Washington Aqueduct - American Water Works Association
Transcription
Washington Aqueduct - American Water Works Association
Spotlight On . . . AL EX AN D ER S . G O R Z AL S K I AN D AN N E L . S P I ES MAN Washington Aqueduct: Serving Our Nation’s Capital for Over 150 Years T THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY, THE WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT HAS RETAINED ITS HISTORIC CHARACTER, STANDING AS A TESTAMENT TO THE LONGEVITY OF GREAT ENGINEERING WORKS. 40 he US Army Corps of Engineers has played an important role in the development of water resources in the United States. Despite that recognition, few know that the Corps’ Washington Aqueduct has owned and operated raw water conveyance and treatment systems for Washington, D.C., for more than 150 years. The Washington Aqueduct has a fascinating history and features architecturally stunning infrastructure, three components of which have received AWWA’s American Water Landmark Award. ORIENTATION TO THE WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT The Washington Aqueduct is a wholesale water utility providing drinking water to more than one million people in the national capital region. Its customer systems include the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water), Arlington County, and the Fairfax County Water Authority (Fairfax Water). Washington Aqueduct owns and operates the Dalecarlia and McMillan Water Treatment Plants. Water flows from the Potomac River to the Dalecarlia Reservoir and from there to either the Dalecarlia plant or the McMillan plant via the Georgetown Reservoir, City Tunnel, and McMillan Reservoir. The Washington Aqueduct’s historic infrastructure, and the icons that shaped it, are explored in this article. FEBRUARY 2016 | JOURNAL AWWA • 108:2 | GORZALSKI & SPIESMAN 2016 © American Water Works Association Opposite page: The Georgetown Reservoir Castle Gatehouse, shown in 2015, was designated an American Water Landmark by AWWA in 1974 and marks the connection between the Georgetown Reservoir and the City Tunnel. Photo courtesy of Washington Aqueduct. Above and left: The Union Arch Bridge, also known as the Cabin John Bridge, spans Cabin John Creek. The structure is arguably the most impressive feat of engineering in the original Washington Aqueduct. The Union Arch Bridge uses Roman arch construction featuring wedge-shaped voussoirs and a central keystone. The sandstone walls conceal nine spandrel arches and a conduit 9 ft in diameter. Photo credits: (left) National Archives (Brady 1921–1940); (right) courtesy of Washington Aqueduct. A FIRE IGNITES CONGRESSIONAL ACTION In what might sound like a familiar tune to contemporary observers, the story of the Washington water supply involves Congress courting disaster before taking action. When the federal government relocated from Philadelphia to Washington in 1800, it encountered a landscape with a dearth of infrastructure, including a lack of water supply. New development in the District of Columbia was served by a hodgepodge of wells, springs, and cisterns. The Franklin Park Spring, for example, was purchased to serve the White House and Treasury in 1816, and Smith Spring was purchased in 1833 and fed 12 fire hydrants on its way to the Capitol. Citizens tapped connections of varying legality to the federal supplies, drastically reducing the flow available to government buildings. Between 1800 and 1852, the District’s population grew by nearly a factor of 20, putting significant stress on local water sources (Ways 1993). The inadequacy of the existing water supply for the nation’s capital became clear by the middle of the 19th century. In his first annual address to Congress in 1850, President Millard Fillmore implored his congressional colleagues to take action, arguing that because “nothing could contribute more to the health, comfort and safety of the city and the security of the public buildings and records than an abundant supply of pure water, I respectfully recommend that you make such provisions for obtaining the same . . .” A few months prior, Congress had appropriated a meager $500 for the War Department to study the issue, which enabled only the consideration of Rock Creek as a potential supply. Then, on Christmas Eve in 1851, a stove sparked a fire in a large hall that housed the Library of Congress, then located within the Capitol building. Fortunately, the fire did not reach the Capitol’s then-wooden dome. However, nearly two-thirds of the library’s contents were lost in the blaze, including a majority of the works purchased from Thomas Jefferson’s collection decades earlier following the library’s GORZALSKI & SPIESMAN | 108:2 • JOURNAL AWWA | FEBRUARY 2016 2016 © American Water Works Association 41 will drink the water supplied by their magnificent aqueducts. The Great Falls of the Potomac River was selected as the source water for the growing US capital because it would provide the largest and most reliable supply. Photo courtesy of Washington Aqueduct. previous destruction at the hands of the British during the War of 1812. Many of the works lost in the fire proved irreplaceable. In 1852 Congress appropriated $5,000 for the “surveys, projects and estimates for determining the best means of affording the cities of Washington and Georgetown an unfailing and abundant supply of good and wholesome water.” The engineer originally placed in charge of the project died shortly after reporting for duty. The selection of his replacement would launch the career of a controversial figure who would have a tremendous impact on the nation’s capital as we know it today: Montgomery C. Meigs (see the sidebar on page 43). SELECTING A SOURCE ON THE NATION’S RIVER In 1852, Meigs was tasked with surveying potential water sources for the capital. Fitting with his industrious reputation, he submitted his first progress report after nine days on the job and his final report within three months. Congress received much more than it had bargained for in the final report. In addition to surveying sources, Meigs had also estimated future growth in population and demand, after having counted every 42 residence and business in the city by ward (Ways 1993). In the report, Meigs discussed water supplies in major American cities such as Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, as well as systems in Paris and London, and even the ancient city of Rome. His report proposed three alternative sources: Rock Creek (within the District), along with Great Falls and Little Falls of the Potomac River, nicknamed “the Nation’s River.” Meigs advocated for the Great Falls source (see the photograph on this page), which would provide the largest and most reliable supply but would also incur the greatest cost and engineering effort. The Great Falls location also provided the greatest hydraulic head, enabling firefighting throughout the city without the use of additional pumps. Consistent with Meigs’ visions of grandeur, the report included the following proclamation: Let our Aqueduct be worthy of the Nation; . . . let us show that the rulers chosen by the people are not less careful of the safety, health and beauty of their capital than the emperors [of Rome] who . . . by their great works conferred benefits upon their city which . . . cause their names to be remembered with respect and affection by those who FEBRUARY 2016 | JOURNAL AWWA • 108:2 | GORZALSKI & SPIESMAN 2016 © American Water Works Association The Great Falls site was eventually chosen. The plan called for a masonry conduit 9 ft in diameter to carry water from a diversion dam at Great Falls to the Receiving (Dalecarlia) Reservoir straddling the border between Maryland and Washington along the Little Falls Branch of the Potomac River. Maintaining grade required 11 tunnels, 26 culverts, and four stone bridges between Great Falls and the Dalecarlia Reservoir. Water was then to flow via another masonry conduit of the same size to a Distributing (Georgetown) Reservoir, from which cast-iron mains would carry water to the city. These two large reservoirs were intended to provide significant residence time, thereby enabling gravity settling of sediments from the often turbid Potomac. THE UNION ARCH BRIDGE Arguably, the most magnificent architectural feature of the original aqueduct is the Union Arch Bridge (see the photographs on page 41), also known as the Cabin John Bridge, which spans Cabin John Creek. As a result of technical complexity and funding limitations, the bridge was to be the last section of the aqueduct completed in 1863. In his 1853 report, Meigs described the aqueduct route as requiring “only one [bridge] large enough to make its erection an object of ambition to an engineer.” The Union Arch, of course, was that bridge. The bridge’s design was indeed ambitious. The brainchild of Meigs and his assistant Alfred L. Rives, the Union Arch Bridge uses Roman arch construction featuring wedge-shaped voussoirs and a central keystone (Scott 2007). In addition to a conduit 9 ft in diameter, its outer sandstone walls from nearby Seneca Quarry conceal nine spandrel arches. The exterior arch is composed of Quincy granite from Massachusetts, and the gneiss abutments were quarried only 300 ft upstream. The bridge deck is 451 ft long and 20.4 ft wide, and it Montgomery C. Meigs (1816–1892) Montgomery C. Meigs was instrumental in constructing the Washington, D.C., we know today, as well as working to preserve the Union. Meigs was responsible for both studying potential water sources for the capital and constructing the Washington Aqueduct. Photo source: Library of Congress, His projects also Prints & Photographs Division, Civil War included the extension Photographs [LC-DIG-cwpb-07054]. of the US Capitol building and erection of its cast-iron dome, extension of the US General Post Office building, design of the US National Museum (now the Smithsonian Arts and Industries building), as well as design and construction of the Pension Building (now the National Building Museum). He was a member of the five-person commission that evaluated the Capitol’s defenses during the Civil War and more importantly, served as the Union Army’s quartermaster general. Long before being challenged with providing water to the nation’s capital, Meigs displayed the qualities that would make him both an authoritative leader and antagonist of many within the federal government. He was described as “high-tempered, unyielding, tyrannical” by his own mother at the age of six. Egotistic and vain may have been apt adjectives as well. After graduating fifth in his class from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1836, one of Meigs’ first assignments in 1837 was the improvement of navigation along the Mississippi River near St. Louis. There he paddled the river in a dugout canoe as an assistant to a man he would befriend and describe as “the model of a soldier and the beau ideal of a Christian man,” one Robert E. Lee (O’Harrow 2011). However, Meigs’ admiration for Lee would not endure as the two would be divided by the Civil War. Meigs was assigned to construct the Washington Aqueduct, of which he had been the chief planner, by then Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. On the day that construction began at Great Falls in 1853, he made the following entry in his journal: Thus quietly and unostentatiously was commenced this great work—which is destined I trust for the next thousand years to pour its healthful waters in to the capital of our union. May I live to complete it & connect my name imperishably with . . . its great benefits. Lest his name be forgotten to history, Meigs seized opportunities to affix his moniker to structural elements of the aqueduct. This included not only bridges, but also valves of appreciable size and even the risers of a spiral staircase. He had a knack for showmanship as well. On the first day that aqueduct water was introduced to the city’s mains in January 1859 (from small streams near Dalecarlia Reservoir, as the Great Falls connection was unfinished), he stood atop an elaborate fountain and unleashed a jet of water that spouted 100 ft in the air to cheers from congressmen and other dignitaries (Ways 1993). Meigs detested the Confederacy, causing his personal ties with the leaders of the rebellion, including Lee and Jefferson Davis, to unravel. In what many interpret as an act of retribution, in 1864 Meigs proposed that Lee’s Arlington plantation estate, which the government had occupied since 1861 and purchased legally at auction a few months prior, be used as a cemetery for Union soldiers. When the site was approved, Meigs specified that graves be placed as near to the Lee home as possible, in hopes of making it uninhabitable after the war (National Park Service 2015). His son brevet Major John Rodgers Meigs died under disputed circumstances and was eventually interred at Arlington Cemetery. A trusted advisor to President Abraham Lincoln, Meigs was at Lincoln’s bedside for his death in the Peterson home across from Ford’s theatre. Meigs himself was also interred at Arlington when he died at the age of 75. Risers of a spiral staicase in a vault at the Georgetown Reservoir, as designed by Montgomery C. Meigs. Photo courtesy of Washington Aqueduct. GORZALSKI & SPIESMAN | 108:2 • JOURNAL AWWA | FEBRUARY 2016 2016 © American Water Works Association 43 conduit still carries water to our nation’s capital to this day. FILTRATION COMES TO WASHINGTON A sluice tower structure bears an inscription dating the first service of the Dalecarlia Reservoir from small streams flowing into the reservoir (1859) and its eventual Great Falls source (1863). Photo courtesy of Washington Aqueduct. rests 100 ft above the creek. At the time of its completion in 1863, the Union Arch Bridge’s 220-ft span was the longest masonry arch bridge in the world, a title it would hold for another 40 years (Ways 1993). Although the bridge has remained largely unchanged for over 150 years, the inscriptions it bears have undergone notable revisions. On Mar. 18, 1861, Meigs directed Rives that the following inscription should be made to the bridge: “Union Bridge; Chief Engineer, Montgomery C. Meigs; U.S. Corps of Engineers; Assistant Engineer, Alfred L. Rives, C.E.” (Gasparini & Simmons 2010). However, on April 17, Rives resigned his post to join the Confederacy. The line of the inscription mentioning Rives was replaced with the Latin phrase, Esto Perpetua, which roughly translates to “Let It Stand Forever.” 44 Rives would not be the only rebel to have his name stricken from the Union Arch Bridge. When Jefferson Davis, who was secretary of war when the project began, became president of the Confederacy, Secretary of the Interior Caleb Blood Smith had Davis’ name chiseled from the stone placard at the bridge abutment in 1861. His name would not be returned until 1909 following an order by President Theodore Roosevelt (Ways 1993). The bridge has been designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers and an American Water Landmark by AWWA under the names “Cabin John Aqueduct” and “Cabin John Bridge,” respectively. The conduit has been lined and redundant supply routes have been constructed, but that same FEBRUARY 2016 | JOURNAL AWWA • 108:2 | GORZALSKI & SPIESMAN 2016 © American Water Works Association With the somewhat grandiose description of the Washington Aqueduct presented thus far, one might expect that the entrance of Potomac River water to the capital would be met with similar fanfare. However, this was not the case. Public health officials advocated for the consumption of Potomac River water over polluted wells and springs scattered throughout the city, specifically because of concerns about typhoid fever. However, citizens preferred the aesthetics of frequently contaminated well and cistern water. The Potomac River was often turbid and did not set tle readily; the reservoir that was in service during this time, the Distributing (Georgetown) Reservoir, provided inadequate sedimentation to meet consumer demands for water quality. The first attempt to remedy the issue was to return the idle Receiving (Dalecarlia) Reservoir to service to provide additional removal of sediments. Several small streams had fed the city from 1859 until the completion of the Great Falls conduit in 1863, after which time they mixed with Potomac River water in the Dalecarlia Reservoir (see the photograph on this page). The coming decades brought development in the streams’ watersheds, and by 1885 the Dalecarlia Reservoir was bypassed because of the polluted streams. Plans called for a project to reroute the streams and return the reservoir to service, which was completed in 1895. Initially supportive of the project, the Evening Star (1894) reported that the project would make “Our nectar of the Alleghenies . . . as bright and clean as a liquid diamond.” The project did yield significant turbidity improvements, but the same paper had this to say in 1896 following heavy rains: A person of cleanly habits, who knows he is not as dirty as the contents of his tub, hesitates long before he takes his dip . . . But when it comes to using the stuff as a beverage, the matter takes on an even worse aspect. It is as dark in color as a glass of bock beer, and not nearly as translucent, or anything like as tempting . . . It is all well enough to say that the water is free from typhoid and other disease germs . . . [Plants] grow admirably in it, but the average mortal would prefer to have his drink and food in separate dishes. Evidently, source water protection, aesthetics, and consumer confidence were also important to utilities in the late 19th century. Turbid water wasn’t the only problem resulting from lack of filtration. One congressional source noted: “The placing of screens [at the effluent of the Georgetown Reservoir] will materially reduce the quantity of small fish, which, at present, swarm in the pipes and fountains” (Ways 1993). To better serve the eastern portion of the city that experienced low pressure, and also to provide further sedimentation capacity, a second distributing reservoir was constructed near Howard University. This reservoir was eventually named the McMillan Reservoir for James McMillan, the senator from Michigan who was a champion of the project and later of filtration, in addition to his betterknown cause: the National Mall. To connect the McMillan and Georgetown reservoirs, a 4-mi-long conduit known as the City Tunnel was constructed more than 150 ft below the streets of Washington. Flow through the City Tunnel was to be regulated by sluice gates, with a gatehouse to protect them from the elements. For these particular gates, their house truly was to be their castle (see the top photograph on this page). The Georgetown Castle Gatehouse was designated an American Water Landmark by AWWA in 1974 and marks the connection between the Georgetown Reservoir and the City Tunnel. It was built to resemble the symbol of the US Army Corps of Top: The Georgetown Reservoir Castle Gatehouse in the early 20th century. Bottom: The McMillan slow sand filter plant, designed by Lt. Colonel Alexander Miller with assistance from Alan Hazen and Edward Dana Hardy, included 29 1-acre filter beds with a design capacity of 75 mgd. Photos courtesy of Washington Aqueduct. Engineers on all four facades and was completed in 1902. The Corps Castle had been an unofficial symbol since 1840 and was formally adopted the same year the Georgetown Castle was completed. Although the City Tunnel and McMillan Reservoir improved pressure throughout the system, turbid water remained, as did incidence of typhoid fever. Public demand for clear, healthful water grew near the end of the 19th century (The Morning Times 1896). A filtration feasibility report completed in 1900 included evaluations of both slow sand and rapid sand filtration. The report concluded that slow sand filters would provide unsatisfactory effluent during the periods of highest turbidity, whereas the rapid sand filters would be capable of handling higher turbidities at less than half the cost. However, rapid sand filtration required the use of a coagulant (i.e., alum), and the use of chemicals in water treatment was met with stiff resistance from Congress, as well as the surgeon general of the US Army. To resolve the issue, medical and engineering experts assembled at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City in January 1901 at the behest of Senator McMillan. When testimony GORZALSKI & SPIESMAN | 108:2 • JOURNAL AWWA | FEBRUARY 2016 2016 © American Water Works Association 45 Left: An early view of the McMillan Water Treatment Plant. Right: A closer view of the statues that adorn the McMillan Fountain. Photos courtesy of Washington Aqueduct. proved inconclusive, the Senate appointed a committee of experts to make a recommendation. That committee consisted of Rudolph Hering, George Warren Fuller, and Alan Hazen. Although they believed the use of coagulant to be safe, the committee recommended the use of slow sand filtration with periodic coagulation to control high influent turbidities. Congress, in turn, appropriated funds for the slow sand filter plant, but the House rejected adding further funds for coagulation. Coagulation facilities would not be added until 1911 (Ways 1993). The slow sand filter plant was to be breathtaking in its footprint. Designed by Lt. Colonel Alexander Miller with the assistance of Hazen and Edward Dana Hardy, the plant included 29 1-acre filter beds (see the bottom photograph on page 45) with a 14-mil-gal filtered water reservoir for a design capacity of 75 mgd. The McMillan slow sand filter plant was completed and put into service in 1905. The complex functioned not only as a water treatment plant, but also as a park (designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.). A few years later, the McMillan Fountain by sculptor Herbert Adams was added to the park honoring the late senator (see the photographs on 46 this page). Public access to the reservoir and grounds was permitted until World War II, when fears of sabotage resulted in the facility being closed to the public. The McMillan Water Treatment Plant was named an American Water Landmark in 1984. A paper published in Journal AWWA’s first volume in 1914 showed reductions in typhoid fever deaths in Washington, D.C., after the addition of filtration (Gaub 1914). However, it is unclear how much of that reduction resulted from purification of the water supply compared with consumers switching away from contaminated wells and cisterns after the aesthetics of treated Potomac water improved. By 1918, maximum daily consumption exceeded 78 mgd and the original design capacity of the McMillan plant. A plan for additional capacity was submitted and approved by Congress in 1921, and construction of the Dalecarlia Water Treatment Plant was complete by 1928 (see the photograph on page 47). This plant included chemical mixing basins, sedimentation basins, 80 mgd in rapid sand filter capacity, and a 15-mil-gal clearwell. Expansions of the plant in ensuing years greatly increased its capacity. FEBRUARY 2016 | JOURNAL AWWA • 108:2 | GORZALSKI & SPIESMAN 2016 © American Water Works Association THE MODERN WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT In the nearly 100 years since the construction of the Dalecarlia treatment plant, the Washington Aqueduct has undergone numerous expansions and modernization efforts. Throughout these changes, the aqueduct has retained its historic character. The contemporary use of its original infrastructure stands as a testament to the longevity of great engineering works. As the aqueduct’s facilities have evolved, so too has its business model. The Washington Aqueduct remains owned and operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers but is no longer dependent on federal appropriations. The aqueduct is funded solely by the wholesale of water to its customer systems: DC Water, Arlington County, and Fairfax Water. Despite the transformations that the last century has produced, the challenges placed before us today echo those presented to Hering, Fuller, and Hazen back in 1901: how do we invest limited resources to meet future needs in the face of profound uncertainty? Water quality and reliability expectations for water utilities have grown substantially since that early expert panel was convened, as have the myriad contaminants that water utilities must consider. To fulfill the public’s trust that utilities will serve as good stewards of ratepayer resources requires thoughtful prioritization. With the help of a modern expert panel, Washington Aqueduct has developed a systematic, transparent, risk-based methodology for prioritizing contaminants (Spiesman & Speight 2014) to guide investments in treatment upgrades, watershed protection programs, and distribution system improvements. Only time can confirm Meigs’ prediction that the Washington Aqueduct would serve our nation’s capital for 1,000 years. With more than 150 years of rich history in the books, the dedicated, determined employees of the Washington Aqueduct stand ready to write the next chapter of that story. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors thank Harry Ways, Pamela Scott, and Robert O’Harrow Jr., whose referenced works were invaluable in developing this article. They would also like to thank the reference librarians at the Library of Congress for their assistance in locating historical resources. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Alexander S. Gorzalski is an environmental engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers, 5900 MacArthur Blvd. NW, Washington, DC 20016 USA; [email protected]. mil. He holds a BS degree in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an MS degree in environmental engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His focus is on process engineering and water quality at the Washington Aqueduct. Anne L. Spiesman is an environmental engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers in Washington, D.C. http://dx.doi.org/10.5942/jawwa.2016.108.0034 Fall foliage reflects on a sedimentation basin at the Dalecarlia Water Treatment Plant. The plant was completed in 1928. Photo courtesy of Washington Aqueduct. REFERENCES Brady, M., 1921–1940. Cabin John Bridge, Maryland. Mathew Brady Photographs of Civil War-Era Personalities and Scenes, 1921–1940; Record Group 111: Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 1860–1985; National Archives, ARC Identifier 525152. Gasparini, D.A. & Simmons, D.A., 2010. Cabin John Bridge: Role of Alfred L. Rives, C.E. Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, 24:2:188. Gaub, J., 1914. Some Relations Between the Water Supply and Typhoid Fever in Washington, D.C. Journal AWWA, 1:4:727. National Park Service, 2015. The Beginnings of Arlington National Cemetery. www. nps.gov/arho/learn/historyculture/ cemetery.htm (accessed Aug. 5, 2015). O’Harrow, R., 2011. Montgomery Meigs’s Vital Influence on the Civil War—and Washington. Washington Post, July 1, 2011. Scott, P., 2007. Capital Engineers: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Development of Washington, D.C., 1790–2004. US Army Corps of Engineers, Washington. Spiesman, A.L. & Speight, V.L., 2014. A RiskBased Methodology for Contaminant Prioritization. Journal AWWA, 106:3:E150. http://dx.doi.org/10.5942/ jawwa.2014.106.0034. The Evening Star. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Feb. 9, 1894. Library of Congress, Washington. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/ sn83045462/1894-02-09/ed-1/seq-3 (accessed Aug. 5, 2015). The Evening Star. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Jan. 10, 1896. Library of Congress, Washington. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/ sn83045462/1896-01-10/ed-1/seq-12/ (accessed Aug. 5, 2015). The Morning Times. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Feb. 27 1896. Library of Congress, Washington. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/ sn84024442/1896-02-27/ed-1/seq-1/ (accessed Aug. 5, 2015). Ways, H.C., 1993. The Washington Aqueduct: 1852-1992. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, Baltimore, Md. IN THE SPOTLIGHT Journal AWWA is seeking submissions and nominations for the regular feature series, “Spotlight On . . . ”. This series started in April 2015 to showcase water facilities in North America that demonstrate historical importance, architectural excellence, and technological significance. To submit an article or to nominate a facility, contact Editor-in-Chief Mike McGuire at [email protected]. GORZALSKI & SPIESMAN | 108:2 • JOURNAL AWWA | FEBRUARY 2016 2016 © American Water Works Association 47