Soon after the participants arrived, Mayor Allen handed his coat to Reverend Harman and reached for the shovel held by City Attorney Dyer. Before giving it to him, Dyer praised Allen's role during his 18 months as mayor in giving careful and meritorious advice to the council on public improvements and in appreciation, the council gave him the honor of throwing the first dirt. In addition, the council had inscribed the shovel’s handle to read--"The Hon. J.P. Allen, Mayor of Wichita, Oct. 18, '88." Allen then made a short speech amid the cheers, thanking the council for its able assistance in "the greatest undertaking the city had ever attempted." He also called on the council and the citizens to work together to improve the city by not spending money lavishly, and concluded with, "I will now break the dirt and I hope this is the only kind of dirt I throw." The crowd cheered as Allen removed three shovels of dirt followed by each council member, the city attorney and the city clerk. The celebration ended shortly after and work began the following day. (Eagle, 10/19/1888).

Construction of the sewer commenced rapidly, and soon became the city's largest undertaking. At the last meeting of the old City Council on April 8, 1889, Healy, chairman of the Sewer and Drainage Committee, presented a detailed report on the sewer installations in Wichita. The report described the locations and characteristics of the sewers. Wichita had constructed a total of 17,744 feet of sewer, which included 16,104 feet for the Topeka Avenue sewer, extending from the north side of Douglas Avenue south on Topeka to the river, another 1,100 feet running from Douglas to the north side of First Street, and west to Lawrence Avenue, and the remainder continuing from the west side of Lawrence to a point 140 feet west of Market Street on the north side of First. When adding in the private sewers which had been built and connected to the city sewer, the entire length of the Topeka Avenue sewer and connections measured 25,086 feet, costing an estimated 25 cents per day to keep clean.

Built into the sewer system were many manholes and storm sewer inlets. In addition, various storm drain sewers, private sewers and other small city lines ran along independent routes. The storm inlets allowed street water into the sewer mains but in the new sewerage system the inlets had been left out deliberately. Later the storm sewers were built separately, just as they are today.

Healy concluded his remarks saying that Wichita would have one of the best sewerage systems west of the Mississippi River when it was completed. His comments were in earnest, but somewhat optimistic, as it turned out.

At the April 11 meeting of the City Council, Mayor Allen gave his farewell address commending the council for burning the midnight oil in making comparisons and discussing the sewer system, which allowed for not only the completion of the Topeka Avenue sewer, with its nearly five miles of pipe, but also the construction of the new system. "We now hope and believe that before the close of another year we will witness what was at one time considered an utter impossibility, the city of Wichita completely and successfully sewered," he said, "thus finishing the greatest improvement ever made by any city in the state, namely the construction of a system of sewerage 64 miles in extent." Although many advancements had been made by Wichita he centered his remarks on the sewer since its "improvements overshadowed all." (Eagle, 4/12/1889).

After the work on the sewer had begun, legal complications arose, blocking issuance of the bonds. However, legislation empowering the city to provide temporary funds was soon passed and work resumed. Finally, on May 27, the council met to auction the bonds to pay for the sewer.

Instead of offering sealed bids, in which the companies bid in secret for the interest to be paid, an open auction was held. Prior to bidding, $5,000 checks were required of all bidders as a measure of faith, which the winner would then give to the city. The amount of bonds for sale was $255,000, with the city to pay 6% interest. Basically, the bidders with the largest premiums gained the bonds, although the city could reject any and all bids.

The bidding began with nine participants, some from as far away as Ohio and Maine. A controversy surfaced immediately when M.W. Levy said he would take the bonds at 5% interest if he were paid a 2% negotiation fee. However, the city attorney held it was only possible to bid on 6% bonds, as advertised. Levy repeated his offer suggesting he would accept less than 2% or an amount acceptable to the council. By the third call L.D. Skinner asked whether bids for 5% bonds would be accepted, as he had to bid on 6%. The mayor then stated the 5% bids could not betaken. Levy argued with the ruling, claiming that the council had the right to save money for the taxpayer by selling at 5% instead. Questions were raised from a number of parties on the issue, some arguing that if 5% bids were to be accepted the bonds should be readvertised. Finally, Healy moved to accept bids on 6% only. Councilman Charles Coffin tried to amend it to allow all bids to be accepted, but failed, and Healy's motion prevailed.

The bidding continued for the bonds at 6%. When Woodbury and Moulton reached a bid of $17,075 premium, the action was stopped to verify the company. Once approved, action continued between Woodbury and Moulton and Kean and Company, the last two participants.

Finally, after half an hour, Kean and Company dropped out and Woodbury and Moulton were ruled the winners with a bid of $17,855. A motion was made to unanimously accept the bid, but before any objections could be made Levy asked to bid again, after which, as the Eagle reported, a deathly silence fell. The mayor agreed to hear Levy and everyone awaited the financial deal he would propose. Levy finally spoke, saying he wished to "bid" all his friends good night, lightening the mood in the chambers, and the motion was accepted without opposition and the winners were congratulated.

The entire process took some two hours, with the role called 21 times. It was reported by a bond purchaser that the Wichita bonds had brought more money than any other city in the state. With the bonds sold and the financing of the project secure, construction could move full speed ahead.

At the closing of the fiscal year on April 14, 1890, Mayor George W. Clement estimated the sewer system could be completed and ready for use by June 1. Again, the date was premature, showing that government projects failing behind schedule was not a phenomenon discovered in the 20th century.

Finally, on January 12, 1891, the City Council received the final report on the sewer construction. The city engineer notified the council that the sewer in District 1 was completed and provided the cost estimates. But the report was not easily accepted. W.L. Johnson moved that the cost estimates be received and filed, to Buckridge’s substitute motion that they be received and adopted. The Eagle reported that "considerable discussion was had over these motions and considerable warmth displayed by some members." During the debate, Johnson objected to a presentation by the Sewer Committee on the grounds that it was a report of the sewer contractors, not the committee. When the mayor overruled the objection it was read, giving a brief history of the sewer construction from April, 1887.

The report included estimates of receipts and disbursements. Total receipts, or cash available for the project, including the sale of bonds, the premium, assessments in cash, and interest on time deposits, totalled $285,200. The disbursements included all costs of rights-of-way, bonds, and $214,200 to Steinmetz and Sullivan, plus $1,194.13 in interest for late payments, totalling close to $258,000, leaving $27,200 for the city treasury.

After careful examination of the sewer, the committee concluded that it had been finished according to contract and praised the city engineer and the contractor for their work performance. More than 55 miles of sewerage had been completed, less than the 64 originally planned, and close to $118,000 in wages to Wichitans had been paid during the sewer construction. The committee concluded, "The system to us seems perfect, and the wisdom of our city authorities in adopting said system, will be fully demonstrated. In fact, we believe our present system will be sufficient for many years to come." (City Council Minutes).

The work of the committee was nearly finished. Buckridge, a member of the committee, moved to adopt the estimates, but Johnson's motion to place the report on file passed the heavily divided body. The motion had no effect since the work was completed, but it did demonstrate displeasure with the results. And, although the project did not end on a cheerful note, the sewer system, which had been in progress for five years, had finally been implemented. Many changes, extensions, and adaptations to the system would occur in the next century, but the core of the sewerage system, a vital resource for modern civilization, had been installed in the city of Wichita. The complex, often inefficient, machinery of government had once again managed to work.