Читать книгу ASCE 1193: The Water-Works and Sewerage of Monterrey, N. L., Mexico - G. R. G. Conway - Страница 5

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Monterrey lies in a plain at the foot of the Eastern Sierra Madre Mountains which constitute the eastern margin of the Mexican Cordilleran Plateau, and is surrounded by the magnificent mountains of that group, among the most notable of which are the beautiful Mitra and Silla Mountains. In the neighborhood of Monterrey these mountains attain heights of from 2,000 to 2,400 m., and are noted for their broken and jagged sky-lines. The leading geological characteristics of the district are the uplifted limestones of the older cretaceous age which form the main mass of the mountains.

Primarily, the mountains are compressional folds which, in the Sierra Madre, near Monterrey, are close and vertically compressed.[2] The drainage areas of the Santa Catarina River, which flows through Monterrey, and of the Estanzuela and Silla Rivers, its tributaries, are of limestone and shale; originally the shales were above the limestone, but the convulsion which formed the Sierra Madre as an anticlinal fold, left the originally horizontal strata standing nearly upright, and subsequent erosion in the upper part of the anticline has exposed nearly vertical strata in many places. The limestone being hard and resisting erosion, there is generally, along the line of contact, an abrupt drop vertically on the face of the limestone to the shale below. In many places this abrupt drop is broken by a limestone talus, but the line of contact can generally be traced. Mining operations in these mountains have revealed the presence of large caves at a considerable elevation, many of which contain large reservoirs of water, delivered to them through numerous faults. The river valleys are formed of masses of limestone conglomerate and coarse gravels, re-cemented in many cases by the lime deposits of the flowing waters. One of the chief characteristics of the subsoil of Monterrey itself is a local rock called "sillar," which is a superficial deposit of carbonate of lime from the evaporated waters. In some places the "sillar" is largely mixed with a conglomerate called "tepetate," or "impure sillar."

[2] Transactions, Am. Inst. Min. Engrs., Vol. XXXII (1902), pp. 163-178.

Plate II.—General Plan Of The Water Supply And Drainage Works For Monterrey, N. L., Mexico. Larger.

Topographically, the region around Monterrey is distinguished by the drainage area of the River Santa Catarina, which rises in the Sierra Madre near the Laguna de Sanchez, at an elevation of 1,850 m., as shown on Plate II. From this Laguna it follows a tortuous course between precipitous mountains through the Boca of Santa Catarina to Monterrey, for a distance of 90 km., eventually finding its way to the San Juan River, a tributary of the Rio Grande. Throughout its course it disappears, flows underground, and again appears; and, except in flood time, it has a subsurface flow for a distance of 16 km. above the city. In the Cañon of Santa Catarina it appears at the surface, having a normal flow of about 1,415 liters (50 cu. ft.) per sec., and its waters at that point are divided into two parts and carried into irrigation canals. The drainage area of the river above Monterrey is 1,410 sq. km., and its bed at Monterrey is between 518 and 545 m. above sea level.

Southward from Monterrey the country rises along the valley of the Silla for a distance of 19 km., where the Silla is separated from the San Juan by a low divide, the former flowing northward to Monterrey and the latter southeastward toward Allende. The Silla Valley is bounded on the east and west by the steep ranges of the Silla and Sierra Madre Mountains. The floor of this valley is gently rolling, but is cut by many arroyos which carry little or no water during the greater part of the year. The chief feeder of the Silla River is the Estanzuela, a stream which derives its waters from several springs coming to the surface near the line of contact between the limestone and the shale, at elevations of about 800 and 900 m.[3] above datum. The water-shed of this stream is rich with abundant vegetation due to the precipitation being greater than on the Santa Catarina water-shed. To the south of the divide the country is well wooded, and El Porvenir, 35 km. from Monterrey, is the garden spot of the State of Nuevo León. Here the rainfall is much greater than at any other point near Monterrey, and there are many streams which are used for irrigation purposes. Monterrey is built on a plain, chiefly on the north side of the Santa Catarina River. This plain has a general fall toward the northeast, and beyond the city it slopes gently northward for several miles toward the Topo Grande River, and then southeastward to join the great coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico. The general elevation of the city lies between the 519- and 550-m. contours. The Plaza Zaragoza, in the center of the city, is 533.90 m. above sea level; the elevation of the highest part of the city, at the western boundary, is 550.05 m., and of the lowest part, at the northeastern boundary, 518.0 m. above sea level.

[3] Throughout this paper datum refers to the height in meters above the mean sea level of the Gulf of Mexico at the Port of Tampico.

Plate III, Fig. 1.—General View of Line, Estanzuela Aqueduct.