A modern urban community requires a wide diversity of engineering services, and must maintain a department which either provides them directly, or arranges and supervises their provision by private contractors. These services are as follows:
The City of Winnipeg Engineering Department has on its staff professional engineers who do the bulk of necessary planning and designing. Outside consultants are called in only on projects which are unusually difficult.
Suburban engineering departments generally call upon consultant engineering firms to draw up detailed designs for proposed public works. None of the smaller suburban departments have a professional engineer on staff; in the six largest suburbs, one engineering department has two professional engineers, four have one each, and the other has none. The engineers of suburban Public Works departments must in general spend the greater part of their time in administrative work, leaving little time for the drawing up of plans and designs.
The City of Winnipeg Engineering Department is far larger in size than any suburban engineering department, and undertakes a number of functions which suburban departments do not attempt. During the 1890's and early 1900's, the City was growing rapidly, local sentiment in favor of municipal ownership was extremely strong. During this period the City authorities determined to carry out street paving, water main and sewer installations as public works, with the Engineering Department carrying out the jobs. Stone quarries, a gravel pit and an asphalt mixing plant were acquired by the Engineering Department, in order to ensure its own source of materials for street construction.
The scale and continuity of the City's construction operations rendered it feasible and economic for it to maintain its own contracting and supply organization; during the half century which has since elapsed, the City Engineering Department continued as a major contracting organization, performing its own surveys, paving all the City's streets, lanes and sidewalks, installing most of its sewers and water mains. Additional, more modern facilities and equipment were steadily added. Today the Department owns two gravel pits and a stone quarry -- all equipped with modern equipment for shoveling, crushing and storing; (1) to bring its materials to the City, the Department operates its own railway cars and engines. Within the City it maintains a large storage yard, equipped with modern binning facilities; at the yards large concrete and asphalt mixing plants are operated. Crews of Engineering Department employees carry out the actual jobs of paving streets, lanes and sidewalks, and installing water mains and sewers.
The City Engineering Department has not carried out all installations of sewers and water mains in Winnipeg. On large installations, the City Council has generally requested contractors to submit tenders, the City Engineering Department being permitted to submit a tender along with the private contractors. Contracts were normally awarded to the lowest bidder, which in many cases was the Engineering Department. Thus the Department has installed the great majority of the City's water mains and most of the smaller diameter services in the City's sewage system. Installation of large diameter sewers requires tunelling (2) and therefore specialized men and equipment; private contractors have been generally better qualified to do this work, and consequently have carried out most of such installations. The paving of streets, lanes and sidewalks has not been put out on tender; the City Engineering Department has carried out all this work.
No suburban municipality maintains a similar contracting organization. The relatively small volume of public construction work carried out in any one suburban municipality renders it uneconomic for any such municipality to attempt its own contracting. New construction in suburban municipalities has been carried out by private contractors entirely.
Until quite recently, new construction was not required in the suburbs, of streets, sidewalks, etc. The facilities laid down during the era of great expansion just before and after the First World War proved to be sufficient for the relatively small population growth which occurred during the following thirty years.Shortly after the end of World War II, however, the land serviced with the streets, sewers and water mains which had been laid down a generation before, was practically fully developed. If additional homes were to be built, new land had to be serviced. Unable or unwilling themselves to finance the servicing of raw land, suburban municipalities granted tracts of land to private contractors, the latter undertaking to install roads, sidewalks, sewers and water mains (and in some cases to build schools), and building homes upon the land which they had developed. In some instances development companies bought up privately owned tracts of land and serviced the entire area for residential development.
While large new land areas in suburban municipalities were becoming serviced and residentially developed, the residents of already settled districts demanded improvement of the public facilities which served them -- chiefly, the paving of streets which thus far had been only gravelled. In the more densely populated section of suburban municipalities large scale street paving programs have recently been carried out, financed on a local improvement basis, with the cost being assessed against the benefited property owner. All such paving work was carried out by private contractors who tendered for the jobs.
The paving of streets in some municipalities in turn made necessary an increase in the capacity of their sewers. So long as streets had been gravelled, rain water had been absorbed in some measure into the road itself, with run off water flowing into the ditches, which stored excess water. Where ditches fed into sewers, the flow was relatively slow, usually not above the capacity of the sewer.Once streets were paved however, all rain water passed immediately into the sewers: the roadway no longer absorbed any of the rainfall, and there were no ditches to act as storage basins for run off from the roadway, and retard its flow into the sewers. Consequently, the sewers of some municipalities which were adequate handle run off water when streets were gravelled, proved inadequate once streets were paved.
In Winnipeg, the Engineering Department carries out all required repairs to street pavements, lanes and sidewalks, sewers and water mains. Suburban departments generally carry out minor street repairs, and most repairs to water lines. Private contractors are sometimes called upon to carry out the latter.Suburban departments carry out very little maintenance of their sewers; some minor patching may be done, but if extensive repair work is required which involves digging the sewer up, a private contractor is usually called in.
Occasionally the suburbs have called upon the Water Works Branch of the City to carry out required repairs, to chlorinate or test mains, or to thaw out frozen mains, for which specialized equipment is required, and is possessed by Winnipeg only.
The larger responsibilities of the Winnipeg Engineering Department, including the high degree of servicing it must provide to the downtown area, are reflected in the size of its and expenditures compared to those of suburban departments. As of September, 1956 the Engineering Department had five times as many employees as all the suburban departments together, and its expenditures, per capita of population, were significantly larger than those of the larger suburban municipalities. The Winnipeg expenditure figure does not include the value of new construction work such as street paving which was performed on a local improvement basis, and paid for by the benefited property-owners. The expenditure figure shown refers to sums spent out of general revenue, and therefore comparable to the expenditures of suburban Engineering Departments. (see Table I).
All municipalities maintain snow plowing equipment. After heavy snow-falls, when a great quantity of snow must be moved in a short time, most municipalities obtain additional assistance from private contractors, who supply men and equipment on a rental basis. (Some plowing equipment is sometimes rented also from the Provincial Government.) The Winnipeg Engineering Department completely removes snow, in so far as possible, from the main downtown streets, hiring private trucks for haulage. Most of the larger municipalities spread abrasives at intersections in order to make winter driving safer. In Winnipeg and the larger suburbs sidewalks are snow plowed as well, with the snow being actually removed in downtown Winnipeg. The larger suburban engineering departments, except St. James, snow plow lanes as well. This is not done in Winnipeg.
| Number of Year-round Employees of Dept. 1956 | Total Expenditures 1956 | Expenditures Per Capita of Population 1956 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winnipeg | 1,160 | $3,078,543 | 12.07 |
| St. Boniface | 29 | 182,326 | 6.32 |
| St. James | 40 | 193,803 | 7.31 |
| St. Vital | 22 | 158,318 | 6.69 |
| East Kildonan | 22 | 137,066 | 7.32 |
| West Kildonan | 15 | 95,576 | 6.26 |
| Fort Garry | 29 | 123,291 | 9.07 |
| Transcona | 15 | 81,556 | 9.81 |
| Brooklands | 3 | 16,490 | 4.18 |
| Tuxedo | 13 | 71,811 | 61.75 |
| Charleswood | 4 | 39,825 | 7.99 |
| North Kildonan | 5 | 41,360 | 9.29 |
| Assiniboia | 1 | 12,676 | 3.54 |
| East St. Paul | 1 | 21,355 | 14.20 |
| West St. Paul | 1 | 10,732 | 6.61 |
| Old Kildonan | 1 | 4,596 | 4.55 |
Table II presents the cost of snow clearing in Winnipeg and suburbs for the year 1956. As is evident, the per capita cost in Winnipeg is substantially higher than in any of the suburban municipalities, with the exception of Tuxedo; there, streets are snow plowed with great care and alacrity, and this is reflected in the relatively high expenditure upon this service.
The paved streets of Greater Winnipeg require cleaning of two general types. In the spring, once the snow melts, there remains as residue the sand and other abrasive material which was put down during the winter at street intersections. In addition, particularly on some streets, dirt has become firmly caked to the pavement, as a result of having been pressed in by thousands of passing vehicles. The large volume of abrasives that must be removed, and the difficulty of removing hard packed mud, make the spring cleaning a considerable task. Much of the work must be done by hand, since existing machines cannot efficiently scrape up hard packed mud.
Once the accumulation of abrasives and mud has been removed in the spring, the streets can be kept fairly clean with periodic sweepings. In Winnipeg and most of the larger suburbs this work is done chiefly by mechanical sweepers. Winnipeg now possesses seven such machines, and each of the larger suburbs (except St. Vital) has one. In Tuxedo, the only one of the smaller suburbs which has any substantial length of paved streets, sweeping is done by hand.
Winnipeg operates four mechanical flushers to wash down the streets, downtown streets being generally washed several times per week, arterial thoroughfares once a week, and residential streets approximately once a month. Only one suburb, West Kildonan, has a mechanical flusher (which is also used to oil gravel roads). (1) In the other municipalities rainfall provides the streets with their only flushing.
Residential garbage is collected weekly ii Winnipeg and the built-up areas of the larger suburbs. The garbage of retail commercial establishments is generally collected twice a week. In the smaller suburbs the collection of garbage is less regular, ranging from once every ten days in Transcona to once a year in Old Kildonan. In Tuxedo, however, garbage is picked up three times a week. In West St. Paul householders must deliver their garbage themselves to the municipal dump. (In the Rivercrest veterans' settlement in this municipality the pickup is twice a year, with the cost levied against the householders.)
Employees of the engineering department pick up the garbage in most municipalities; in five, however, the work is handled by private contractors (St. James, St. Vital, East Kildonan, West Kildonan, and Charleswood).
To dispose of this garbage, the City of Winnipeg operates a modern incinerator in the West End of the City, with a burning capacity of 400 tons daily. The inorganic matter left after incineration is now disposed of in grounds acquired for the purpose in West St. Paul. The incinerator accepts for burning combustable waste materials brought in by wholesale and industrial firms, charging currently $5.00 per ton handled. The incinerator disposes also of the garbage of the Town of Tuxedo, charging the same rate as is levied upon commercial firms.
The suburban municipalities (excluding Tuxedo) all dispose of their garbage by hauling it to dumping grounds located within the municipality. Four of the larger suburban municipalities and two of the smaller ones deposit their garage underground, in holes or trenches, and bulldoze earth over it (1). This procedure is followed in St. Boniface, Transcona, West Kildonan, East Kildonan, Fort Garry, North Kildonan and West St. Paul. In the first three municipalities, it has not been necessary for the municipal engineering department to dig the necessary holes. In St. Boniface and Transcona, private companies which require large quantities of clay, dig trenches to remove the clay, leaving the burial place for municipal garbage. In West Kildonan, the digging up of earth for the construction of dykes along the Red River left holes into which garbage is now being dumped; the saturation point is expected to be reached within approximately one year, however. East Kildonan has for several years also dumped garbage into excavated to remove earth for dyking purposes; by the fall of 1957, however, these holes were filled. At that time the Engineering Department excavated a large trench into which garbage is now being dumped.
The remaining municipalities of the Greater Winnipeg area simply dump their garbage on the ground, usually igniting it to burn off as much as possible. The larger municipalities periodically bulldoze earth over the heap of garbage, although the coverage is generally incomplete, so that some garbage is left exposed, and consequently may give rise to the presence of rats and flies. The smaller municipalities simply dump their garbage on the ground and ignite it to burn off what they can.
There are, therefore, about a half dozen garbage dumps within the Greater Winnipeg area, which harbour rats in greater or less degree, and give rise to flies during the summer. The occasional spreading of poisons holds down the pest population, but does not achieve complete extermination. The majority of these dumps are located at some distance from built-up areas, although recent rapid growth has, in several municipalities, extended the built-up area to the close vicinity of the municipal dump. This is now the case in St. James and West Kildonan particularly.
Table III indicates, for the municipalities of Greater Winnipeg, the cost of garbage collection and disposal, and the method of disposal employed. As is evident, the cost of collection and disposal in Winnipeg is significantly higher than in the suburban municipalities, with the exception of Tuxedo. The higher cost in Winnipeg is attributable largely to several factors; firstly, the incinerator method of disposal is more expensive than the methods used in the suburbs; secondly, whereas all parts of Winnipeg have a weekly garbage have a weekly garbage pickup, only the heavily built up districts of suburban municipalities have such service, many residents of suburban municipalities not being served at all; thirdly, the pickup of commercial garbage is disproportionately higher in Winnipeg than in the suburbs. The high Tuxedo figure is accounted for by the extraordinary level of service provided: garbage is picked up three times weekly; municipal employees spread poison twice a year in residential garbage boxes; disposal is in the City of Winnipeg incinerator.
The City of Winnipeg Engineering Department includes an Inspections Branch staffed by full time plumbing, electrical and building inspectors, whose responsibility it is to ensure that all new buildings in the City conform to the existing by-laws. In the suburbs, a good deal of such inspection work is carried out on behalf of local Engineering Departments by private individuals who possess the required qualifications, and are paid fees for their work. The larger suburban Engineering Departments, however, have at least one full-time building inspector on their staffs.
No uniform building code is observed throughout the Greater Winnipeg area. The City of Winnipeg has a complete code of its own; some suburbs follow the Winnipeg code, more or less; other suburbs have adopted the National Building Code. The regulations of the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation constitute a form of building code which is observed throughout the entire area, although in most suburbs it is still possible to build a house or commercial building to standards which experts consider to be inadequate. Besides being inadequate, most of the locally used building codes tend to be undesirably inflexible. Ideally they should be revised frequently in order to allow for changing conditions and new types of materials, in fact, however, revisions tend to be carried out only at long intervals.
The Winnipeg Engineering Department includes a Shops Division which carries out all mechanical and other repairs on departmental equipment. The Division, in addition, manufactures a number of metal products which are required in large quantity by the Department, such as water meter parts. Suburban Engineering Departments do not attempt to carry out major repairs on their equipment; they generally are able to do their own servicing, and to make minor repairs; equipment in need of overhaul or major repairs is sent to private shops.
The Winnipeg Engineering Department includes a Purchasing Division which purchases fro manufacturers the stores required by all branches of the Department. The substantial orders placed by the Purchasing Division enable it to buy at favorable prices, although some at least of this economy is offset by the operating cost of the Division itself. Goods are "sold" to other branches of the Engineering Department at cost plus a ten per cent mark-up to cover handling charges. (Handling charges have normally amounted to slightly less than ten per cent.)
Suburban Engineering Departments purchase directly from manufacturers as they actually require the goods. Occasionally, a suburban Department has purchased articles or stores from Winnipeg, usually when it was required at once and the regular supplier was unable to provide the items immediately. The Town of Tuxedo has, on some occasions, requested the Purchasing Division of Winnipeg's Engineering Department to include its requirements in bulk orders placed with manufacturers.
While each municipal engineering department is responsible to its own municipal council, and is quite independent of other engineering departments, instances of co-operation are fairly numerous. Municipal engineers exchange helpful information regarding the performance of equipment; one department may borrow or purchase from another some immediately required part or stores item. The Winnipeg Engineering Department gives generously of expert advice, and on request, will send its specialized man and equipment out to do a job in a suburb. (For such work it, of course, receives payment.) The municipal engineers of the municipalities concerned co-operated completely with the Dyking Commissioner of the Province of Manitoba in the flood threat of 1956, co-ordinating their flood fighting schemes and pooling their resources.
The metropolitan area has a system of dykes along the Red and Assiniboine Rivers from Killarney Street in Fort Garry and Woody Dell Avenue in St. Vital to the Bergen Cutoff in West Kildonan and North Kildonan. The dykes are slightly lower than would be required to contain a flood of the proportions experienced in 1950. Each municipality through which a dyke passes is obliged to maintain its portion of the dyke, being responsible in this matter to the Dyking Commissioner, a senior official of the Provincial Government (1). As prescribed by the Dyking Commissioner, each municipality must also maintain sewage pumping stations which would be brought into action in the event of a flood.