DIGITALNA ARHIVA ŠUMARSKOG LISTA
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ŠUMARSKI LIST 13/2005 str. 109 <-- 109 --> PDF |
V. Ivančević: BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNICAL REGULATION OF THE SENJ TORRENT "TORRENTF." ... Šumarski list SUPEEMENT (2005), 91-109 SENJSKA DRAGA AS A NATURAL SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER FOR THE TOWN OF SENJ The aqueduct in the old town of Senia dated from the Roman period but has, unfortunately, not been preserved. According toBuczynski (1997), the women of Scnj had to get drinking water from the Kraljevica water spring (today Kraljičino Vrelo) in Senjska Draga, 12 km away from Senj because there were no water reservoirs in the town. On their long and arduous journey to Senjska Draga and back they sang songs. Some of these songs, dating from the 16lh and the 17th century, have been preserved until today. Aware of the difficult situation, in 1764 the town authority entrusted Karlo Dini with the designing of an aqueduct project fashioned after the old Roman aqueduct. The aqueduct, built at the beginning of the 19th century, used water from Kraljičino Vrelo. The pipes, manufactured in the surroundings of Otočac, were made of pozzolana soil and were lined with mortar. The aqueduct route followed the road along the Senj torrent channel (Lapaine, 1896). Severe forest felling in the first half of the 19th century in the area of Senjska Draga resulted in increased torrents and erosion. It was for this reason that during the reconstruction of the Josephine road through Senjska Draga in 1843, Major K. Knežić, a renowned civil engineer, proposed that the aqueduct be built below the new road to St. Križ so that the town could be completely protected. He connected the aqueduct to water-abounding Kraljičino Vrelo and to two more springs (Puhla and Brestovac). From Senjska Draga to the sea nine sluices with watering sites and four lateral sources for the fountain in the main square were built. The covered water route of 7,400 m was built of homemade clay pipes lined with mortar. The pipes were 60 cm long and 10 cm in diameter. The occasionally unsatisfactory gradient of the water route and the pipes of poorer quality (no enamel) allowed the growth of the plant greater celandine (Fushsschwanz) in the pipes, which interfered with or completely stopped the water flow. Discovering the exact site of its growth was very time-consuming and costly. The pipeline capacity in the summer months was considerably lower and could not meet increased demands for water. The little quantities of water that managed to reach the town were warm from passing through the shallowly laid pipes. For this reason water was kept in cool places before being drunk. Parallel to extensive works on laying the water pipes, the town´s water supply network was also built and the town harbour enlarged. Thanks to the effort of K. Knežić , who was proclaimed an honorary citizen of Senj, these operations were successfully completed. Constant problems with water supply urged the Scnj city authority to completely reconstruct the water supply network in 1873. The planned operations involved the reconstruction of the water spring, laying the pipes deeper in the ground and replacing the earthen pipes with the iron ones. The Royal Land Government granted the request of the Town Authorities on condition that the Senj torrent was previously regulated. The following period saw extensive biological-technical activities (described in detail above). When most of the biological and technical activities related to the regulation of the Senj torrent were completed, the Senj water supply network was reconstructed. The three existing springs were complemented with three more springs. The total minimal capacity of all the six springs was 1.46 1/sec or 87/6 1/min, or 45,990 m3 per year (Lapaine , 1896). A more recent date from 1957 mentions only four springs: Kraljičino Vrelo, Puhla, Brestovac and Pištenak . After the reconstruction, the quantity of water sufficed for the 2,700 inhabitants of Senj. The main, 400 m3 water tower built near the town cemetery at an altitude of 64 m was particularly impressive. The reconstructed Senj water supply facility started operating in 1894 to the joy of all the citizens of Senj. The overall costs amounted to 74,550 florins, of which the Royal Land Government allocated 49,540 florins (66 %) for the main water route, and the Town of Senj 24,960 florins (33 %) for the city water network. After the reconstruction of the water supply system, small-scale operations on its enlargement were executed inl928 and in 1931-34. Almost all the springs in the area of Kriški and Ovčiji Potok were included and households were connected to the main supply. The next small-scale reconstruction was undertaken in 1951-52. The water supply system was completely reconstructed in 1957-59, which resulted in a significant increase in the capacity by the inclusion of almost all the existing springs. Of 25 springs in all, the majority were in the area of Kriški Potok (stream) (15 springs). Kraljičino Vrelo (spring) had the biggest capacity with a minimum of 4.75 1/sec. The other area of Ovčiji Potok (stream) included nine springs, among which Brankovo Vrelo (spring) had the highest capacity with a minimum of 4.13 1/sec. One independent spring, Pištanek, was also included, with a minimum capacity of 0.27 1/sec. The majority of the springs were on the geological substrate of amphibolic porphyrite, the rocks of Triassic age. The total minimal capacity of all the 25 springs was 9.15 1/sec or 289,080 m per year, the mean capacity was 16.9 1/sec or 532,900 m3 per year, and the The Scnj water supply project, 1957, Architectural bureau "Grakalić", Zagreb. The project is housed in the Senj Municipal Services Company. |