WOODEN WATER PIPES

On May 11, 1910, Conway's Water Works Improvement District board signed a contract with the engineering firms of Dickinson and Watkins of Little Rock and the Dixon Smith Engineering firm of St. Louis to begin work on the city's first water works system. Cadron Creek was chosen as a good source of clean water. A preliminary engineering study of the water works system was completed, and the data sent to St. Louis.

On July 15, 1910, a engineering representative left on a tour of the South to study the possible use of wooden water pipes in the Conway water system. It was felt that wooden pipes made the water taste purer and sweeter than metal and had a life expectancy equal to that of metal. Constructed of staves held together by steel bands and covered with a thick layer of asphalt, wooden pipe was cheaper and was not thought to be effected by acids or minerals in the water.

On September 15, 1910, Joseph McCoppin, a local contractor, was awarded the water works contract, and on February 1, 1911, crew's began construction. Men and their teams began unloading the first rail car of cypress wooden pipes, but since there was no railroad spur on the east side of the creek, materials had to be ferried across Cadron Creek.

A large ditch digging machine was used to lay the water mains, and wooden transmission lines were lain from Cadron Creek to Conway. By July, pipe had been laid north to Robinson Avenue, and fire hydrants had been installed to that point.

But it wasn't long before questions and complaints about the wooden mains began to arise. The engineers, however, defended their choice of wood, noting that a 10-inch wooden pipe cost 651/2 ¢ per foot, while the cost of cast iron was $1.60 a foot. Work continued, and on August 4, 1911, workers dug a 1,950-foot ditch along Robinson, the longest strecth dug by the ditching machine thus far.

By January, 1912, the Improvement District board had started urging the completion of the project. Unfortunatly, some pipes had begun to leak, and it became necessary to call in a representative of the Wyckoff Pipe Company of Elmira, New York, supplier of the pipe. By March, almost all leaks had been repaired, and the system was finally scheduled for testing.

Then on May 12, the Conway Episcopal Church was destroyed by fire. Many thought the structure could have been saved had there been adequate water available. The Improvement District board met again and, this time, demanded that the project be completed immediately. Workers at the pump station were instructed to maintain full pressure in the lines at all times.

On May 27, the contractor, having failed in his efforts to get the Wyckoff Company to replace the defective pipe, placed an order with a Michigan factory for new, white pine wooden pipe to replace the leaking cypress. (Instead of using staves, this new pipe would be made by boring holes in solid logs. Steel bands were to be wound around the pipe. Each pipe was expected to withstand pressures up to 130 pounds per square inch.)
By June, the new pipe had arrived and was being installed, but, by now, construction was almost a year behind schedule, and citizens were beginning to lose their patience.

On Monday night, April 22, 1913, 20,000 gallons of water were lost because of leakage at the new reservoir. (Water had been cut off for 15 hours to test the reservoir). The Improvement District board thought that the leakage was excessive. The engineers and contractor disagreed, and the contractor declared he was turning the system over to the city and would no longer be responsible for it. The board, however, refused to accept the system until the leaks had been repaired. The contractor contended that improper design by the engineers had caused the leaks; the board countered that the problem was poor workmanship.

On May 29, 1913, all parties finally agreed that any needed repairs to the pipelines would be made and that the reservoir would be lined with a felt and asphalt waterproofing and covered with a layer of brick laid in concrete. Work was complete by year's end.

But in early June, 1914, a steel band on the wooden main crossing the railroad tracks at Oak Street broke. The reservoir was almost drained before the leak was repaired. On June 6, the newly formed Street Improvement District No. 1 board met with the Waterworks Improvement District board to discuss the replacement of the business district's wooden water mains with cast iron.