Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume III

THE WATER SUPPLY OF NEW YORK CITY. 103 CROSS RIVER DAM : CIRCULAR BASTION AND ABUTMENT AT THE NORTH END. The present daily consumption of water by Greater New York is about 530,000,000 gallons, or more than twice the quantity with which 7,000,000 Londoners have to content them- selves. Of the aggregate supply, 330,000,000 gallons are derived from the Croton water- shed. This latter amount is 30,000,000 gallons a day more than can prudently be looked for in years of extreme drought, and only 50,000,000 gallons a day less than the maxi- mum combined capacity of the “ Old ” and “ New ” Aqueducts. As the increase of water drawn through these conduits for several years has averaged 15,000,000 gallons a day each year, New Yorkers, ever prone to panic on the subject of water scarcity, readily scented danger from afar, and demanded, cost what it might, a new source of supply. This movement, started long before the completion of the New Croton Dam, cul- A further Supply called for. minated a few years ago in the appointment of a commission of inquiry, the enactment of necessary laws, and the creation of a new authority. The Board of Water Supply of the City of New York, as the latter is called, has jurisdiction quite distinct from the municipal department con- trolling the Croton system. It decided to seek amid the Catskill Mountains, already world-famous for magnificent scenery, a suit- able gathering-ground for the required waters ; and eventually elaborated plans for a vast system of water collection, storage, and dis- tribution, which, when completed, cannot fail to rank high among the most remarkable achievements of modern engineering. Preliminary investigations showed that the main dam, the controlling feature of the scheme, must be placed at one of two possible