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Woodhead Dam
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: DamsEra: 1890-1899DateCreated: 1897Woodhead DamCape TownState: Western CapeCountry: South AfricaWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Woodhead-Dam/Creator: Stewart, Thomas

With the discoveries of South Africa's diamonds in the 1860s and gold in the 1880s, immigrants flooded into Cape Town and changed it into a major commercial center. Unfortunately, its water supply had not kept pace with the population growth.  After several droughts and years of inadequate water supply, the Woodhead Tunnel was constructed between 1887 and 1891. When it failed to solve the water shortage problem, the Municipality of Cape Town determined that a dam and reservoir needed to be built.

YearAdded:
2008
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Tim Fields (CC BY-ND 2.0)Image Caption: Woodhead DamEra_date_from: 1897
McNeill Street Pumping Station
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water Supply & ControlEra: 1880-1889DateCreated: 1887 Water Works MuseumShreveportState: LAZip: 71101Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/McNeill-Street-Pumping-Station/Creator: Worthington, Henry R.

The city of Shreveport could not justify the cost of building a water distribution system solely for the purpose of supplying potable water. It was a series of disastrous fires in the 1880s that galvanized support for a pumping facility that would provide ample water for firefighting. 

YearAdded:
1999
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: McNeill Street Pumping StationEra_date_from: 1887
Colorado River Aqueduct
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water Supply & ControlEra: 1930-1939DateCreated: 1933-1941Fullerton
Parker Dam
State: CACountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Colorado-River-Aqueduct/Creator: Weymouth, Frank E.

Stretching 242 miles from the Colorado River on the California-Arizona border to its final holding reservoir near Riverside, California, the Colorado River Aqueduct consists of more than 90 miles of tunnels, nearly 55 miles of cut-and-cover conduit, almost 30 miles of siphons, and five pumping stations. Supplying approximately 1.2 million acre-feet of water a year - more than a billion gallons a day - it helped make possible the phenomenal growth of Los Angeles, San Diego, and surrounding Southern California areas in the second half of the 20th century. 

YearAdded:
1994
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Chuck Coker (CC BY-ND 2.0)Image Caption: Colorado River Aqueduct sinks into a tunnel underneath California State Highway 62Era_date_from: 1933
Cheesman Dam
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: DamsEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 190527633-27701 State Highway 211SedaliaState: COZip: 80135Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Cheesman-Dam/Creator: South Platte Canal and Reservoir Company, Allen, C.P.

The Cheesman Dam was the first major dam in the U.S. to incorporate the gravity arch, and upon completion it was the highest gravity arch stone masonry dam in the world. It is the key structure in Denver's water supply.

Three years into original construction, flooding swept away the partially completed rock-filled structure. A solid masonry replacement dam was completed in just five years - a major feat for such a remote and complex project. When it was finished, the dam rose higher than the tallest building in Denver. 

YearAdded:
1973
Image Credit: Public DomainImage Caption: Cheesman DamEra_date_from: 1905
Marlette Lake Water System
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water Supply & ControlEra: 1870-1879DateCreated: 1873-1887Lake Tahoe–Nevada State ParkCarson CityState: NVZip: 89703Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Marlette-Lake-Water-System/Creator: Schussler, Hermann

In the mid-1800s Virginia City was America's greatest producer of high-grade silver and gold ore. When mining activities began, natural springs provided water to the camps. As the population grew, the Virginia and Gold Hill Water Company was formed to address the need for more water. The company first drew water from tunnels that had been driven into the mountains by prospectors. Water was stored in wooden tanks and sent through pipes into the town. 

YearAdded:
1975
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Jeff Moser (CC BY-ND 2.0)Image Caption: Marlette Lake Water SystemEra_date_from: 1873
Prehistoric Mesa Verde Reservoirs
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water Supply & ControlEra: 0-1000DateCreated: 750-1180Mesa Verde National ParkMontezuma CountyState: COZip: 81330Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Prehistoric-Mesa-Verde-Reservoirs/Creator: Ancient Pueblo Peoples

Four prehistoric reservoirs at Mesa Verde National Park were constructed and used between AD 750 and AD 1180. They are: Morefield Reservoir (in Morefield Canyon), Far View Reservoir (on Chapin Mesa), Sagebrush Reservoir (on an unnamed mesa), and Box Elder Reservoir (in Prater Canyon). These four ancient reservoirs represent extraordinary engineering achievements by the Ancestral Puebloan people. In an arid environment with very little surface water, these prehistoric people found ways to route and capture runoff to create sustainable domestic water supply reservoirs.

YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/McGhiever (CC BY-SA 3.0)Image Caption: Prehistoric Mesa Verde ReservoirsEra_date_from: 750
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Innovations

Prehistoric Mesa Verde Reservoirs

Four prehistoric reservoirs at Mesa Verde National Park were constructed and used between AD 750 and AD 1180. They are: Morefield Reservoir (in Morefield Canyon), Far View Reservoir (on Chapin Mesa), Sagebrush Reservoir (on an unnamed mesa), and Box Elder Reservoir (in Prater Canyon). These four…

Read More
Marlette Lake Water System

In the mid-1800s Virginia City was America's greatest producer of high-grade silver and gold ore. When mining activities began, natural springs provided water to the camps. As the population grew, the Virginia and Gold Hill Water Company was formed to address the need for more water. The company…

Read More
Cheesman Dam

The Cheesman Dam was the first major dam in the U.S. to incorporate the gravity arch, and upon completion it was the highest gravity arch stone masonry dam in the world. It is the key structure in Denver's water supply.

Three years into original construction, flooding swept away the…

Read More
Colorado River Aqueduct

Stretching 242 miles from the Colorado River on the California-Arizona border to its final holding reservoir near Riverside, California, the Colorado River Aqueduct consists of more than 90 miles of tunnels, nearly 55 miles of cut-and-cover conduit, almost 30 miles of siphons, and five…

Read More
McNeill Street Pumping Station

The city of Shreveport could not justify the cost of building a water distribution system solely for the purpose of supplying potable water. It was a series of disastrous fires in the 1880s that galvanized support for a pumping facility that would provide ample water for firefighting. 

Read More
Woodhead Dam

With the discoveries of South Africa's diamonds in the 1860s and gold in the 1880s, immigrants flooded into Cape Town and changed it into a major commercial center. Unfortunately, its water supply had not kept pace with the population growth.  After several droughts and years of inadequate water…

Read More

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