The final maturing of the project of an infiltration gallery in San Geronimo as a low-pressure gravity supply, the division of the city into high- and low-pressure districts corresponding to the two supplies, with one reservoir, instead of two to the south of the city, and the other to the west at the Obispado, the entire details of both these gravity
schemes, and of the whole sewage disposal scheme, as well as the modification introduced into the city work for the northern half, are unquestionably due to Mr. Conway, independently of the general views which may have been held on those points by other engineers.
In March, 1910, Mr. Conway left Monterrey, all the principal works being finished. Since that time Vicente Saucedo, Assoc. M. Am. Soc. C. E., has put in many additional water mains and sewers in the northern part of the city, and is finishing the force majeure work caused by the destruction wrought in the districts along the river banks by the extraordinary floods.
The writer, having had an opportunity to watch the earnest efforts of the several engineers connected with these works, in the course of their design and construction, resulting without doubt in being the first of their kind built in Mexico, has been induced to contribute this discussion in order to bring out clearly the share of each.
Mr. Pitkethly's apprehensions as to the adequacy of the system of ventilation adopted have not been realized, in part perhaps because the houses, though generally of only one story, have such high ceilings that the tops of their vent pipes are generally higher than the ventilating columns at the heads of the branch sewers.
George Robert Graham Conway, M. AM. Soc. C. E. (by letter).—The writer regrets that some features of the works described in this paper have failed to call forth the many useful criticisms which he expected, and his remarks, therefore, are limited to the few points which have been raised. He is particularly indebted to Messrs. Schuyler, Meyer, and Saucedo for adding supplementary information of value to the paper, but regrets that he cannot support Mr. Binckley in his claim that "the entire general design of the system, as well as the extensive hydrological studies and final selection of the sources of water supply, was completed in 1906," etc. On May 1st, 1907, when the writer assumed responsibility as Chief Engineer, he was unfortunately confronted with the fact that very little data and only a few preliminary and incomplete plans were available. His first duty was to report upon the final sources of supply, and the recommendations made in his report (dated July 12th), received Mr. (now Sir William) Mackenzie's approval during the same month. The final plans, upon which the approval of the State Government was definitely obtained, were prepared by the writer during the summer of 1907, were submitted to the Governor of the State, Gen. Bernard Reyes, on October 19th, and received his approval on December 12th, 1907. No works, with a long preliminary history, such as those at Monterrey, can rightly be said to be due to any one individual; many engineers contributed to the final result, and the writer willingly acknowledges his indebtedness to the able men, who, for ten years prior to the construction of the
works, investigated the particular problems which were met—problems which were not only of an engineering and physical nature, but racial and financial. The responsibility of constructing the works in their present form, and leaving them practically complete, did, however, fall on the writer's shoulders.
Messrs. Pitkethly and Hammond have criticized the basis of the calculations upon which the sewer system was laid down. In considering this problem, it is necessary to remember that, in designing this system, there was practically no information upon which to base the calculations; and the writer believed that the wisest course was to anticipate a liberal growth, and provide a large margin of safety. In designing a sewer system in older and well-established communities, the engineer is generally able to compile considerable information regarding the probable sewage flow for which it is necessary to provide. In Monterrey this quantity was absolutely unknown. The writer's practice in other places has been to assume that about 8% of the total daily discharge of sewage will flow off in one hour; and, from many curves which he has plotted regarding sewage flow in British towns, this rate appears to him to be approximately correct. In Monterrey, however, the old Mexican traditions are rapidly changing, and the city is now becoming one of the most Americanized in Mexico; the old one-story houses will give way in time to buildings of several stories—a change, already noticeable, which has occurred during the past few years, particularly in the business portion of the city. Taking these facts into consideration, it is believed that it would be, not only bad engineering, but bad business, for a company whose concession lasts 99 years, to provide sewers as small as 6 in., as Mr. Hammond would recommend, and then be called upon, under the terms of the concession, to relay larger sewers at a future date, thus incurring further capital expenditure upon which no Government guaranty would apply, and no further revenue be obtained. In matters of this kind, not only the engineering, but the commercial, aspect of the question must be kept in view, and this point, the writer must frankly admit, he has always seriously considered.
The writer's experience with reference to the method of ventilating sewers by tall columns extends over many years, and he still maintains that no other system gives such satisfactory results. In this view he finds considerable support in a recent paper on "Salisbury Drainage," by Mr. W. J. E. Binnie,[11] written since the system at Monterrey was installed, in which the result of a series of experiments carried on during 1906-07 are given. At Salisbury, England, 68 ventilators, 6 in. in internal diameter, 30 ft. high, were connected to the main sewer by 6-in. stoneware pipes. They were placed about 540 ft. apart,
and, from careful anemometer readings, the following conclusions were reached: