When by heavy falls of snow or otherwise the refuse of the streets is carried into such sewers, is there any difficulty in sweeping it away?—None whatsoever.
How are the gully-holes or entrances to the drains affected by such deposits?—Under the prevalent system the gullies and shoots are formed so as to retain deposit, on the principle that it is cheaper to get the deposit out of those than out of the sewers. The Commissioners in Holborn and Finsbury, having adopted the flushing principle, have also adopted a new description of gully and shoot, which I proposed to them for the purpose of conveying the whole of the deposit into the sewers; it is then washed away by the flushing.
In what number of years would the saving in cleansing sewers by flushing repay the expense of applying the apparatus to the existing sewers in the Holborn and Finsbury divisions?—In seven years.
What would be the expense of the construction of chimneys to remove the foul air from sewers?—The expense would depend upon the sort and form of chimney that might be used. A suggestion of Mr. Stable, one of the chief clerks of the Holborn and Finsbury commission, appears to meet the case at the least expense. He suggests that the pipes used to carry off the rain-water from the roofs of houses should be connected with the crown of the sewers; thus forming a chimney for carrying off the effluvia from the sewers, and also a conveyance for the rain-water into the sewers. The cost of connecting one such pipe with a sewer would, on an average, be about 3l. 16s. 2d.
Have you any doubt of the practicability of carrying all the surface cleansing of the streets into the sewers, and removing it by conveyance in water, as was proposed at Paris, instead of by hand labour and cartage?—I entertain no doubt whatever that it might be done, where there is a good sewer and proper gully-holes and shoots; with a good supply of water these would carry away rapidly all the surface refuse; the experience of the sewerage in the Holborn and Finsbury divisions prove it.
How does it prove it?—At every opportunity the street-sweepers sweep all they can into the gully-holes, and it is swept away without inconvenience.
One practical witness states that the expense of the cartage alone of the refuse from a Macadamised street of half a mile, in the winter time in the metropolis, is 5l. weekly. What would be the comparative expense of carrying it away by the sewers?—It would save the whole expense of the cartage; it would be less than the present expense of sweeping and filling into the carts, and if there were a sufficient supply of water on the surface, the work might be conducted with great rapidity.
You are aware that one inconvenience of the existing mode of street cleansing, independently of the great expense, is the length of time during which the wet refuse remains to the public annoyance on the surface, until removed by the slow process of sweeping and cartage?—Yes; and the men would appear to delay for the purpose of the dirt being removed, by being washed by rain into the sewers.
Do you conceive that all the business of street cleansing and house draining might be consolidated advantageously to the public?—Yes, clearly so, and with great economy.
Have you, as an engineer, had experience in road construction?—Yes, I have, having taken the levels and surveys preparatory to an Act of Parliament being obtained for lowering the Long Compton Hills in Warwickshire; I afterwards constructed the new line of road on Mr. Telford’s principle.