DOCUMENT No. 2. BOARD OF ALDERMEN, JANUARY 3, 1859. The Annual Report of the Croton Aqueduct Department was received, laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. D. T. VALENTINE, Clerk. CROTON AQUEDUCT DEPARTMENT, To the Honorable the Common Council of the city of New York: The Croton Aqueduct Board respectfully presents to your Honorable Body, according to law, the Annual Report of the Department. The classifications of the report, under appropriate heads of expenditure, will correspond with our books of account, and with the statistics of the report, which com. prehend and specify the operations of the year. A description is given of the materials which have been. used, the manner of their application, and the progress made in the construction of the embankments of the new reservoir, by the contractors, Messrs. Fairchild, Coleman, Walker & Brown, and observations and comparisons of extreme importance are made, resulting from the topo graphical survey of the Croton Valley. The usual ordinary details of the work performed dur ing the year, are furnished, including remarks on sewers, pavements and water rents, and concluding with the customary extended details of our statistics. Aqueduct Bepairs and Improvements. Under this head but little has been needed, and little expended during the present year. The fencing on the line of the aqueduct property has been proceeded with as usual, though not to so great an extent as during the last season. The number of miles of fence put up since our last report, is 4.20 miles. The usual minute and constant care, has been taken in the preservation of the banks and retaining walls, and in keeping all the outside work of the aqueduct in perfect repair. The annual examination of the interior of the conduit, and gate chambers, was made in the last week of October. The Chief Engineer being confined by illness, the examination this year was made by the Assistant Engineer, Mr. J. C. Winder. He entered the aqueduct at Croton Dam, on the morning of October the 28th, and finished his examination on the 30th, coming out of the aqueduct at the Receiving Reservoir in this city at about noon of that day. The entire line of the conduit was found to be in very good condition, requiring less expenditure on the masonry than is usual. For the purpose of this examination, the gates were closed at Croton Dam at half past eight o'clock A.M., on the 27th, and raised again at one o'clock P.M., on the 30th. The water was, therefore, shut off from the city seventy-six and a half hours, during which time the entire examination and necessary repairs were made. Under this head, also, a small expenditure has been made, in constructing shafts of masonry, for the purpose of admitting light and air to the extension pipe vaults, in the eastern bank of the Receiving Reservoir. The total cost of the supervision and repairs of the aqueduct, both for the surface and the interior, from Croton Dam to the Receiving Reservoir, and of all other work under this head, has been nineteen thousand seven hundred and four dollars and thirty-seven cents. The details will be found in Schedule No. 7. Croton Water Works Extension. The chief work under this head is the new reservoir. At the time of our last report, the suit between the parties claiming the contract, had been just brought to a conclusion, by a final decision in the Appellate Court, which, like that in the court below, sustained the action of this Board, in their award of the contract. The contract, therefore, as awarded to Messrs. Fairchild, Coleman, Walker & Brown, was sent to your Honorable Body for confirmation, on the 11th day of January. It was confirmed on the 2d day of April last, was signed the same day, and the contractors soon after commenced work. During the best of the working season, their force has ranged as high as one thousand two hundred men, and one hundred and seven horses. The amount of work done, up to the 30th day of November last, was 395,133 cubic yards of earth excavation. 17,538 cubic yards of rock excavation. 185,691 cubic yards of embankment. 62,408 cubic yards of puddle bank. 14,951 cubic yards of concrete masonry. 1,129 cubic yards of brick masonry. The immediate charge of the construction of this work, is still confided to Mr. Geo. S. Greene, who has fulfilled his duties with great care and ability. The reservoir has been constructed on the plan described in the specifications, as published in the last annual report of this Board. As some anxiety has been expressed in regard to the stability of the work, it is deemed expedient to advert here briefly to such of the specifications as bear upon the point in question, by stating how the work has been prosecuted, which statement will, it is believed, prove satisfactory to all those who have any knowledge of such works, The puddle trench has been excavated to and into the rock, until all loose rock was removed, and as far as was deemed necessary, in order to get a foundation impervious to water. Where the rock was found to contain minute seams, the surface was covered with a bed of concrete, (as contemplated by the specifications), varying in thickness according to the requirements of each particular |