Fig. 46.—Tide Gate.
Outlets are protected against wash and the impact of debris by the construction of deep foundations and heavy protecting walls. Although the construction of an outlet in a slow current or a back eddy would avoid danger from wash and debris, the discharge of the sewage into the most rapid current possible aids in the prevention of a local nuisance. A row of batter piles on the upstream or exposed side of the sewer is desirable, or it may be necessary to construct a break-water to prevent the wash of the current from dislodging the pipe. These break-waters are low dams of wood or broken stone, more or less loosely thrown together. The backing up of water into the sewer can be prevented by constructing the sewer above the outlet on a steep grade. Where this is not possible the use of tide gates will be helpful. A tide gate, one form of which is shown in Fig. 46, is a special form of check valve placed on the end of the sewer.
Fig. 47.—Sewer Outlet on a Trestle.
Eng. News, Vol. 49, p. 9.
Sewer outlets are sometimes constructed on long trestles in order to reach deep or running water. Such a trestle is shown in Fig. 47. In Boston the outlet sewers are submerged under the harbor and discharge through outlets well out in the tidal currents. The sewage is discharged under pressure and the pumps are operated at some of the stations only at such times as the tidal currents will carry the sewage away from the harbor. It is not always necessary in a combined sewerage system to carry the storm flow to a distant submerged outlet. A double outlet can be constructed as shown in Fig. 48 in which the dry weather flow is carried to the channel in a submerged sewer and the storm flow is discharged on the bank.[[44]] Cast-iron pipe should be used for submerged outlets as the sewer is subject to disturbance by the currents, anchors, ice, and other causes.
Fig. 48.—Dry Weather and Storm Sewer Outlet at Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Eng. Record, Vol. 63, p. 383.
66. Foundations.—Sewers constructed in firm dry soil require no special foundation to distribute the weight over the supporting medium. In soft materials the lower half of the sewer ring may be spread as shown in Fig. 22, and in rock the pressures on sewer pipes are evenly distributed by a cushion of sand. In wet ground such as quicksand, mud, swamp land, etc., a foundation must be constructed if the water cannot be drained off.
The permissible intensities of pressure on foundations in various classes of material allowed by the building codes in different cities are given in Table 25. These figures are based on the assumption that the material is restrained laterally, which is generally the condition in sewer construction. In the softer materials it becomes necessary to spread the foundations not only to reduce the intensity of pressure, but also to care for the thrust of the sewer arch. The arch thrust may be found by one of the methods of arch analysis, and the haunches spread to care for this, or the sewer invert may be transversally reinforced to assist in caring for this action. Some sewer sections in hard and soft material are shown in Fig. 22 and 23.