Skip to main content

Delafield, Richard

New Castle Ice Harbor
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water TransportationEra: 1750-1799DateCreated: 1794Ice Harbor
Delaware 19709
New CastleState: DECountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/New-Castle-Ice-Harbor/Creator: Delafield, Richard

In 1794, the Delaware legislature authorized a lottery to fund the erection of ice piers in the harbor at New Castle. The ice harbor was designed to protect anchored ships from storms and ice. At the time, New Castle served as the principal winter port for ships from the Port of Philadelphia because ice on the Delaware River posed such a serious hazard to the wooden-hulled vessels. The harbor was the first of its type on the river and the last one to be maintained as the need for them declined. It served as a model for the other four harbors constructed in the area.

YearAdded:
1986
Image Caption: New Castle Ice HarborEra_date_from: 1794
Dunlap's Creek Bridge
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1930-1939DateCreated: 1939Dunlap's CreekBrownsvilleState: PAZip: 15417Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Dunlap-s-Creek-Bridge/Creator: Delafield, Richard , U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Not only was Dunlap's Creek Bridge the first cast-iron bridge in America, it was the first metal bridge anywhere to use what its builder, Capt. Richard Delafield, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, described as "standardized, interchangeable, manufactured parts." The bridge was built as part of the federal government's effort to make repairs on the National Road  before handing authority over to the states. Dunlap's Creek at Brownsville was an especially troublesome crossing, having destroyed three previous bridges since 1801.

YearAdded:
1978
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Dunlap's Creek BridgeEra_date_from: 1939
Subscribe to Delafield, Richard

Innovations

Dunlap's Creek Bridge

Not only was Dunlap's Creek Bridge the first cast-iron bridge in America, it was the first metal bridge anywhere to use what its builder, Capt. Richard Delafield, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, described as "standardized, interchangeable, manufactured parts." The bridge was built as part of…

Read More
New Castle Ice Harbor

In 1794, the Delaware legislature authorized a lottery to fund the erection of ice piers in the harbor at New Castle. The ice harbor was designed to protect anchored ships from storms and ice. At the time, New Castle served as the principal winter port for ships from the Port of Philadelphia…

Read More

We hope you enjoyed this essay.

Please support America's only magazine of the history of engineering and innovation, and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to Invention & Technology.

Donate

Stay informed - subscribe to our newsletter.
The subscriber's email address.