Due to technical issues, I've decided to move my Stony Brook information from my ISP web site to a Google blog.
Here it is.
Showing posts with label Stony brook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stony brook. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Bussey Brook - Before And After
Bussey brook, Hemlock hill. August, 2007
Bussey brook, February, 2008
Bussey brook storm drain inlet, August, 2007
Storm drain inlet, February, 2008I've posted several entries on the history of Stony Brook, that mysterious waterway that once ran through the length of Jamaica Plain. When I took pictures of what is left of the brook and its tributaries, it was dry season, and some of those pictures showed dry water beds. Since we had about 2.5 inches of rain yesterday, on top of a light snow cover, I figured that those dry beds should be worth another look today.
Bussey brook passes through the Arnold Arboretum, from Walter street, across the front of Hemlock hill, under South street, where it empties into a wetland in the South street extension of the Arboretum. These before-and-after pictures show the effects of a light snow cover, a day of rain, and temperatures in the low 40s. The brook bed went from dry in August to several inches deep and 4-5 feet across in February.
Where the water finally drains underground, near the West Roxbury/Needham line railroad tracks just south of Forest Hills, the formerly dry drain area was flooded back a few hundred feet, with perhaps a foot of standing water in many places.
This small stream was just one of several contributors to Stony brook as it ran through Jamaica Plain, and should give us some idea of what the people of the past experienced. The watershed was too small to keep a constant flow throughout the year, but would have risen quickly after each heavy rain or thaw. Before the district had been built up, none of this would have mattered, but when buildings and roads went in, the brook would no longer be free to flood its banks, and trouble was inevitable. Unlike the smaller Muddy River, which became protected by a park, Stony brook was too big to ignore, but not large enough to be untouchable. Stony brook was just the right size to suffer the indignity of being buried 30 feet underground and forgotten.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Stinky Stony Brook
This is the last of three articles relating to Stony brook between Green street and Forest Hills. By this time, the work of covering the brook between Green and Williams streets was finished, but the section between Williams street and Forest Hills was still exposed. I think we can assume that the same problem described below had also existed downstream before the conduit was built. In our ecologically conscious times, it's hard to imagine turning a brook into a sewer, but for the people living along Stony brook in Jamaica Plain, it must have been a great improvement. Maybe elderly residents remembered a clean stream flowing through the district, but the residents of Union and Brookside avenues and Amory street would have been happy to be rid of the stench of an open sewer.
Dr Gerry was active in Jamaica Plain community life, and lived at 2 Everett street.
The Jamaica Plain News June 6, 1908
Regarding Stony Brook
Dr E. Peabody Gerry Reports to Mayor Hibbard Its Sanitary Condition and Improvement Follows.
The following communications are largely self-explanatory and of much local interest, referring as they do to a matter of great importance in the West Roxbury District.
The conditions of portions of Stony Brook was brought to the attention of Mayor Hibbard by Dr. Gerry, as one result of his investigation of the sanitary conditions in the section in reference to the typhoid epidemic, and it will be gratifying to the local public to know that this investigation is resulting in improvement, even though the conditions were not, aside from this section of Stony Brook and certain unsprinkled streets, particularly bad.
The communications follow:
Jamaica Plain, May 21, 1908
Honorable George A. Hibbard:
Dear Sir: --
I would report, that I have twice visited Stony Brook from Williams street, to Forest Hills Station, and yesterday was along Meehan street. I find a good deal of odor coming from the brook which seems to me to be of a sewage origin. I would recommend that the brook at this point be cleaned as soon as possible before the hot weather comes, which makes it very disagreeable. This will make hot weather cleaning less objectionable. It should be done very soon as it is not as well to stir such things up in hot weather. The smell is especially pronounced at Williams street, where there is a sort of cascade. As Stony Brook flows through a valley whose watershed is such streets as Wenham, Morton, Rosemary, St Rose, Hall, and other streets, where typhoid has been and is still rife, it appears the part of prudence to have it cleaned, before the summer sun or drought renders it unhealthy to say the least. Uncovered Stony Brook is still more or less of an open sewer draining the land on both sides, which has not as yet the boon of a proper sewer. The cascade near Williams street, produces air currents which, coming from an unclean brook, diffuse the odors in greater numbers than do quieter waters. Major Horrocks of the English Army, has shows that Petri's plates suspended in the ventilating of an intercepting trap nine feet above the surface of soapy water containing the bacillus prodiglosus were infected readily, thus showing that currents of air passing up the vertical pipe could carry bacteria separated by the bursting of bubbles. Similarly, he found that bubbles rising naturally through stagnant water in a catchpit may eject bacteria, which will be carried away by currents of air passing over the surface of the fluid. That is what Stony Brook will be when it becomes drier. The odor from Stony Brook at this point suggests an analogy to the experiments of Major Horrocks that is not reassuring. They indicated that at least the cause for harm should be eradicated. The branch of the brook back of the engine house, Roslindale, also needs attention. The sewer through the old bed of the brook near Belgrade avenue, is progressing and dry, the brook having been turned, I understand, into the sewer. Stony Brook will continue a menace until it becomes a sewer instead of being a brook.
Respectfully
(Signed) E. Peabody Gerry.
To the above letter Dr Gerry received the following reply from acting deputy supt. of streets, C.R. Cutter, the communication bearing the approval of Supt. of Streets.
Dear Sir: --
I return herewith communication from Dr E. Peabody Gerry, in regard to the condition of Stony Brook, from Williams street to Forest Hills Station, West Roxbury District. I would state that the portion of Stony Brook south of Williams street to Forest Hills does need cleaning, and with your permission I will put six (6) of the suspended men from the West Roxbury yard to work here Monday morning, June 1, cleaning out this piece of the brook.
For 900 feet south of Williams street we are now drawing up a contract to construct the commissioners channel and the low level sewer. This will relieve all of the trouble that the doctor speaks of. It is the worst section for pollution there is on the brook at the present time. The other portion of the brook that he mentions - Roslindale branch in the rear of the engine house - I attended to last week. That portion of Roslindale Brook conduit to Belgrade avenue, of which Dr Gerry speaks, we are now constructing and will probably have it finished withing five or six weeks.
Respectfully
(Signed) C.R. Cutter
Acting Deputy Superintendent.
Dr Gerry was active in Jamaica Plain community life, and lived at 2 Everett street.
The Jamaica Plain News June 6, 1908
Regarding Stony Brook
Dr E. Peabody Gerry Reports to Mayor Hibbard Its Sanitary Condition and Improvement Follows.
The following communications are largely self-explanatory and of much local interest, referring as they do to a matter of great importance in the West Roxbury District.
The conditions of portions of Stony Brook was brought to the attention of Mayor Hibbard by Dr. Gerry, as one result of his investigation of the sanitary conditions in the section in reference to the typhoid epidemic, and it will be gratifying to the local public to know that this investigation is resulting in improvement, even though the conditions were not, aside from this section of Stony Brook and certain unsprinkled streets, particularly bad.
The communications follow:
Jamaica Plain, May 21, 1908
Honorable George A. Hibbard:
Dear Sir: --
I would report, that I have twice visited Stony Brook from Williams street, to Forest Hills Station, and yesterday was along Meehan street. I find a good deal of odor coming from the brook which seems to me to be of a sewage origin. I would recommend that the brook at this point be cleaned as soon as possible before the hot weather comes, which makes it very disagreeable. This will make hot weather cleaning less objectionable. It should be done very soon as it is not as well to stir such things up in hot weather. The smell is especially pronounced at Williams street, where there is a sort of cascade. As Stony Brook flows through a valley whose watershed is such streets as Wenham, Morton, Rosemary, St Rose, Hall, and other streets, where typhoid has been and is still rife, it appears the part of prudence to have it cleaned, before the summer sun or drought renders it unhealthy to say the least. Uncovered Stony Brook is still more or less of an open sewer draining the land on both sides, which has not as yet the boon of a proper sewer. The cascade near Williams street, produces air currents which, coming from an unclean brook, diffuse the odors in greater numbers than do quieter waters. Major Horrocks of the English Army, has shows that Petri's plates suspended in the ventilating of an intercepting trap nine feet above the surface of soapy water containing the bacillus prodiglosus were infected readily, thus showing that currents of air passing up the vertical pipe could carry bacteria separated by the bursting of bubbles. Similarly, he found that bubbles rising naturally through stagnant water in a catchpit may eject bacteria, which will be carried away by currents of air passing over the surface of the fluid. That is what Stony Brook will be when it becomes drier. The odor from Stony Brook at this point suggests an analogy to the experiments of Major Horrocks that is not reassuring. They indicated that at least the cause for harm should be eradicated. The branch of the brook back of the engine house, Roslindale, also needs attention. The sewer through the old bed of the brook near Belgrade avenue, is progressing and dry, the brook having been turned, I understand, into the sewer. Stony Brook will continue a menace until it becomes a sewer instead of being a brook.
Respectfully
(Signed) E. Peabody Gerry.
To the above letter Dr Gerry received the following reply from acting deputy supt. of streets, C.R. Cutter, the communication bearing the approval of Supt. of Streets.
Dear Sir: --
I return herewith communication from Dr E. Peabody Gerry, in regard to the condition of Stony Brook, from Williams street to Forest Hills Station, West Roxbury District. I would state that the portion of Stony Brook south of Williams street to Forest Hills does need cleaning, and with your permission I will put six (6) of the suspended men from the West Roxbury yard to work here Monday morning, June 1, cleaning out this piece of the brook.
For 900 feet south of Williams street we are now drawing up a contract to construct the commissioners channel and the low level sewer. This will relieve all of the trouble that the doctor speaks of. It is the worst section for pollution there is on the brook at the present time. The other portion of the brook that he mentions - Roslindale branch in the rear of the engine house - I attended to last week. That portion of Roslindale Brook conduit to Belgrade avenue, of which Dr Gerry speaks, we are now constructing and will probably have it finished withing five or six weeks.
Respectfully
(Signed) C.R. Cutter
Acting Deputy Superintendent.
Stony Brook Covered - Green to Williams Street
This is a nicely detailed article from the Jamaica Plain News, published just months after the previous entry posted here from the Boston Globe. If you've read a few of these articles describing the work of city police or local businessmen, you may recognize the standard sycophantic voice so common in those days. Every police captain is efficient and brave, every construction project is marvelous and efficiently managed. The journalism of the time seems to run from general civic boosterism to PR spin. From our more cynical time, we can let the propaganda pass, and enjoy the look into life as it was.
I still have to post something about the Napier auto works. Eventually...
Jamaica Plain News October 26, 1907
The Stony Brook Conduit Work.
Jamaica Plain Section of About 1600 Feet Nearly Done, Completing the Conduit to Williams Street -- Plans Being Drawn for Another Section.
Though many residents may not have been fully aware of the fact, so quietly has the work gone forward. Jamaica Plain has been a scene of a large and expensive and very important piece of city work the past summer, which is now rapidly nearing completion. This work has been the construction of the Stony Brook conduit from Green street to a point the other side of Washington street near Williams street, the last section of which will be completed by the middle of November, thus making a continuous completed section of this mammoth enterprise from the Back Bay Fens to the point on Washington street above. The completion of this section through Jamaica Plain marks the end of the construction of the large conduit through the thickly settled portion of the city and shortens the length of the underground waterway yet remaining to be built by a substantial distance.
The length of the piece of construction that is now being completed is 1555 feet, extending from Green street along the rear of the Napier automobile works and the large Sturtevant blower plant, across the open stretch of field to Washington street and to the further side of it a short distance. The work was divided into four sections and let out to contractors for construction. Section one, extending 460 feet from Green street toward the Napier factory, was built by the Metropolitan Construction Company, and was completed some time ago. Section two is some 367 feet in length and takes in the course along the rear of the blower works. This is the section that is now being finished and completes the entire piece of work, and the contractor is Alexander McGahey. Section three was built by Timothy J. O'Connell and was 385 feet in length, being completed during the summer. Section four was built by James D. Fallon and was 334 feet in length. This was also completed during the summer. The total cost of the four sections, making the 1555 feet constructed in the installment of work is about $230,000. The aggregate of the bids of the four contractors do not foot up to this figure, but the city pays for the cement, steel, chipped stone and some other material in addition to the work of the contractors, because it can buy in much larger quantities, purchasing at on time enough for the whole piece of work instead of for one section, as a contractor would have to do.
The section that is now being finished and which is the final link in the chain of four sections has been one of the most difficult to construct owing to its location between rows of brick buildings with only a narrow place to carry on the work, but is has been done very rapidly, and is an exceptionally fine piece of construction of its kind. The chief engineer, in speaking with a representative of the News, said it was one of the best pieces of work he had seen during his experience in sewer and conduit construction, and has been among the most rapidly built. Of the 376 feet in this section, built by contractor McGahey, only about 50 feet remain to be closed in, and a representative of the News paying a visit to the scene of construction this week found it a very interesting as well as stupendous piece of work.
An average of about 50 men is employed on the work, and they are under the personal direction of Superintendent George Phillips, ex-superintendent of sewers for Boston under the late Mayor Collins. The smoothness and precision and rapidity with which the work moved attested the able management of Superintendent Phillips, and his knowledge and skill also accounts in large measure, no doubt, for the fine quality and rapid progress of the construction.
The big "hole in the ground," more than 20 feet deep and equally wide, with its skeleton frames, timbers and stays, among which men who look no bigger than boys to one standing on the planks above, were busily digging and toiling, presented an animated and interesting sight to an observer; and as one watched the work, the wonder was not that such construction cost so much, but how it could be done for the price it is, on such a mammoth scale is material used and the work carried forward.
The conduit itself is twenty feet wide and sixteen feet high, and is made of reinforced concrete. The side walls are three feet and six inches thick, made of cement and reinforced at intervals of 12 or 14 inches with one inch wrought steel rods. The bottom consists of a layer of cement eighteen inches thick with two courses of cement on top and very skillfully joined to the side walls. The arch that covers the top is fourteen inches thick, built of brick and cement.
The dimensions of the conduit are easily described, but the actual work of constructing it is not so simple. In the first place a large temporary flume has to be built to carry the water of the brook by the section while the work of construction is going on. A dead drain of tile has to be laid in the bottom of the excavation through which, by a steam pump, the water that settles in the ditch is drawn out so as to leave the bottom dry for the laying of the cement that form the floor of the conduit. Sixteen foot planks have to be driven along the sides of the excavation to prevent them from caving in. Massive timbers have to be put in place as supports, and skeleton frames on which the arch of the brick and cement is laid have to be made and put in place and are moved along in the trench as the work of covering progresses by means of a single rail track on which they rest, this being supported by timbers from the bottom of the conduit. In the midst of all this the big iron scoop, which holds about a cartload of dirt, is being hoisted out as often as it can be filled by the shovellers and carried along an overhead wire cable to a distant place and dumped, and bricks, mortar, timber, tiles, crushed stone, etc, are being lowered into the trench as needed, making the scene one of great activity, and some danger to any who are careless and unobserving.
As fast as a section of the overhead arch is completed and the masonry dry, the skeleton wood frames are moved forward and the dirt that is excavated is thrown over the arch and the surface leveled down, hiding all trace of the waterway and engineering skill that is underneath.
In addition to the conduit that is to carry the water of Stony Brook, a brick sewer is being built at the same time for the sewerage of the district covered by the Stony Brook watershed. The conduit itself is for the brook and the surface water only, owing to the fact of the conduit emptying into the Charles river, where the sewerage, if carried with the water of the brook, would soon form a deposit at the mouth and have to be removed. This sewer runs along one of the horns of the arch of the conduit, its top rising almost to the level of the top of the arch.
The work on the last of the four sections of the present piece of construction will be finished by the middle of November, and will complete one of the largest and in some respects one of the most difficult divisions of the great enterprise. The construction of all four sections of which this division of the conduit is composed has been very successfully done and at as small a cost as was possible for such a big piece of work. It has been free from accidents of any serious nature, and has gone forward with very little to attract public attention, or even the attention of residents of Jamaica Plain, including those in the vicinity of the actual work. Its successful completion at this time gives encouragement to the people of the section for the steady pushing forward of the work till the conduit is completed its entire length.
The division now being finished has been under the charge of resident engineer Mr W.F. Maloney, who, with his draughtsmen and assistants has an office in Mr. Meehan's block on Green street. Mr. Maloney and his workers are now engaged in plans for another division of the conduit to be built next year. These plans provide for a section sixteen-hundred feet long, extending from the end of the present work just beyond Washington street to a point about 800 feet this side of Lotus place. This section the engineers say will be very difficult to construct and more expensive than most of the other sections owing to the presence of beds of quicksand in the section through which it must pass. The conduit having to go through these beds of quicksand presents a serious problem to the engineers. It will be necessary to drive five inch hard pine creased sheathing with a pile-driver along both sides of the trench while work is going on instead of using the three inch soft wood sheathing using a hand sledge ordinarily required. The extra work will require additional time and increase the expense of this section, but these additional difficulties will not be allowed to prevent the opening and carrying on of the work as rapidly as soon as the engineer's are completed and everything in readiness for operation. It is understood this next section will be constructed by contractors who will bid for the work in open competition.
I still have to post something about the Napier auto works. Eventually...
Jamaica Plain News October 26, 1907
The Stony Brook Conduit Work.
Jamaica Plain Section of About 1600 Feet Nearly Done, Completing the Conduit to Williams Street -- Plans Being Drawn for Another Section.
Though many residents may not have been fully aware of the fact, so quietly has the work gone forward. Jamaica Plain has been a scene of a large and expensive and very important piece of city work the past summer, which is now rapidly nearing completion. This work has been the construction of the Stony Brook conduit from Green street to a point the other side of Washington street near Williams street, the last section of which will be completed by the middle of November, thus making a continuous completed section of this mammoth enterprise from the Back Bay Fens to the point on Washington street above. The completion of this section through Jamaica Plain marks the end of the construction of the large conduit through the thickly settled portion of the city and shortens the length of the underground waterway yet remaining to be built by a substantial distance.
The length of the piece of construction that is now being completed is 1555 feet, extending from Green street along the rear of the Napier automobile works and the large Sturtevant blower plant, across the open stretch of field to Washington street and to the further side of it a short distance. The work was divided into four sections and let out to contractors for construction. Section one, extending 460 feet from Green street toward the Napier factory, was built by the Metropolitan Construction Company, and was completed some time ago. Section two is some 367 feet in length and takes in the course along the rear of the blower works. This is the section that is now being finished and completes the entire piece of work, and the contractor is Alexander McGahey. Section three was built by Timothy J. O'Connell and was 385 feet in length, being completed during the summer. Section four was built by James D. Fallon and was 334 feet in length. This was also completed during the summer. The total cost of the four sections, making the 1555 feet constructed in the installment of work is about $230,000. The aggregate of the bids of the four contractors do not foot up to this figure, but the city pays for the cement, steel, chipped stone and some other material in addition to the work of the contractors, because it can buy in much larger quantities, purchasing at on time enough for the whole piece of work instead of for one section, as a contractor would have to do.
The section that is now being finished and which is the final link in the chain of four sections has been one of the most difficult to construct owing to its location between rows of brick buildings with only a narrow place to carry on the work, but is has been done very rapidly, and is an exceptionally fine piece of construction of its kind. The chief engineer, in speaking with a representative of the News, said it was one of the best pieces of work he had seen during his experience in sewer and conduit construction, and has been among the most rapidly built. Of the 376 feet in this section, built by contractor McGahey, only about 50 feet remain to be closed in, and a representative of the News paying a visit to the scene of construction this week found it a very interesting as well as stupendous piece of work.
An average of about 50 men is employed on the work, and they are under the personal direction of Superintendent George Phillips, ex-superintendent of sewers for Boston under the late Mayor Collins. The smoothness and precision and rapidity with which the work moved attested the able management of Superintendent Phillips, and his knowledge and skill also accounts in large measure, no doubt, for the fine quality and rapid progress of the construction.
The big "hole in the ground," more than 20 feet deep and equally wide, with its skeleton frames, timbers and stays, among which men who look no bigger than boys to one standing on the planks above, were busily digging and toiling, presented an animated and interesting sight to an observer; and as one watched the work, the wonder was not that such construction cost so much, but how it could be done for the price it is, on such a mammoth scale is material used and the work carried forward.
The conduit itself is twenty feet wide and sixteen feet high, and is made of reinforced concrete. The side walls are three feet and six inches thick, made of cement and reinforced at intervals of 12 or 14 inches with one inch wrought steel rods. The bottom consists of a layer of cement eighteen inches thick with two courses of cement on top and very skillfully joined to the side walls. The arch that covers the top is fourteen inches thick, built of brick and cement.
The dimensions of the conduit are easily described, but the actual work of constructing it is not so simple. In the first place a large temporary flume has to be built to carry the water of the brook by the section while the work of construction is going on. A dead drain of tile has to be laid in the bottom of the excavation through which, by a steam pump, the water that settles in the ditch is drawn out so as to leave the bottom dry for the laying of the cement that form the floor of the conduit. Sixteen foot planks have to be driven along the sides of the excavation to prevent them from caving in. Massive timbers have to be put in place as supports, and skeleton frames on which the arch of the brick and cement is laid have to be made and put in place and are moved along in the trench as the work of covering progresses by means of a single rail track on which they rest, this being supported by timbers from the bottom of the conduit. In the midst of all this the big iron scoop, which holds about a cartload of dirt, is being hoisted out as often as it can be filled by the shovellers and carried along an overhead wire cable to a distant place and dumped, and bricks, mortar, timber, tiles, crushed stone, etc, are being lowered into the trench as needed, making the scene one of great activity, and some danger to any who are careless and unobserving.
As fast as a section of the overhead arch is completed and the masonry dry, the skeleton wood frames are moved forward and the dirt that is excavated is thrown over the arch and the surface leveled down, hiding all trace of the waterway and engineering skill that is underneath.
In addition to the conduit that is to carry the water of Stony Brook, a brick sewer is being built at the same time for the sewerage of the district covered by the Stony Brook watershed. The conduit itself is for the brook and the surface water only, owing to the fact of the conduit emptying into the Charles river, where the sewerage, if carried with the water of the brook, would soon form a deposit at the mouth and have to be removed. This sewer runs along one of the horns of the arch of the conduit, its top rising almost to the level of the top of the arch.
The work on the last of the four sections of the present piece of construction will be finished by the middle of November, and will complete one of the largest and in some respects one of the most difficult divisions of the great enterprise. The construction of all four sections of which this division of the conduit is composed has been very successfully done and at as small a cost as was possible for such a big piece of work. It has been free from accidents of any serious nature, and has gone forward with very little to attract public attention, or even the attention of residents of Jamaica Plain, including those in the vicinity of the actual work. Its successful completion at this time gives encouragement to the people of the section for the steady pushing forward of the work till the conduit is completed its entire length.
The division now being finished has been under the charge of resident engineer Mr W.F. Maloney, who, with his draughtsmen and assistants has an office in Mr. Meehan's block on Green street. Mr. Maloney and his workers are now engaged in plans for another division of the conduit to be built next year. These plans provide for a section sixteen-hundred feet long, extending from the end of the present work just beyond Washington street to a point about 800 feet this side of Lotus place. This section the engineers say will be very difficult to construct and more expensive than most of the other sections owing to the presence of beds of quicksand in the section through which it must pass. The conduit having to go through these beds of quicksand presents a serious problem to the engineers. It will be necessary to drive five inch hard pine creased sheathing with a pile-driver along both sides of the trench while work is going on instead of using the three inch soft wood sheathing using a hand sledge ordinarily required. The extra work will require additional time and increase the expense of this section, but these additional difficulties will not be allowed to prevent the opening and carrying on of the work as rapidly as soon as the engineer's are completed and everything in readiness for operation. It is understood this next section will be constructed by contractors who will bid for the work in open competition.
Stony Brook - Blue Laws Stop the Work
By the time I was growing up, blue laws were a matter of retail stores being shuttered on Sundays. I knew that things were different in Colonial times, but I didn't realize just how recent widespread work restrictions were.
Boston Daily Globe January 21, 1907
Obstacles In Sewer Work
Danger of Cave-In at Stony Brook.
Overflowing Waters May Mean Damage to L Structure.
Contractor Puts Blame on the Blue Laws.
Sunday blue laws and the elements have operated to the great disadvantage of contractor J.D. Fallon, who is constructing section 4 of the Stony brook sewer at Jamaica Plain. He estimates his loss thus far as $4000, as a result of the overflow of the waters of the brook into the trenches on Jan 1, which he says might have been prevented had he been permitted to work his men on Sunday, Dec 30.
The rain of Saturday and the melting snow yesterday caused an undermining of the flume through which the water flows at the side of the open trench, and the flume settled 3 1/2 feet, threatening at any moment to cave in and fill the open trench with water, gravel and quicksand, and destroy completed work on the sewer and adjacent property.
"Should such a thing happen," said Mr Fallon, "the elevated structure on Washington st, near Willaims st, would be in grave danger."
In consideration of these alarming conditions, a gang of workmen labored yesterday to prevent such a disaster, if possible. The names of workmen were taken by the local police for working Sunday.
The flume through which the water of the brook is diverted is within two feet of the sides of the excavation on section 4, near its head on Williams st. It is only 6x6 feet, built of two-inch plank, tongued and grooved, with one-inch timbers. For a considerable distance the flume, with its weight of water, has sunk 5 1/2 feet on account of the shifting quicksand under it.
"I am working today to concrete the bottom and sides of the sewer excavation, to secure the trench proper and the flume, as the water is causing the quicksands under the flume and the trench to shift," said contractor Fallon. "I got to work today to save the conduit already built. Had I been allowed to work three weeks ago today I could have saved the financial loss and trouble to me at that time, and the difficulty I am having today. If the sides of the trench, which is about 30 feet deep, should cave in, there is no knowing what would happen, but it would probably mean the destruction of that wooden building at the corner of Williams and Washington sts and possible damage to the elevated structure on Washington st. To get this trench covered down and weighted with concrete is the only way of saving the work already completed, and that is what I am trying to do by working night and day.
"Yesterday, engineer Mahoney, in charge of the work, ordered the dam of heavy timbers and bags of sand cut down, so that if the brook should rise to such a height the flume could not care for the water, it could pass over the dam and flood the excavation and pass out through the work. The height of the dam was lowered about 1 1/2 feet. I have had so much trouble with the job that I have got beyond the point of worrying about it, and I am going to to the best I can to finish the 120 feet more of conduit I am to build as quickly as I can, and be done with it."
Boston Daily Globe January 21, 1907
Obstacles In Sewer Work
Danger of Cave-In at Stony Brook.
Overflowing Waters May Mean Damage to L Structure.
Contractor Puts Blame on the Blue Laws.
Sunday blue laws and the elements have operated to the great disadvantage of contractor J.D. Fallon, who is constructing section 4 of the Stony brook sewer at Jamaica Plain. He estimates his loss thus far as $4000, as a result of the overflow of the waters of the brook into the trenches on Jan 1, which he says might have been prevented had he been permitted to work his men on Sunday, Dec 30.
The rain of Saturday and the melting snow yesterday caused an undermining of the flume through which the water flows at the side of the open trench, and the flume settled 3 1/2 feet, threatening at any moment to cave in and fill the open trench with water, gravel and quicksand, and destroy completed work on the sewer and adjacent property.
"Should such a thing happen," said Mr Fallon, "the elevated structure on Washington st, near Willaims st, would be in grave danger."
In consideration of these alarming conditions, a gang of workmen labored yesterday to prevent such a disaster, if possible. The names of workmen were taken by the local police for working Sunday.
The flume through which the water of the brook is diverted is within two feet of the sides of the excavation on section 4, near its head on Williams st. It is only 6x6 feet, built of two-inch plank, tongued and grooved, with one-inch timbers. For a considerable distance the flume, with its weight of water, has sunk 5 1/2 feet on account of the shifting quicksand under it.
"I am working today to concrete the bottom and sides of the sewer excavation, to secure the trench proper and the flume, as the water is causing the quicksands under the flume and the trench to shift," said contractor Fallon. "I got to work today to save the conduit already built. Had I been allowed to work three weeks ago today I could have saved the financial loss and trouble to me at that time, and the difficulty I am having today. If the sides of the trench, which is about 30 feet deep, should cave in, there is no knowing what would happen, but it would probably mean the destruction of that wooden building at the corner of Williams and Washington sts and possible damage to the elevated structure on Washington st. To get this trench covered down and weighted with concrete is the only way of saving the work already completed, and that is what I am trying to do by working night and day.
"Yesterday, engineer Mahoney, in charge of the work, ordered the dam of heavy timbers and bags of sand cut down, so that if the brook should rise to such a height the flume could not care for the water, it could pass over the dam and flood the excavation and pass out through the work. The height of the dam was lowered about 1 1/2 feet. I have had so much trouble with the job that I have got beyond the point of worrying about it, and I am going to to the best I can to finish the 120 feet more of conduit I am to build as quickly as I can, and be done with it."
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Stony Brook Imprisoned!
Standing at Jackson square or Amory street, it's hard to imagine that sea-run brook trout once returned from Massachusetts Bay to the open waters of Stony brook to breed each year. Of course the greatest difficulty comes from the lack of a brook at the site. Or at least the lack of a proper brook. Stony brook is there, at least as a passageway for stormwater. Stony brook still runs the length of Jamaica Plain, from Hyde Park to Roxbury, in a concrete and brick conduit. Telling the whole story of Stony brook would take a book, but it's nice to get the basic story out and remind people of what was once one of the most important features of Jamaica Plain.
Boston Daily Globe October 23, 1901
Stony Brook Being Imprisoned. Progress of the Work of Building the Conduit - Stream Has Been Costly.
Stony brook, in which our grandfathers waded and caught minnows when it pursued it tortuous way through old Roxbury, and after sluggishly moving through low marsh lands emptied into a tidal estuary of the Back Bay basin at what is now Elmwood st, became about 1880 somewhat of a nuisance.
The growth in population, with increased land value, made its changeable course the cause of numerous disputes and difficulties. Aside from this, however, as Stony brook drained an area of 14 square miles with changed conditions it became unable to perform its duties satisfactorily.
As is well known, when civilization encroaches upon nature and gradually changes her aspect,the natural drainage that sufficed for the forest primeval becomes inadequate.
So it was found necessary to straighten and widen the bed of Stony brook. In 1884 a channel was completed 18 feet wide, with high walled sides. Through this new and shorter route the brook babbled sometimes peacefully at a depth of 18 inches and again tumbled at a depth of five feet.
Apparently the old brook was fixed for live and was contented with its environment, but not so. From a state of purity, when as a rural brook it delighted the eye and quenched the thirst of the wayfarer, it had degenerated, and was now a receptable for rubbish of all kinds.
The fish that sported in its ripples and eddies and the wild flowers that bloomed along its banks were replaced by the flotasm of the neighboring back yards. When high it was unsightly, and when low it was odoriferous.
After a couple of years of brooding over its fallen estate, it could stand it no longer, and so in February 1886, old Stony brook rose in its wrath, burst its bonds and got gay.
It rained from 7:45 a.m., February 10, to 2:45 p.m., February 13. The rainfall with the melted snow and ice aggregated about nine inches; the culverts were too small to carry the water, the brook overflowed its banks and flooded an area of 700 acres.
Above Tremont street the water entered 191 buildings, 63 acres were overflowed in the vicinity of and below Elmwood street, where 1437 buildings occupied by 3090 families were affected.
Once Mayor O'Brien appointed a commission of three eminent hydraulic engineers to make a report of the disaster and form plans to prevent its recurrance. The commission included James B. Francis, Eliot C. Clarke and Clemens Hershel.
These gentlemen made a very accurate and complete report and reccommended a conduit in the shape of a half-horseshoe with a capacity of 2000 cubic feet per second, measuring 17 feet extreme width and 15 feet 6 inches extreme height.
This was to be laid on a bed of concrete, the bottom, or invert and the sides of brick, 8 inches thick, and the arch of brick 16 inches thick. Where necessary the sides were to be strengthened by a wall of rubble.
Foreseeing that the same causes that made this conduit a necessity, might at some future time demand still larger facilities for disposing of the water the commissioners formulated a plan for another outlet from Canterbury st to Neponset bridge. This will not be needed for a great many years if at all, but the contingency is provided for.
Work was commenced very soon and about 4500 feet of the conduit were built in 1887 and 1888, affording immediate relief from Roxbury Crossing to Back Bay park.
On account of a proposed change of grade by the Providence division of the NY, NH & H RR, the city and railroad company jointly built another section from Roxbury Crossing to Boylston station in 1893 and 1894.
Between 1897 and the present time the secion from Boylston station to Green street has been built.
As may well be imagined, the damages paid by the city in the prosecution of this enormous work have been considerable. Up to 1894 the total amount paid for damages and land taking was $400,000. Of this $250,000 was paid to Boston Belting company at Elmwood street alone.
At one time this same water right, now owned by the belting company, was offered to the town of Roxbury for $1500. Paul Curtis, one of the selectmen, recommended that it be bought but no one anticipating the trouble it would afterward cause the city, nothing was done.
At present about 1000 feet of the conduit between Cornwall and Green streets are under construction. The work is being prosecuted in three sections.
The stream is diverted by a flume around the work. Then with a derrick, two cable machines and steam drills, an excavation is made 28 feet wide, 10 feet wider than the walled channel of the brook, and about 12 feet below the present bed. A tiled drain is laid under this to carry off the ground water.
Then on a bed or concrete, where there is not already a good bottom, the brick bottom of the conduit is laid. To get the best flow the brick is laid carefully and smoothly as in a house front, and all joints are scraped and pointed.
Then the brick walls are built, backed by a five foot wall of rubble and cement, which support is necessary. Above this wooden centering, which runs on casters, is erected the 16-inch arch, which at the center has to stand a pressure of 10,5000 pounds to the square foot, and will stand 28 times this strain.
Nearly on a level with the top of the conduit is added the Roxbury low level sewer, which is intended to accommodate the low lying districts which cannot be drained by the regular sewerage system.
This is egg-shaped, with a long diameter of 36 feet 6 inches and two feet wide.
The capacity of the conduit is five times as great as that of the old walled channel. The old double culverts under the streets would only accomodate a flow of 400 cubic feet per second. About 13,000 feet of the conduit are now completed, about one-half of the distance to the Hyde Park line, where the work terminates.
It costs $75 to $100 per running foot to build.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Stony Brook - And More Stony Brook
This picture shows the washed-out sidewalk along the Thanish Carriage Factory on Brookside avenue, near Green street. The building is still there today.
I pulled these stories from my other site: Stony Brook: Gone, But Not Forgotten. I got interested in Stony Brook because its path runs through the heart of Jamaica Plain, but since the brook runs from Hyde Park and West Roxbury through Roslindale, Jamaica Plain and Roxbury, I'm going to keep them separate. I probably will migrate some more entries from SB:GBNF to here, but only the JP-related ones.
It Isn't Easy Being Green (st.)
Here are two articles from 1902. Both concern the intersection of Green st and Brookside ave, so they go together nicely.
Boston Globe March 2, 1902
Stony Brook Maintains Its Reputation
Its Overflow of Yesterday Morning Will Cost the
City a Considerable Sum for Damages - Buildings
Undermined.
Yesterday morning's rampage makes more firm the
title of Stony brook as Boston's most expensive
drain.
Another large expenditure will be necessary from
the city treasury before the damage done by the
flood of Friday night and Saturday morning can be
made good. While damage has been done to property
all along the brook, the greatest loss has been
inflicted in the more thickly settled parts of
Jamaica Plain, where the very number of buildings
gave the angry torrent scope for its work of
destruction.
The prompt and effective work of the sewer
department warned the residents near the danger
point along the brook, and also was the means of
preventing much greater damage than did take place.
This damage began first with small cave-ins, then
came the falling in at Brookside Ave in front of
the Thanish factory. The walls of that four-story
brick structure cracked with a loud report.
Later the sidewalk in front of Gaffney &
McDermott's completely fell in and there is nothing
but open space to be seen for quite a distance
under both structures.
Fears were expressed that both buildings might
fall, and extra precaution was taken to prevent
this if possible. The great weight of the two
buildings being in the center and well back from
the cave-in saved them.
In the cave-in along Brookside ave the gas pipes
were twisted and wrenched so that in many places
they were broken and the gas was escaping in great
quantities yesterday. One of the employees of the
gas company in investigating the breaks managed to
get too close to the leak and his torch ignited the
gas. A heavy explosion followed, but he was not
injured.
When the danger from the broken water pipes and gas
mains had been attended to the residents who had
left their homes for safety returned to them.
In the West Roxbury district the overflowing water
from Stony brook made many streets impassable, but
most of the water had been drained off my noon
yesterday.
In Roslindale there was quite a flood around the Mt
Hope, Florence and Catherine sts section. The water
reached almost up to the houses and in some cases
cellars were flooded.
Beyond the flooding of a few cellars in the Keyes
and Williams sts section of Jamaica Plain, little
damage was done there.
At Forest Hills between Washington st and the
railroad tracks the back yards and cellars were
filled with water.
[The rest of the article covers other areas around
Boston]
Boston Globe August 14, 1902
Hard To Fight
Quicksand in Stony Brook Conduit
Workmen Find Treacherous Footing in Trench
Picks, Shovels and Boots Soon Disappear
Driving of Sheet Pilings Necessary to Save Abutting
Buildings
Interesting Statement Given Out by Supt Donovan
Workmen on the Stony-brook conduit have just opened
up a deep bed of quicksand at the Green st end,
Jamaica Plain. The quicksand will cause the sewer
department no end of trouble.
Supt Donovan of the street department this morning
gave out the following statement on the Green st
difficulty in particular and the conduit in
general.
"Stony brook conduit, 17 feet wide and 15 1/2 feet
high, has now been constructed from the Fens to
Green st, Jamaica Plain in accordance with the
report of the commissioners of 1886. We are now
crossing Green st, and at this point we have
encountered a deep bed of quicksand. This has
necessitated the driving of sheet pilings, tounged
and grooved five inches thick, and 35 feet long,
making what is practically a coffer dam, or rather,
a succession of coffer dams, inside of which the
conduit is being constructed. This is the only
means by which this material can be confined and
prevented from flowing into the treach at such a
rate and in such quantities as to possibly damage
or destroy the abutting buildings.
"There is probably just enough clay mixed with this
quicksand to make a very tenatious or gelatinous
mass so that it is difficult for the workmen to
find a footing in working at the bottom of the
trench. They are in considerable danger of losing
their picks and shovels, and even their boots.
Several of the men have been partly engulfed.
"Green st is closed to public travel, and a
temporary way has been provided across the brook
and among the buildings to the south. It is
expected to get the conduit across Green st and up
to Washington near Williams at this fall.
Construction in this material is necessarily slow,
on account of the extrordinary precaution that has
to be taken, but borings show that this bed of
quicksand disappears at about the location of the
Sturtevant blower works, beyone which point
construction should proceed much more rapidly.
"It would be less expensive to excavate this trench
in solid rock that to deal with this treacherous
material. It is the worst material that has bee
encountered on Stony brook at any other point. It
is calculated that it will cost at least 50 percent
more to build in this material than in good
digging.
"In connection and carried along with this work on
the Stony brook conduit a low-grade sewer is also
being constructed. This will afford drainage in the
vicinity of Williams, Washington and Keyes sts as
the existing system of sewers there is too high an
elevation to properly drain this territory. This
low-grade sewer is of brick, 2 by 3 1/2 feet, and
is carried on the haunch of the arch of the Stony
brook conduit.
Studies are being made for the improvement of the
Roslindale branch of Stony brook, from Washington
to Cohassett sts, thence to Central station. Floods
on this branch have become more and more frequent,
and have become so severe that travel has been
stopped on some of the streets, the school children
have been unable to get through them, and even the
cars of the Suburban street railway company have
been stopped on Belgrade av. Engineer Dorr has made
plans for building an enlarged channel from
Washington to Cohassett sts, the bottom of which
has been scoured out by the velocity of the
current. The walls have partially tumbled in. This
work will be started as soon as the street
commissioners have obtained the necessary rights,
after which the sewer division will proceed to
improve the remainder of the channel by deepening
and widening it up to and along teh embankment of
the Dedham branch of the New York, New Haven &
Hartford railroad, as far, at least, as Central
station.
"This will take care of a territory which as grown
rapidly within the past few years, and in which
many new streets have been laid out, constructed
and built upon, and many swampy places drained or
filled. All these operations tend to increase the
severity of the floods. The storm water, which,
under the old condition of things, lay in swamps
and low places for several days, is now discharged
into the brook channel in a few hours.
[The article goes on to discuss work being done in
the Fens and Dorchester.]
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