Engineers, etc.
G. S. Binckley, M. Am. Soc. C. E., was Chief Engineer of the Company from February to December, 1906. The writer was Chief Engineer from May 1st, 1907, until April, 1910, and is responsible for the design and construction of the works carried out during that period. Mr. J. D. Schuyler advised the Company throughout all preliminary studies and investigations, and acted as Consulting Engineer until February, 1908. The Technical Inspector, on behalf of the Government, throughout the whole progress of the works, has been Rudolf Meyer, M. Am. Soc. C. E., and the writer wishes to record the valuable assistance the Company has received from him.
In conclusion the writer may be permitted to pay a tribute to the devoted public spirit shown by his Excellency, General Bernardo Reyes, the Governor of the State of Nuevo León from 1885 to February, 1910, and who, untiring in his devotion to the interests of the city, was primarily responsible for the inception of the works and their successful completion.
DISCUSSION.
James D. Schuyler, M. Am. Soc. C. E. (by letter).—For completeness of detail and wide range of subjects of general interest to engineers, this paper is certainly one of the notable contributions to recent engineering literature. It is a minute and painstaking record of the successful accomplishment of construction work under unusual climatic conditions and difficult circumstances, and reflects credit on the author, not only in his capacity as an engineer, but as a faithful recorder of facts. It was particularly fortunate that he was an eyewitness of the disastrous and extraordinary flood which swept through Monterrey, destroying many lives and much property, and has thus been able to give an intelligent estimate of the maximum discharge of the river during the height of the flood wave of August 27th-28th, 1909, when the rate of run-off per unit of area of water-shed drained reached an amount which has seldom been equalled or exceeded, as far as reliable records extend. It is worthy of note that works deriving their water supply from the source of such torrential floods should have survived with so little actual damage, and with scarcely any interruption of service. The repair of all damages to the system was estimated to have cost not more than $20,000.
As Mr. Conway did not assume charge of construction until May, 1907, he was spared the responsibility of deciding on the general plan of securing an abundant supply of pure water from sources permitting of delivery by gravity under adequate pressure for fire protection—a responsibility which devolved on the writer, assisted by G. S. Binckley, M. Am. Soc. C. E., Mr. Conway's predecessor, as Chief Engineer. Not only the water-works, but the system of sewerage and sewage disposal by broad irrigation were subsequently carried out on the plans submitted to the State Government by the writer in 1906, and given provisional acquiescence at that time.
There was no lack of water at hand for the supply of a city of that size, as there are large perennial springs which flow out of the travertine of the plain, and are used for irrigation in the valley below the city. One of the largest of these, near the civic center, has a normal flow of nearly 30 cu. ft. per sec.; another nearby, also within the city limits, flows some 10 or 12 sec-ft., while both the Estanscia and Robalar springs, but a few miles below (shown on [Plate II]), discharge more than 20 sec-ft., as nearly as memory serves. Besides this supply, the water to be developed by sinking shafts in certain parts of the plain, as demonstrated at the brewery and elsewhere, was apparently a reliable source of large volume.
To utilize these sources, however, would have involved condemnation of the water-rights in the case of the springs, depriving present owners of the use of the water, and this Governor Reyes wished to