The New Croton Dam.
For some years it has been apparent that an increased reservoir capacity for the water supply of the city of New York was soon to be a necessity. To provide this the Quaker Bridge dam was proposed some years ago. This gigantic structure seemed almost in advance of the needs of the case, and the engineer of the aqueduct commission, M. A. Fteley, proposed as a substitute a high dam as close to the present Croton dam as possible, and immediately below it. Eventually a compromise site was chosen—what is known as the Cornell site —about half way between the present Croton dam and Quaker Bridge. Contractors’ estimates for the construction of the dam will soon be before the authorities, and full plans have been prepared illustrating the details of its formation.
The dam is a combined masonry and earthwork structure As shown in our cut, the portion on the extreme right is of earthwork. A section of this part shows an earthwork embankment rising 120 feet above the original ground level. Its apex is thirty feet wide, providing a twenty foot roadway. The slope of the sides is two horizontal to one vertical. This slope is made virtually flatter on the outside of the dam by a number of gutters, which run along the face to catch the drainage. This side is sodded.
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