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1840-1849

Duck Creek Aqueduct Covered Bridge
Main Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1840-1849DateCreated: 183919001-19041 Pennington Rd.MetamoraState: INZip: 47030Country: USA

Duck Creek Aqueduct is a rare surviving example of a covered timber aqueduct. It was one of several similar structures on the Whitewater Canal, which operated between the Whitewater Valley and the Ohio River from 1839 to 1865. After being displaced by the railroad, the canal supplied hydraulic power for the industrial districts at Metamora and Brookville.

Image Credit: Anthony Dillon
Workers digging an oil well by hand at Bibi-Eibat (Azerbaijan).
Society: SPEMain Category: PetroleumSub Category: ExtractionEra: 1840-1849DateCreated: 1848Bibi-HeybatState: BakuCountry: AzerbaijanWebsite: http://www.spe.org/industry/history/timeline.phpCreator: Aleveev, Major

 

On July 14, 1848 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Major Alekseev supervised the completion of a 20+ meter well, reaching a small pocket of crude oil, thus establishing the world’s very first oil well. The process used was an archaic technique known as cable-tool drilling, employed for hundreds of years in ancient China. Major Alekseev acted under the instruction of governor-general Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, who in a memo wrote:

 

Image Credit: WikipediaImage Caption: Workers digging an oil well by hand at Bibi-Eibat (Azerbaijan).

Two immense side-wheel steamboats lined up a few minutes before 11:00 am on June 1, 1845 at the foot of Vesey Street on the tip of Manhattan. Inside each pilot house, some 30 feet above the water line, were the boats’ owners—industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt and George Law—two immense egos who had decided to race 66 miles race upriver to Sing Sing. The gleaming tk-foot-long Cornelius Vanderbilt.

The Cincinnati Observatory
Society: AIAAMain Category: Aerospace & AviationSub Category: AstronomyEra: 1840-1849DateCreated: 18423489 Observatory PlCincinnatiState: OHCountry: USAWebsite: https://www.aiaa.org/uploadedFiles/About-AIAA/Governance/GovernanceDocs/AnnualReports/AIAA_AnnualReport_2007-2008.pdf

The Cincinnati Observatory, “The Birthplace of American  Astronomy,” is the oldest professional observatory in the United States.  Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel, the “Father of American Astronomy,” founded the  observatory in 1842.  John Quincy Adams laid the cornerstone  for the observatory on Mt. Ida, later renamed Mt. Adams. The  original Merz und Mahler 11-inch refractor telescope was put into service  in 1845 and is still in use here today on Mount Lookout.

Image Credit: Courtesy Wikicommons/Joe D. Good (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In February 1837, Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury called for information from the “most intelligent sources” to help prepare a report to Congress on the propriety of establishing a “system of telegraphs” for the United States. Of the 18 responses he received, 17 assumed that the telegraph would be optical and its motive power human. The only respondent to envision a different operating force was Samuel F. B.

Horseshoe Curve
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Rail TransportationEra: 1840-1849DateCreated: 1847-1854Horse Shoe Curve ParkAltoonaState: PAZip: 16601Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/horseshoe-curve-pennsylvania-rr/Creator: Consolidated Rail Corporation

One of the earliest and most impressive of America's great railroad engineering feats, the Horseshoe Curve was built as a means of overcoming a straight-line grade over the geological feature known as the Allegheny Escarpment or Allegheny front, which separates the ridge-and-valley section of Pennsylvania (on the east) from the Allegheny Front (on the west). Such a straight-line route would have made commercial railroad operations unfeasible from both and economic and technical standpoint.

Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/US Geological SurveyImage Caption: The Horseshoe Curve was built as a means of overcoming a straight-line grade over the geological feature known as the Allegheny Escarpment.Era_date_from: 1847
Dublin-Belfast Rail Link
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Rail TransportationEra: 1840-1849DateCreated: 1842-1855Dublin to BelfastCountry: IrelandWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Dublin-Belfast-Rail-Link/

The Dublin to Belfast Rail Link established a vital connection between the capitals of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The line's most notable engineering feature was the 1,760-foot-long Boyne Bridge; it represented one of the earliest uses of calculated stresses, the first large-scale use of wrought iron latticed girders, and the first full scale test of continuous beams. Tests performed on the wrought iron columns and struts were published and provided invaluable information for engineers who would design similar structures in the future. 

YearAdded:
1996
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Henry ClarkImage Caption: The Dublin to Belfast Rail Link established a vital connection between the capitals of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.Era_date_from: 1842
Thames Tunnel
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: TunnelsEra: 1840-1849DateCreated: 1843Beneath the Thames RiverLondonCountry: UKWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Thames-Tunnel/Creator: Brunel, Marc Isambard , Brunel, Isambard Kingdom

By the turn of the 19th century, London's streets were clogged with traffic. Over 3,700 passengers used the Thames River's main boat crossing each day, while wagons and carts were forced to cross via the London Bridge, two miles away. Building a bridge would further impede shipping on the already-crowded Thames; a tunnel was the obvious alternative.

The first attempt at a tunnel in the present location began in 1807. The excavation had proceeded only 1,000 feet-using traditional mining methods-when crews reached a layer of quicksand and were forced to stop.

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Annie Mole (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Thames TunnelEra_date_from: 1843
Tennessee State Capitol
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BuildingsEra: 1840-1849DateCreated: 1845-1877Tennessee State CapitolNashvilleState: TNZip: 37219Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Tennessee-State-Capitol/Creator: Strickland, William , Bogart, John

The Tennessee State Capitol, the first and only home of the Tennessee General Assembly, was designed by engineer and architect William Strickland. Since its construction, it has ably served, with little modification, as the seat of Tennessee's government.

YearAdded:
2003
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Ron CogswellImage Caption: Tennessee State CapitolEra_date_from: 1845
Starrucca Viaduct
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1840-1849DateCreated: 1848Starrucca CreekLanesboroState: PAZip: 18847Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Starrucca-Viaduct/Creator: Adams, Julius , Kirkwood, James

The Starrucca Viaduct of the Erie Railroad Company crosses Starrucca Creek in Lanesboro, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest and one of the longest railroad bridges in Pennsylvania. Its 18 slender, semicircular stone arches each span 50 feet and the structure rises 110 feet above the creek.

YearAdded:
1973
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Navin Rajagopalan (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Caption: Starrucca ViaductEra_date_from: 1848
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Innovations

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Duck Creek Aqueduct

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Starrucca Viaduct

The Starrucca Viaduct of the Erie Railroad Company crosses Starrucca Creek in Lanesboro, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest and one of the longest railroad bridges in Pennsylvania. Its 18 slender, semicircular stone arches each span 50 feet and the structure rises 110 feet above the creek.…

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Tennessee State Capitol

The Tennessee State Capitol, the first and only home of the Tennessee General Assembly, was designed by engineer and architect William Strickland. Since its construction, it has ably served, with little modification, as the seat of Tennessee's government.

For a relatively poor…

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Thames Tunnel

By the turn of the 19th century, London's streets were clogged with traffic. Over 3,700 passengers used the Thames River's main boat crossing each day, while wagons and carts were forced to cross via the London Bridge, two miles away. Building a bridge would further impede shipping on the…

Read More
Dublin-Belfast Rail Link

The Dublin to Belfast Rail Link established a vital connection between the capitals of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The line's most notable engineering feature was the 1,760-foot-long Boyne Bridge; it represented one of the earliest uses of calculated stresses, the first…

Read More
Horseshoe Curve

One of the earliest and most impressive of America's great railroad engineering feats, the Horseshoe Curve was built as a means of overcoming a straight-line grade over the geological feature known as the Allegheny Escarpment or Allegheny front, which separates the ridge-and-valley section of…

Read More
The Cincinnati Observatory

The Cincinnati Observatory, “The Birthplace of American  Astronomy,” is the oldest professional observatory in the United States.  Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel, the “Father of American Astronomy,” founded the  observatory in 1842.  John Quincy Adams laid the cornerstone  for the…

Read More
Workers digging an oil well by hand at Bibi-Eibat (Azerbaijan).

 

On July 14, 1848 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Major Alekseev supervised the completion of a 20+ meter well, reaching a small pocket of crude oil, thus establishing the world’s very first oil well. The process used was an archaic technique known as cable-tool drilling, employed for hundreds of…

Read More
Duck Creek Aqueduct Covered Bridge

Duck Creek Aqueduct is a rare surviving example of a covered timber aqueduct. It was one of several similar structures on the Whitewater Canal, which operated between the Whitewater Valley and the Ohio River from 1839 to 1865. After being displaced by the railroad, the canal supplied hydraulic…

Read More

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