TELEPHONE FORT HILL 1085 WILLIAM S. JOHNSON M. AM, Soc. C. E. SANITARY AND HYDRAULIC ENGINEER 101 TREMONT STREET BOSTON July 26, 1910. Mr. George B. Dorr, Bar Harbor, Maine. Dear Mr. Dorr:- Your letter of July 24th is at hand. The pipe as laid I consider satisfactory, except that it is not below the bottom of the harbor for the required distance. I do not think that this would affect the operation of the system in any way, but I con- sider it objectionable for reasons which you will appreciate to have the pipe appear in the harbor. Of course there is a possi- bility of the pipe being broken if it sticks up at low water or is in a place where the wave action would stir the boulders con- siderably, but I think that this danger is comparatively small, I should say, therefore, that as far as the working of the system is concerned this might pass, although it is not at all what was called for. I do consider, however, that it is objectionable to have the pipe exposed, and it would not be a very serious matter to lower it at the same time that the line is extended, if the contractor came prepared for the work. I will try to find out as nearly as I can what the cost of extending the outlet will be, although it is difficult to get a preliminary estimate owing to the fact that the principal part of the cost will be the getting of the contractor's plant there. The work after the contractor is there will amount to very little. I will, however, see if I can get Moore to make an estimate of what J.B.D. #2. he will do it for, and will let you know as soon as I get any in- formation. I am enclosing a copy of a report which I am sending to-day to Mr. Bunker. This report is not made in response to any request from them, as I have not heard a word from them. Very truly yours, Enclosure. William 8. Johnson her d. TELEPHONE FORT HILL 1085 WILLIAM S. JOHNSON M. Am. Soc. C. E. SANITARY AND HYDRAULIC ENGINEER 101 TREMONT STREET BOSTON Board of Selectmen Co p. July 26, 1910. Eden, Maine. Gentlemen:- I beg to submit the following report relative to the present condition of the new sewer outlet at Cronwell's Harbor. The plans prepared by me in 1907 called for the con- struction of a sewer of cast iron pipe from the old main sewer in Hain Street to the upper end of Cromwell's Harbor, and thence along the bottom of the harbor, deflecting to the south, to a point of discharge off Ogden Point, about one hundred feet from the shore at low water. The pipe within the harbor was to be laid in a trench to be dredged for the purpose, the trench to be about four feet in depth until the depth of water reached thirty feet, beyond which the pipe was to be laid directly on the bottom. Subsequently this last requirement wa.s changed so that the pipe might rest directly upon the bottom beyond a point where the water is ten feet deep at low tide, and between this point and high water be deep enough to be entirely covered. A connection W2.8 to be made with the water mains, and gates were to be provided so that the entire pressure afforded by the water works system could be brought to bear upon any ob- struction which might occur in the pipe, and to permit of a violent flushing of the pine at times when the sewer system was cleaned. To accomplish this result it was necessary that the pipe line used as a sewer outlet should have tight joints sufficient to resist the great pressure which would be transmitted from the water mains. After the pipe had been laid from Main Street to the shore of the harbor, the joints were found to be very defec- tive, and a portion was taken up and relaid, and such changes were made as to make it capable of properly doing the work for which it was designed. These changes have been satisfactorily made, and the portion of the gewer from Main Street to a point near low water in Cronwell's Harbor is now completed and in good condition. The pipe in the harbor is now laid straight out toward the mouth of the harbor to a point about 1200 feet beyond low water mark. From a point somewhat above low water aut for perhaps fifty or sixty feet beyond low water the pipe is nearly buried, but from that point to the point where the water is ten feet deep at low tide only a small portion of the pipe is below the bottom. The pipe beneath the water ig laid with occasional flex- ible joints, and, as the attempt to sink the pipe in one piece failed, and 1t became necessary to place it in sections, cement joints have been used where the different sections are joined. These cement joints are made by placing around the pipe at the joint a bed of rich mortar. In one case one of the flexible -2- joints has been broken, and this has been repaired in the same manner, by surrounding the joint with cement. There are now ten of these cement joints on the pipe line, and they all appear to be well made and will undoubtedly give no trouble. Reyond the cast iron Bleeve, which is not far above low water mark, there are 103 lengths of pipe, making a total dis- tance from the sleeve to the and of the pipe of about 1236 feet. All of this line is now in good condition; the joints appear to be well made and tight; and, except that the pipe is not buried beneath the bottom of the harbor as called for, the work is sat- isfactory. The pipe is carried out in R nearly straight line to the mouth of the harbor where the sewage is now being discharged. This point is a considerable distance from the point called for by the plans and shown by investigation to be the best point at which to discharge sewage. In 1907, before the plans were made, careful investiga- tions were made by means of floats to determine the point where the sewage could be discharged without causing trouble by being washed ashore. These investigations, the details of which were submitted to you, showed clearly that sewage discharged at the mouth of the harbor in the vicinity of the present end of the pipe line would at certain stages of the tide and with certain conditions of the wind be quickly carried into Cromwell's Harbor and be washed up on the shores. Floats which were set off in the vicinity of Ogden Point, however, were without exception -3- quickly carried away by the tides and did not approach any shore. As a result of these investigations the outlet recommended and shown on the plans was directly off Ogden Point. The sewage is now discharged at about the point where, as I stated in my report of 1907, it would be likely to CAUSE trouble, and I would urge upon you the importance of completing the pipe line without delay. While the present pipe doos not swing to the south, AS shown on the plans, it will not be necessary now to change it, but the extension can be swing to the south 20 as to reach a suitable point of discharge. The contract under which the pipe was laid beneath the harbor called, I understand, for the laying of about 1400 feet of pipe, and, 1 f the contractor had laid 1400 feet of pipe beyond low water mark, it would have been very close to the point of discharge recommended. The pipe has, however, been laid only about 1200 feet from low water, and this falls far ahort of the required point of di scharge. The contractor should also have been obliged to bury the pipe in the shallow water st the upper end of the harbor, although I have not a copy of the contract and do not know what the specifications were. No certainly has not done the work in accordance with my plans, and it would, therefore, seem that he is not entitled to any payment until the defects in hig work are remedied. If he is not responsible and a new contract must be made, I would suggest that the work of ox- tending the pipe and of lowering the pipe which has alrendy been -4- laid be done by the same contractor, AS there will be no serious difficulty in doing either portion of the work, but the chief difficulty and expense will be the getting of a suitable plant for the purpose. The exact distance from the present end of the pipe line to the proper point of discharge I have not measured, but this can be determined by your engineer, as the point of discharge is clearly shown on all of the plane which have been submitted. Respectfully submitted, Whichain John -5- COPY. Boston, MASS., March 1, 1911. Hon. L. B. Deasy, Bar Harbor, Me. Dear Sir: With regard to the article in the warrant asking for an appropriation that will enable the town to complete the Grorwoll's Harbor sews outlet, the facts are those: The town employed one of the best engineers in Now England or the Country, Mr. William S. Johnson, after consultation as to choice of engineer with leading authorities upon the subject, to make plans for a new main-sower discharge at Cromell's Harbor. The plans for this prepared by Mr Johnson were subsequently examined by Mr Brown, chief engineer of the Metropolitan Sener Commission of Massaonsetts, who came down to Bar Harbor for the parpose and ap proved then. the town then voted to adopt thoge plans and to build a new sever-ontlet in accordance with them. As these nlans involved traverbing, down their entire length from road to sea, Mrs Markoe's and 1:02 Scott's land, I was asked by the then Town Officers to take up with Hrs Markoe and Mr Scott the question of damagaa. I did so, and Mrs Markoe offered through me to relinquish her claim for damages upon the Town's agreement with her and Mr Scott to build the sever through-o12t, and to complete it, in strict accordance with Mr John- son's plans and subject to his approval. It was in reliance on the good. faith of the Town in making this agreement that these claims for damages, which would else unquestionably have been large, were re- linquished. The assurance given by the Town at the commencement of 2 the untertaking was repeatedly affirmed to me, representing Mr 8 Markoe in the matter, during the course of construction, and the statement Has made again in the most positive manner by the Chair- man of the Board of Selectmen last spring that the town would never allow the work to stop until the engineer's plans had been carried out to their full conclusion and the work had been approved by him. This has not been done. The discharge is now made at a point 250 feet short of that which his plans called for and which is shown upon the original blueprint at the Selectmen's office. The pipe also, which those plans say shall be laid beneath the botton of the Harbor until a depth of 10 feet at low tide 18 reached, projects above it so that the full depth of the pipe 2 feet -- lies exposed and in full sight for 150 or 200 feet above 10# tide when the tide 18 at its lowe ut. In both these particulars good faith with the owners of the land crossed demands that the town shall fulfil its agreement with them, whose 1 / among the most valuable and highly taxed in the Town - may be seriously injured and depreciated in rental or saleable value by its failure to do 80. Sanitary reasons also and the freedom Of an important section of shore from nuisance demands that the discharge shall not be made at a point short of that de- turmined on by Mr Johnson as the result of actual experiment. Hore- over, the valve for boating purposes of almost the last harbor on the shore as one goes out seaward demands that it should not be this shoaled. with regard to the necessity for darrying the nipe out to the point originally called for, Mr Johnson has assured me in a recent conversation on the subject that his flotation experiments sbowed ounclusively that serious nuisance would at times result in the Harbor and along its shores from leaving the discharge where it 3 now is, and in support of that I may add that I myself saw the whole Harbor filled with sewage one still day last summer at low tide; as to the nuisance then created there could have been no question in the mind of any witness. If carried out to the point originally determined on by Mr Johnson and steadily insisted on by him throughout, the discharge will be made at the bottom of the main tidal current passing between Vanderbilt's point and the Break-water, and will be carried out to sea or up the Bay as the tide may flow. If left where it is, the full discharge from the main sewer of the town will be at times swopt into Cromwell's Harbor and kept circling there by the tidal current flowing by; and it will always be carried closely past the whole shore where the shore-path runs, from the Kennedy point to Mrs Mus- grave's, when the tide is on the flow contaminating its water; when the tide is on the ebb it will be carried directly against the end of the Vandorbilt point. I strongly hope that the town will establish this outlet where it agrood to do 80 and at the point. where the best engineering au- thority obtainable shows that the injury caused by it, alike to the adjoining shore and to the waters of the Bay, will be the least. And 8.8 the Town's agreement with Mr8 Markoe was made through me, and repeatedly reaffirmed by it through me to her, I trust on this account as well that it will discharge its obligation to her by carrying out the work to its conclusion in the best way for all. Yours trily, Boston, Mass., March 1, 1911. Hon. L. B. Deasy, Bar Harbor, Me. Dear Sir: with regard to the article in the warrant asking for an appropriati on that will enable the town to complete the Cromwell's Harbor sewer outlet, the facts are these: The town employed one of the best engineers in New England or the Country, Mr. William S. Johnson, after consultation as to choice of engineer with leading authorities upon the subject, to make plans for a new main-sewer discharge at Cromwell's Harbor. The plans for this prepared by Mr Johnson were subsequently examined by Mr Brown, chief engineer of the Metropolitan Sewer Commission of Massachusetts, who came down to Bar Harbor for the purpose and ap- proved them. The town then voted to adopt these plans and to build a new sewer-outlet in accordance with them. As these plans involved traversing, down their entire length from road to sea, Mrs Markoe's and Mr Scott's land, I was asked by the then Town Officers to take up with Mrs Markoe and Mr Scott the question of damages. I did so, and Mrs Markoe offered through me to relinquish her claim for damages upon the Town's agreement with her and Mr Scott to build the sewer through-out, and to complete it, in strict accordance with Mr John- son's plans and subject to his approval. It was in reliance on the good faith of the Town in making this agreement that these claims for damages, which would else unquestionably have been large, were re- linquished. The assurance given by the Town at the commencement of 2 the undertaking was repeatedly affirmed to me, representing Mrs Markce in the matter, during the course of construction, and the statement was made again in the most positive manner by the Chair- man of the Board of Selectmen last spring that the town would never allow the work to stop until the engineer's plans had been carried out to their full conclusion and the work had been approved by him. This has not been done. The discharge is now made at a point 250 feet short of that which his plans called for and which is shown upon the original blueprint at the Selectmen's office. The pipe also, which those plans say shall be laid beneath the bottom of the Harbor until a depth of 10 feet at low tide is reached, projects above it so that the full depth of the pipe -- 2 feet - lies exposed and in full sight for 150 or 200 feet above low tide when the tide is at its lowe st. In both these particulars good faith with the owners of the land crossed demands that the town shall fulfil its agreement with them, whose land - among the most valuable and highly taxed in the Town -- may be seriously injured and depreciated in rental or saleable value by its failure to do so. Sanitary reasons also and the freedom of an important section of shore from nuisance demands that the discharge shall not be made at a point short of that de- termined on by Mr Johnson as the result of actual experiment. More- over, the value for boating purposes of almost the last harbor on the shore as one goes out seaward demands that it should not be thus shoaled. With regard to the necessity for carrying the pipe out to the point originally called for, Mr Johnson has assured me in a recent conversation on the subject that his flotation experiments showed conclusively that serious nuisance would at times result in the Harbor and along its shores from leaving the discharge where it 3 now is, and in support of that I may add that I myself saw the whole Harbor filled with sewage one still day last summer at low tide; as to the nuisance then created there could have been no question in the mind of any witness. If carried out to the point originally determined on by Mr Johnson and steadily insisted on by him throughout, the discharge will be made at the bottom of the main tidal current passing between Vanderbilt's point and the Break-water, and will be carried out to sea or un the Bay as the tide may flow. If left where it is, the full discharge from the main sewer of the town will be at times swept into Cromwell's Harbor and kept circling there by the tidal current flowing by; and it will always be carried closely past the whole shore where the shore-path runs, from the Kennedy point to Mrs Mus- grave's, when the tide is on the flow - contaminating its water; when the tide is on the ebb it will be carried directly against the end of the Vanderbilt point. I strongly hope that the town will establish this outlet where it agreed to do 80 and at the point where the best engineering au- thority obtainable shows that the injury caused by it, alike to the adjoining shore and to the waters of the Bay, will be the least. And as the Town's agreement with Mrs Markoe was made through me, and repeatedly reaffirmed by it through me to her, I trust on this account as well that it will discharge its obligation to her by carrying out the work to its conclusion in the best way for all. Yours truly, Genge B door