November 16, 1892 – With 29 miles of the land for the proposed Sanitary and
Ship Canal channel from the Chicago River to within a mile of Lockport under
contract, the board of the Chicago Sanitary District considers a motion to
appoint a board of consulting engineers to find answers to four pressing
issues. They include: (1) “the disposal of flood waters form all
drainage areas which materially mollify or affect the sanitary condition of the
district; (2) the supplemental works and measures within the limits of the
Sanitary District best adapted to create a sanitary condition of the same,
special reference being had to the exclusion of sewage from the lake and the
proper sanitation of the North Branch and tributary territory; (3) the
supplemental works and inlets necessary to furnish the main drainage channel
with a supply of water from the lake sufficient to fill the requirements of the
Sanitary District law in view of the present and probably future population of
the district and in view of any incidental and commercial features which may
contribute to the best interests of the Sanitary District and the City of
Chicago; and (4) the works and treatment needed between the lower end of the
Section 14 above Lockport and Lake Joliet to properly dispose of the water
brought down by the main channel in addition to the flood water, said works
being considered with reference to the ultimate necessity of the General
Government constructing a navigable channel throughout the reach connecting
with the main channel of the sanitary district and to any incidental commercial
advantages which the situation presents.” [Chicago
Daily Tribune, December 17, 1892] In
short, the process of reversing the flow of the Chicago River, a project that
will consume eight years and which will move more earth than the digging of the
Panama Canal two decades later, has begun. The above photo shows the great canal under construction four years later in 1906.
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