large 
 quantity of water disppears without producing proportionate 
 resulis.— Placed as it now is with its discharge into the new 
 Tail Race, which is above the level of back water in the St. 
 Lawrence, all the pei uliar advantages of a Turbine — viz : its 
 power to work in backwatei- are lost ; and designed as it is — 
 it is not calculated to utilize economically the lower to head 
 which it is now restricted. Had it been placed between the 
 Breast Wheels and the St. Lawrence, instead of between these 
 and the Reservoirs, and provided with a Tail Race of its own 
 at a lower level, it would have been able throughout all last 
 winter to have worked under a head six to eight feet lower 
 than it did, — and under these conditions — with the exclusion 
 of frasil and fluctuations — a full supply for the City should 
 have been praticable. 
 
 For these reasons I would recommend, as the third measure, 
 the erection of a new Turbine on the river side of the Wheel- 
 house, so placed as to utilize all the fall in summer as well t,- 
 
8 
 
 in winter, and so designed as to work economically under a 
 low head ; — under a high one, economy of water is not requir- 
 ed, as the high head is due to a superabundance of water. In 
 a low-water winter such a wheel would have more head and 
 fall than the present Turbine has in summer, and would be 
 able to. do more work with a less consumption of watar, and 
 with a quantity which the present Aqueduct should be able 
 to pass in any winter we have yet known. In summer the 
 new wheel would have always a head of over twenty-five 
 feet. At the present moment the head would be nearly 
 twenty-eight feet. With this head the city can be supplied 
 with the Aqueduct level drawn down to a point just sufficient 
 to pass the water required to work the wheel, and by this 
 means the enlargement of the Aqueduct can be carried on 
 without interfering with the supply of the city. ,,.^ 
 
 Pumping Power of Aqueduct. • '< ' ■ i# 
 
 Within the last week I have tried the waterpower of the 
 Aqueduct, starting all the wheels, and pumping at the rate of 
 11,207,808 gallons in twenty-four hours, into the Reservoir 
 under a pressure of 85 pounds, and with a fall in the Aque- 
 duct at the rate of three inches per mile. While this was 
 being done, there were 3| inches of water flowing to waste 
 over the stop log, for a width of 46 feet ; a quantity represent- 
 ing an additional power, which, had there been machine ry 
 enough, would have raised the duty to 15,000,000 gallons per 
 diem. To test the capacity of the mains, — I shut off one and 
 drove the whole quantity through the other vi^ith an increase 
 of pressure in the guage not exceeding ten per cent. 
 
 The Aqueduct flowing a depth of Ave feet of water, gives 
 nearly seventeen horse-power for every foot of fall. Redu- 
 ced to this depth there would still be an available summer fall 
 to a wheel discharging into the level of the St. Lawrence at 
 the tail race of about twenty feet and affording about 350 
 horse-power, a power much in excess of what is now required 
 to supply the city. t^t;'^H«^y^:^^* -nn nn i^^ -mm^ t^v 
 
 These considerations will assist the general public in form- 
 ^: . ' ing an opiniou upon the practicability of lowering the Aque- 
 
9 
 
 duct level in order to carry out the enlargement. With the 
 present head and pumping power, the wheels might be 
 stopped almost every alternate day, and thus afford a^ oppor- 
 tunity of carrying enlargement further down. 
 ijii I , ' ' . Winter POWER OF Aqueduct. ' "^ 
 
 *'I may here be permitted to refer to the Winter power of the 
 aqueduct, which I believe to be much greater than it has 
 hitherto got crec'it for. It is admitted that in the winter of 
 66 and G7 the Aqueduct responded to all demands made on it, 
 and that almost throughout that winter the Reservoir was 
 maintained at full level. A daily average of five millions 
 was pumped under Reservoir pressure throughout the four 
 months of December 186G, January, 'February and March 
 1867, The water with the exception of two or three days was 
 high throughout, standing at a level of between 38 and 39, 
 on an average nearly three feet higher than last winter. The 
 impression prevails that during this high water wintei- the 
 5,000,000 gallons daily average was all the Aqueduct could 
 do, but I cannot find that this idea is based upon any thing 
 better than the f' ■, that it was all it did do. No attempt was 
 made to prove how much it could do, — but for some reason, 
 on 26th Deer, nearly nine millions of gallons were sent up, 
 under Reservoir pressure in 24 hours. On the 18th Feb. 
 mid winter for the aqueduct, 5,700,000 gallons were pumped 
 incidentally and there is nothing to prove that on that day 
 nine millions could not have been sent up, as well as on 
 26th December previous. I am informed that the Reservoirs 
 though full were shut off to secure a fire supply, and that 
 the pressure was maintained by the wheels, but as the guage 
 shows Reservoir pressure the work done was equivalynt to 
 lifting t.he water to the Reservoir. Under these cir- 
 cumstances whate/er economy there may have then been 
 practised in the consumption, it is quite evident that so long 
 as the wheels were working constantly, which it appears they 
 did, ',hey sent up all the water the City would take, and that 
 they did not pump more, only because more was not then 
 wanted. Had the demand exc^edecl, t)*^ supply, with t|}e 
 
10 ' 
 
 Reservoir cut off, the water would have run away from 
 before the pumps and the pressure have instantly fallen 
 which it does not appear at any time to have done. 
 
 It is possible that any considerable increase of pumping 
 might have placed the Aqueduct hors de combat with the 
 present state of the entrance and the present mode of regula- 
 ting the water, — sfll it is, I think, to be regretted that some 
 opportunity was not afforded-during that winter to have tes- 
 ted the power of the Aqueduct under its winter covering, 
 when it would have been accompanied with so little risk. 
 Several experiments have been m.'i de to test the summer power, 
 but none in winter, and itis nauiral that no risks should have 
 been incurred. The experience of the previous winter 1865 
 and 66 ^hen it was found necessary tO bring out the military, 
 no doubt produced great caution and care in regulating and 
 handling the water, and thus its real power was not tested. 
 The importance of such a test must be admitted since it is 
 upon the work of that winter and not upon the power that 
 the probable effect of extension has been estimated. 
 
 We have however some records which bear upon this point 
 and are too important and too encouraging to be passed over. 
 On the 5th January 1866, the day previous to the first trial 
 of the Turbine and the last day in which the two Breast 
 Wheels were the only pumping Machinery, their work was as 
 follows 
 
 i;;. Breast Wheel No. 1 3,256,349 ""^ 
 
 " " No. 2..... 3,291,347 5 
 
 Total 6 547,696 
 
 with an entrance level of 36.70, 35.50 at Wheel House and 
 a fall of 1.20 in the Aqueduct and the Thermometer 17o below 
 zero 1 
 
 On the 6th January the Turbine commenced working and 
 on the last day of the month though the entrance level was 
 raised to 37.15, that at the Wheel House had fallen to 34.90 
 creating a full of 2,25 in the surface of the Aqueduct, which 
 fall was by the end of February increased to 4.61 feet, the 
 ice let down, and the military brought up. This was a low 
 
w 
 
 water winter and a cold one, yet it appears that on one day at 
 least in mid-winter the Aqueduct, with an Entrance level of 
 two to three feet lower than that which obtained in the fol- 
 lowing year, pumped 25 per cent more water. 
 
 I have made the following extracts from the records. '■'' 
 
 - 1 !R 1 fe-ri 
 
 f, 
 
 . 1 1 Hours worked. | 
 
 
 Turbine not pump- 
 ing full height. 
 
 6' 
 
 
 ^1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 S 
 
 .S-* 
 
 
 
 
 
 *» .! 
 
 
 Datb. 
 
 a 
 
 
 i-l 
 
 6 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 Total 
 Gallons 
 Raised. 
 
 
 
 ]m 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PfiC, 
 
 25 
 
 38.52 
 
 36.90 
 
 1.62 
 
 36 
 
 80 
 
 1.40 
 
 19.40 
 
 22.20 
 
 7,789,026 
 
 
 , s 
 
 ■( 
 
 26 
 
 38.55 
 
 3P ]7 
 
 1.68 
 
 25 
 
 80 
 
 , , 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 8,813,694 
 
 
 
 II 
 
 1867 
 Janv 
 
 28 
 
 38.50 
 
 S/.05 
 
 1.45 
 
 25 
 
 81 
 
 •• 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 1,884,808 
 
 
 • 
 
 4 
 
 38.45 
 
 36.60 
 
 1.85 
 
 24 
 
 82 
 
 24 
 
 
 24 
 
 6,396,206 
 
 
 • •- 
 
 II 
 
 6 
 
 38.20 
 
 36.80 
 
 1.40 
 
 10 
 
 80 
 
 6.16 
 
 6.15 
 
 24 
 
 7,068,292 
 
 
 
 II 
 
 19 
 
 39.20 
 
 36.10 
 
 3.10 
 
 -2 
 
 78 
 
 14.30 
 
 24 
 
 18.45 
 
 6,260,306 
 
 
 
 II 
 
 20 
 
 39.00 
 
 36.10 
 
 3.90 
 
 -4 
 
 78 
 
 , , 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 6,671,956 
 
 60 
 
 8,864,840 
 
 II 
 
 21 
 
 39.20 
 
 36.10 
 
 3.10 
 
 6 
 
 80 
 
 « 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 8,008,036 
 
 60 
 
 4,797,768 
 
 II 
 
 22 
 
 39.10 
 
 36.10 
 
 3.00 
 
 19 
 
 78 
 
 , , 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 8,043,846 
 
 66 
 
 4,904,322 
 
 II 
 
 25 
 
 38.86 
 
 36.10 
 
 2.75 
 
 11 
 
 75 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 3 
 
 6,645,962 
 
 
 
 Dec. 
 
 20 
 
 37.40 36.33 
 
 1.07 
 
 8 
 
 78 
 
 12.30 
 
 12.30 
 
 11.30 
 
 6,452,334 
 
 
 
 1 Extension of Aqueduct. 
 
 - It is Crom the foregoing results (as well as from calculation) 
 that I believe after making all allowance for necessary ice 
 obtruction, the extension of the Aqueduct for a distance of 
 nearly two miles, that is, to a point opposite the church below 
 Lachine, which would insure a minimum winter level higher 
 than the highest level in the winter of '66 and '67, would 
 without enlargement give a winter pumping power sufficient 
 for many years. 
 
 The guagings of last winter prove that an extension to the 
 ';hiirch would secure a low water level of aboiit 40., sufficient 
 to fill to overflowing the bank of the \queduct at the Wheel 
 House. With the exception of two a lys (against which Re- 
 servoir provision should be made) the level was at and above 
 39.40. The pilinc^ produced by the extension itself would in- 
 crease this measurably. If the extension be ever carried to 
 the head of the Lachine Canal, which is about ?>\ miles above 
 the head of the Aqueduct, I think a minimum level of at least 
 42.00 would be obtained, or seven feet higher than the mini- 
 
: Ir ■ 
 
 mum of last winter at the Aqueduct entrance ; and to shew 
 the value of a high head and low area, as compared with h 
 low head and high arm of water section for winter work, it 
 may be well to consider the effect of a head of 42.00, assum- 
 ming it possible to obtain that at the present Aqueduc entran- 
 ce. This is the level of the top banks from the Rock section 
 pwards, and would therefore exactly fill the prism of the 
 Aqueduct, utilizing the whole expenditure incurred iu its 
 construction. , . . . ,, . 
 
 The present Aqueduct has a bottom width of 20 feet, a 
 width between top bank of 55 feet and 14 feet depth with the 
 banks filled. 
 
 Total sectional area of present v. ;;•,,■ |.;-.- r^f.' 
 ■j,,;. , Aqueduct at minimum level ';c:;.I> 
 
 ;;,;v^v,, of 42 525 sqr. ft. •, 
 
 r.;;.iq/,f Deduct for 3 ft. thickness of ice.. 153.75 " '• 
 
 ''''', Leaving area for water...'....'....... 371.75 " " '* ' 
 
 About 31 horse-power per foot of fall. ' 
 
 The proposed new Aqueduct is to have 65 feet bottom width, 
 . a bottom level three feet iower than present Aqueduct, which 
 at the minimum of 35 would give it a depth of ten feet. 
 i^^, - -Total sectional area of proposed ^" "' .;;• " -•"•'- 
 ^^"'^''" new Aqueduct at a minimum^ '^^-"'' ■'^'-"■'^^ 
 
 "^^Z^;' of 35 850 sqr. ft. '^i- ' V 
 
 ~^mU\ j)g(i^^j.t fQ,. 3 ft, thickness of ice. 297 " " •••' -' 
 
 •to'hdr:. Leaving an area for water of 553 '* '* i*// i> . 
 
 vjmn '/I.; 46 horse-power per foot of fall. !.in:i . ;.;,,;.)(.,»;.. m^ 
 
 In the old Aqueduct you would have 20 feet head and fall 
 or a total of 620 horse-power, while in the new there would 
 only be 13 feet head and fall, or a total of 598 horse-power. 
 
 It is thus seen that three and one-half miles of extension 
 ' could produce, on the basis of the foregomg calculation, the 
 same results as nearly six miles of entirely new Aqueduct 
 and extension, and if the cost were equal — I believe the nar- 
 rower and deeper channel would be the most desirable : but 
 I think it will be found that the extension will cost a great deal 
 
. l3 
 
 less than the new work. I have made the comparison on the 
 assiimption that three feet of ice would diminish the water 
 way to that extent equally in each channel, though I do not 
 consider that when a level can be regulated to avoid fluctua- 
 tions, — sheet ice has much effect in diminishing the discharge. 
 If it did, there would follow an immediate change in the re- 
 gimen of all our streams, canals. &c., affecting the mill power, 
 as soon as our lakes and rivers freeze over, — which has not 
 proved to be the case generally. I have therefore calculated 
 the power due to the whole head and fall, but with the dis- 
 charge due to the diminished area. _ .i .,.. - . . . 
 
 With respect to extension it will take much time to prepare 
 plans and estimates and make the further surveys required, 
 to determine the cost, but so far as I have been able to exam- 
 ine, all the conditions are very favourable. No rock has yet 
 been found and the material appears to be that best adapted 
 to afford a tight channel, and to be dredged advantageously, 
 which is the cheapest mode in which it can be handled. 
 
 Whatever plan may be adopted, whether crib work or em- 
 bankment, the dredge is equally indispensible. To effect iny 
 thing with rapidity it would be necessary to resort to crib 
 work, for which the situation is extremely favourable to rapid 
 execiuion. The cribs being near the shore could be moored 
 by ropes and the material for filling would be picked up by 
 the .Iredges, from the boulder strewn bed of the river along- 
 side them. Gould the necessary dredging power be obtained, 
 and were it required to do so much work before December 
 the extension could be carried up as far as would be now 
 necessary in the coming five months by employing sufficient 
 force. T have ascertained that the necessary quantity of tim- 
 ber could be had, but not the dredges. They were here two 
 |.years ago and the proprietor Mr. Brown then offered to dredge 
 this extension at ts 9d per yard. I annex a letter and telegram 
 
 Irom Mr. Urown. y^jj-^^Q, s-jixui 7,m :^yibqm :Kr> iiiinrtO^ em?.ii_ 
 Whatever is done above the entrance to arrest the frasil, 
 will be 80 much of the extension and every rod it is carried 
 up stream will increase tue depth of water in the Aqueduct. 
 
u 
 
 The enlargement and the extension can either be carried on 
 together, or either may precede the other. The full benefit of 
 the one cannot be obtained without the oiher. Either of them 
 would meet the requirements of the present, could either be 
 carried into effect before another winter, but thii is not inow 
 possible, except partially. ;,;,v; } ;,,■»„ » ->-. ^^yvi^au^ 5il5 j > 
 .r.}.:hmw H/ii.' '..nx '-f \ Enlargement. >• ■:.:./c/' '^ <•>■:•, y^ j:);:: 
 
 If the enlargement be decided on, it should not be delayed, 
 but be commenced at once before the pumping power requir 
 ed to supply the city in summer becomes so great as to com- 
 pel you to maintain a high level in the Aqueduct, while you 
 are taking down the slopes. The enlargement can be taken 
 down in the earth section considerably below water level, by 
 leaving side dams. The rock section is ten per cent wider 
 than the earth and may remain as it is for this year. It is 
 quite possible that in proper hands much may be done this 
 summer to improve the Aqueduct for winter work by enlarge- 
 ment at the worst portion — the deep cutting below the en- 
 trance — ^by running down the water as low as will drive the 
 wheels — after stop-gates are put in at the entrance bridge— 
 and excavating at the sides below the water line. The ma- 
 terial is not rock, but firm — and the steep slopes of the Aque- 
 duct are in favor of this work. An opportunity may be 
 .".fforded of completing it at a future day when the Reservoir 
 iiccommodation is extended to meet the rapidly growing wants 
 of the city. 
 
 Reservoirs. " ^ ' v? 
 
 When the Reservoir question was before the Consulting 
 Engineers in 1B52, Mr. McAlpine urged the importance of 
 large storage reservoirs, capable of containing one to three 
 months supply, and seemed to prefer such a large Reservoir 
 at thf lower or Cote au Baron level, where it was then alone 
 praCi able, to the smaller but higher one proposed by me, — 
 although he advocated both. Mr. Jervis, however, ^ agreed 
 with me in the importance of securing a high level, where 
 the cost of elevating was so small, as compared with steam 
 power, and thus obtaining a fire pressure, — the most valuable 
 
15 
 
 feature in the works. Had there been means enough, both 
 would have been adopted. As it was I advised the purchase 
 of some thirty acres of the Priests Farm near Mr. Moffatt's, at 
 a time when it could have been had for £100 per arp t. A 
 Reservoir here could be made to give a head of over 1 00 feet 
 upon the Bonaventure district, and, to the extent of the dis- 
 tret which it could adequately supply, would have been a 
 relief to the high levels in winter. ,..' ji -j.y ^ . i,; 
 ^^e have seen that the water power is capable of almost 
 unlimited extension,— by enlarging, — by raising the head, — 
 and lowering the Tail Race, and there will always be a very 
 large surplus of pumping power from April to December — 
 during which period Reservoirs of any prati cable extent could 
 be filled to be drawn upon in winter. 
 
 Your pumping machinery and rising mains will for many 
 years be in advance of the wants of the City ; and as it costs 
 very little more to lift the water 100 feet higher, I think the 
 time has arriveu to consider the question of larger storage 
 at a higher level. I examined many years ago tiic Hall estate 
 in rear of the Hotel-Dieu nunnery, head of Upper St. Urbain 
 street, with a view to its future use for a large area. I believe 
 this ground is embraced in the proposed Park, and if acquired 
 for that purpose a Reservoir in it could be made both useful 
 
 and ornamental. 
 
 Doubtless another eligible site, with a shorter pumping 
 main, could be had in the opposite direction towards Monk- 
 lands. Perhaps a more distant site than either could be had 
 where a small artificial lake could be made in easy excavation 
 and on cheap ground, which would more than compensate 
 for the extension of the pumping main. '-'^'"'^ 
 
 If by the aid of storage Reservoirs the enlargement can be 
 continued down to Aqueduct bottom, the extension, may be 
 arrested— and it is only in the event of the enlargement not 
 beinn- carried thus far down that extension becomes necessary 
 in order to raise the Aqueduct surface. It will be seen there- 
 fore that the cost of Storage Reservoirs at present may be set 
 off against the cost of extension — ad well as against that of 
 
Steam or any other contrivance to aid in carrying out the 
 enlargement. With a Reservoir containing only one month's 
 consumption great relief would be afforded to the Aqueduct. 
 Hitherto in the last twelve years no opportunity has been 
 afforded for drawing off the water for any time and overhaw- 
 ling the banks or removing land wash from the Aqueduct. 
 
 Our canals have the water withdrawn generally every 
 Spring, but this Aqueduct without the advantage of having 
 his berm ditches kept open, as is done on the canals, but with 
 an annual overflow of land water carrying sediment into it 
 at vai'ious points, is found, on an official inspection, after ten 
 years use to be unobstructed to such an extent as to impair 
 materially the flow of water. (See Report of Superintendent 
 for year ending 3 1st January 1867, page 5.) I do not believe 
 as much can be said for any other artificial channel of its 
 dimensions in this latitude, and I attribute its preservation 
 with so little care to the plan of stone lining adopted tnrough- 
 out, and to the naturally hard material through which it was 
 the misfortune of the contractors to work, but from which, 
 whatever its first cost, the city has since derived this substan- 
 
 '•'- M_'y;'.^'-Mv5<:= ';f:N.^ ' Cost. ff ;v^,>- ^ o^^ i<). '^^yv-;!^'- ' ■' 
 
 I am not prepared to submit an estimate at present of the 
 probable cost of the works I propose. At the entrance the 
 outlay should not be less than £5,000. I annex an offer from 
 Mr. McDougall for the proposed new Turbine Wheel. I think 
 it will be desirable that its power should be enlarged, if time 
 will permit, to seven or eight millions daily, or full work for 
 one main. The cost of the building, head and tail race,-— 
 additional pumping main cannot be given until the neces- 
 sary surveys and calculations establish where the works 
 should be located. At present it would appear that the total 
 outlay for works advisable for the next six months, exclusive 
 of enlargement, will not be less than £30,000 or more than 
 £50,000. A much larger outlay than this will be required 
 either to supply the city by steam power in summer as well 
 as in winter, pending the enlargement of tha old Aqueduc, 
 
Hi 
 
 or to pay the interest upon the cost of a new one. ' • f^i • 
 If the water power plan be adopted an arrangement should 
 be closed with Mr. McDougall at once, embracing the foun- 
 dations for the pumps and construction of the Wheel House, 
 at least so far as i t may affect the progress of his work. If 
 such work be put in other hands, you have a divided res- 
 ponsibility, and the contractor for the building may delay the 
 contractor for the machinery. For all the other work requir- 
 ed the time is sufficient if the work be placed in proper hands. 
 It is very desirable that the services of a proper dredge should 
 be secured, for a.fdw weeks at least ,for the work at the en- 
 trance. \ 
 '-•. . ^Future Operations. ' : , ,- 
 
 For the future whatever more be done should be as part of 
 a comprehensive plan. To determine all the features of this, 
 estimates of the extension and enlargement of the Aqueduct, 
 the lowering of the Tail Race and existing machinery and for 
 the construction of Reservoirs, are required, and when the 
 relative cost of each is ascertained, they can be taken up in 
 the order of importance proportioned to the cost. If the En- 
 largement be carried on as far as the necessary flow to the 
 wheels will permit and Reservoirs be now undertaken, it may 
 be completed as far as necessary and m uch of the extension post- 
 poned. For,whatever may be expended in Reservoirs.value will 
 be received, and it may be considered desirable when the esti- 
 mates are obtained to undertake these at once. Extension 
 can always be done and its completion may be left for another 
 generation to do — but every year Reservoirs are postponed 
 the cost of land will be enhanced — and every day enlarge- 
 ment is postponed the difficulties attending it will be increas- 
 ed, from the increasing volume required to supply the wheels. 
 
 4j^P(H,,fX^I;4i;j!!:- St. LOUIS HyDRAULIcGo. ;;r,jv., r • '■''■ '^*''' 
 
 A pamphlet has been published in the interest of the St. 
 Louis Hydraulic Company, an embryo Corporation, embra- 
 cing some highly respectable names, which has a tendency to 
 unsettle the public mind on the water works question ; and 
 88 the annual report of the Secretary of the Board of Trade 
 
18 
 
 of the commercial capital of the Dominion has been made to 
 give currency to certain statements as to water power and 
 comparisons with Lowell, where water power is understood 
 — it may be well to notice these. 
 
 This prospective Company proposes to dam the St. Lawrence 
 where the winter level rang 3S from twenty to thirty feet above 
 summer water Montreal harbour, and as the head of the La* 
 chine Rapids is only thirty feet above the same point, with 
 the Big Chute of the rapids for a waste weir, the total head 
 and fall for a considerable portion of the winter would range 
 from nothing to about Ave feet. On the 16th, 17th and 18th 
 of January 1867 the water level stood at the site of this pro- 
 posed dam thirty feet above summer level of Montreal har- 
 hour and as this is the level at the head of He au Heron there 
 was then absolutely no water power at all. For a month in 
 that winter the whole head and fall would not have reached 
 an average of five feet. Even in last winter (the lowest 
 known) the fall was reduced to five feet. The ice shoves at 
 the foot of the rapids would make the maintenance of an 
 open tail race or of building on the immediate bank of the 
 river impracticable. — ' .. ' '- . . ^ tu 
 
 From this dam the pamphlet claims the power of 4,500,000 
 horses and to this point which was condemned tifteen years 
 ago by competent Hydraulic Euguieers it is now proposed to 
 remove the pumping power of the Montreal Water Works, 
 
 In the comparison with Lowell in the pamphlet, the 4,500,* 
 000 horse power is claimed for this dam which it has been 
 shewn at times could have no power at all ; but in the Beard 
 of Trade report the same power is claimed as existing between 
 Lachine and Montreal, or over 100,000 horse power for every 
 ootof fall if taken for the summer, and double that amount or 
 200,000 horse power for every foot of fall if the total available 
 winter fall from Lachine to Montreal be taken. The summer 
 power would require a river six miles wide with an average 
 depth of forty feet, and the winter power a stream over twenty ^ 
 miles wide with an average depth of twenty feet with a velo 
 city in both cases of one foot per second. The width of the 
 
19 
 
 St. Lwarence between Lachine and Cauhgnawaga is . ne an J. 
 a quarter miles and the average depth under twenty feet. The 
 sectional area of the St. Lawrence here is uriuer one hundred 
 thousand square feet and it is doubtful if the perennial water 
 power of the St. Lawrence exceeds 10,000 horses for each foot 
 of fall. If we must give up the millions and be content with 
 the odd hundred thousand we are at least relieved of the 
 necessity for finding space whereon to apply usefully such a 
 tremendous power. 
 
 Cost of New Waterworks. 
 
 Amid so much indifference to the value of figures, it is not 
 surprising to find it stated that my estimate for the new water- 
 works was £150,000 and the cost $3,000,000, an , xcess of 
 twenty fold. As the waterworks have really suffered from 
 the prejudice created by such statements it is time to set this 
 question at rest. • . , • ,1 
 
 ,i, In my preliminary report of 1852, 1 estimated " the Wheels 
 '• and pumps, rising main, Reservoir, with the land purchase, • 
 "masonry, bridges, enclosures, &c., at £150,000." This ex- 
 cluded the distributing pipes, hydrants, &c., on which large 
 sums have been expended. 
 
 The cost is correctly stated in the following paragraph from 
 " Montreal in 1856" published on the opening of the works. 
 
 "The total expenditure upon the new waterworks to 3 1st 
 " October, 1856, is £285,000 of which £33,000 is for land pur- 
 " chase, £30,500 for interest and discount, and about £10,000 
 "for distributing pipes, making the cost of the Aqueduct, 
 " machinery, pumping main, and Reservoir, about £21 2,000." 
 
 frftlncluding the land purchase, the cost of the items embraced 
 in my estimate of £150,000 was £245,000, £30,000 of this was 
 due to an enlargement of the Reservoir from the original 
 plan, of which enlargement, a Commission appointed in 1855 
 spoke as follows : ,,,, . ,, rr--, j rnc,' ;• ' -••- -h 
 
 i" Distributing Reservoirs. The dimensions of this fine 
 **work have been largely and we think wisely increased 
 " beyond the original design." For the two hundred acres 
 of land required for the Aqueduct, £7,000 was provided on 
 
20 
 
 the estimate of the late Mr.Somerville, Government Arbitrator 
 through whose land the Aqueduct passed. Nearly five time < 
 thisamount was paid — but not by me. - .• • > 
 
 Thus the cost of the works, after deducting the Reservoir 
 enlargement and the land excess, was about £190,000, some 
 £40,000 in excess of the estimate. The excess as well as that 
 for land purchase was explained as follows in a report printed 
 in 1856 : " Although I do not suppose that I will be held res- 
 " ponsible for an expenditure not in my department, and over 
 " which I have had no control, I will adduce one instance to 
 •' show the impossibility of providing for every case which 
 '' occur. When the survey was made in 1852, the line cross- 
 " ed a farm which changed hands in March, 1853, at some- 
 " thing less than £30 per arpent: — about the 1st of June fol- 
 »' lowing the Corporation took possession of one and three 
 " quarter acres, and on submission to arbitrators an award of 
 " £3,300 was made, being about £500 more for one and three 
 " quarter acres, than had been paid for the whole farm of over 
 " sixty acres only three months before. About two hundred 
 " acres are occupied by the Aqueduct for which I estimated 
 " an average of about £35 per acre. In the case above men- 
 " tioned, the award was nearly £2,000 per acre, but had the 
 " Corporation been fortunate enough to have purchased from 
 " the party who owned the proper^-"^ when my estimate was 
 " made, it is not probable that the demand would have been 
 " one-twentieth part of the sum since claimed for it. / ,.....ti^t 
 
 " The cost of the work embraced in my original estimate 
 " has undoubtedly exceeded that estimate from various cau- 
 " ses which have more or lesa affected all contracts upon 
 "- public works entered into in the early part of 1853 and, 
 " execnted in 1854 and '55. The war (Crimean) raised the 
 " price of provisions, of iron and freights, and the cholera 
 " brought a scarcity and high value of labor and by retarding 
 " the work materially increased its cost. But the principal 
 " cause has been the quality of the excavation on the line of 
 " the Aqueduct. In the five miles of Aqueduct (he depth of 
 " excavation varies from five to up^wards of twenty feet. The 
 
<' quality of this work and the proportion of it which might 
 ' prove to be rock could only be inferred from test pits; these 
 " were as numerous as usual, but it has proved in almost 
 " every case that between the points where they were sunk 
 " the rock rises nearer to the surface and the other excavation 
 " is harder than these test pits indicated. There was not 
 " only about double the quantity of rock which the original 
 " test pits shewed but there was almost as great quantity of 
 '• cemented material overlying the rock which was blasted 
 " with it and was equally as expensive to remove. But these 
 " were not the only difficulties. The quality of the rock as 
 " shewn by every lest pit was that of a soft shale, but upon 
 " working it was found to be traversed in every direction, 
 ^' though at considerable intervals, with veins of trap or 
 '' banc rouge, one of the hardest rocJks we have, and the re- 
 " moval of which was the more expensive from its admixture 
 *' with the other. Nearly twenty five per cent of the whole 
 *' rock excavation was of this character." . . 
 
 A large extra expenditure was caused by wilful injury to 
 the Culvert under the Lachine Canal after it had been com- 
 pleted. Lastly, it was because the work was let to experienced 
 •contractors considerably below the estimates that we ventured 
 OQ the enlargement of the Reservoirs. 
 
 If the cost to date is 83,000,000, more money has been expen- 
 •ded on the works since their opening in October 1856 than 
 before. Any competent judge who goes over the eight miles 
 from the St. Lawrence to the Reservoir will consider the 
 Aqueduct, wheel house &c pipe track, culvert, rising main 
 and Reservoirs cheap at a million of dollars, 1 know of no 
 place in America wht re so much has been done and so* well 
 done for so little money, and I think these remarks, necessary 
 taat the people of Montreal may truly appreciate the value of 
 their own property and do justice to it. - . - 
 
 I have the konor to be-^''* jii rait'* 
 
 ,Il',im^,»^yr.tf^-^^f;V:v?v Sir, ^'.'fi>h'.^iii^}^^- 
 
 ^qS^fy^U^p^^^yhtH ?iv^ Your obedt. servt, '>'.'Krtt'*- 
 
 .jQi^^{iiy^'i ls^I>^.^ju;ii;^^Vi THOS. G. KEEPER ''' 
 
22 
 
 KJi iii^'yi'Wt '-'ii^-^''' ' 'APPENDIX. -M^^ f^''^' '■''■' '"^'^'^U^ 
 
 Caledonia Works, '' ^ 
 
 k;!.w 
 
 Montreal, June 10th, 1868. 
 
 T. G. Keeper, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I will undertake to make and erect at the Wheel House, for 
 the Corporation of the City of Montreal, a Turbine water 
 wheel eight feet in diameter, with two twenty inch pumps, 
 capable of pumping 6,000,000 gallons in twenty four hours 
 under Reservoir pressure, and with a minimum head of fif- 
 teen feet, with the gearing and other connections : I will agree 
 to have the same ready in six months from the date of receiv- 
 ing the order. The whole to be done for the sum of thirty- 
 two thousi*nd dollars. ^■■■' 
 
 And if required by th*} Corporation, I would undertake to 
 erect the building also. ; v; • • > 
 
 *- ■\-,-\ .j,;i ^-^•.< . I am, yours, s i - ^ ■ :•' 
 
 ■■ '-'*'■ ' very truly, 
 
 JOHN McDOUGALL. 
 
 '= •' ' Thorold, June 2nd 1868. 
 
 Dear Sir, '"' . ,. :. ^ 
 
 Just happened to be here when your letter was delivered 
 to me by Mr. Lampman. And in reply beg to say that having 
 so much work on hand this season I am sorry to say thai I 
 could not undertake to do the proposed work of the Montreal 
 Waterworks. «.,., ^-s- ;,i;<: 
 
 All my Dredges are engaged, two in the Welland Canal, 
 two on the Ste. Clair flats, two at Bay City and two in Lake 
 George Sault Ste. Mary's, besides two more that I built this 
 season, which I am now fitting up for work, the largest anl 
 most powerfull yet built in America : any one whc may under 
 
w 
 
 !5 
 
 lake your work, will require to build a Dredge expressly for 
 it as the material to be Dredged is of that nature that no ordi- 
 nary Dredge can do it, that is, to make it pay at any ordinary 
 
 Yours truly, 
 ■' ■ JOHN BROWN. , . 
 
 * Per Mcpherson. 
 
 ^^'' TELEGRAM. 
 
 r,>ft • ■ • ■ ■ ' ' '■■' 
 
 %«{! . 
 
 Windsor, 10 Juin 1868. 
 
 Thos. C. Keefer, 
 
 I cannot get down. The Dredge leaves Port Colbourne to 
 day. All the Dredges employed would have to be built 
 new. 
 
 JOHN BROWN. 
 
 ■• ' v^ , ./ ,- i ■'i' '-•; --j.'i.':'; \-u:l 
 
 Errata.— In page 6, in the 8th line of the Ist paragraph) 
 instead of " opened in 1859," read '* opened in 1856." 
 
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