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1870-1879

Ward House
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BuildingsEra: 1870-1879DateCreated: 18761-99 Magnolia Dr
Brook
RyeState: NYCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Ward-House/Creator: Ward, William , Mook, Robert

It is a large, imposing structure (over a dozen rooms and spacious halls) dominated by a four-story octagonal tower at one corner and a second shorter square tower at another corner containing tanks for potable and fire-fighting water supply.

YearAdded:
1977
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Daniel Case (CC BY-SA 3.0)Image Caption: Ward HouseEra_date_from: 1876
Tehachapi Pass Railroad Line
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Roads & RailsEra: 1870-1879DateCreated: 1876WalongState: CACountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Tehachapi-Pass-Railroad-Line/Creator: Harris, J. B. , Southern Pacific Railroad

The Tehachapi Pass Railroad Line was cut through solid and decomposed granite by about 3,000 Chinese laborers using nothing more than picks, shovels, horse drawn carts, and blasting powder. This line, which rises from the San Joaquin Valley and through the Tehachapi Mountains, originally included 18 tunnels, ten bridges and several water towers to accommodate the steam locomotives. Completed in less than two years, it was part of the final line of the first railroad to connect San Francisco with Los Angeles.

YearAdded:
1998
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Doug WertmanImage Caption: Tehachapi Pass Railroad LineEra_date_from: 1876
Siegfried Marcus Car
Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, RoadSub Category: Road TransportationEra: 1870-1879DateCreated: ca. 1875Technical Museum
ViennaCountry: AustriaWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/road-and-off-road-transportation/-203-siegfried-marcus-car-%28ca--1875%29Creator: Marcus, Siegfried

Siegfried Marcus (1833-1898), a remarkable engineer and manufacturer, lived most of his life and died in Vienna, leaving his most important legacy — an experimental automobile resembling today's modern car and the oldest extant automobile known worldwide. Marcus' second car, built circa 1875 (a more specific date still being investigated by historians), is believed to be the first vehicle powered by a four-cycle engine and the first to use gasoline as a fuel, featuring the first carburetor for a gasoline engine and the first magneto ignition.

YearAdded:
1998
Image Credit: Public Domain; Produced prior to 1/1/1923Image Caption: Siegfried Marcus CarEra_date_from: ca. 1875
Ponte Maria Pia Bridge
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1870-1879DateCreated: 1877River DouroOportoState: NorteZip: 4300Country: PortugalWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Ponte-Maria-Pia-Bridge/Creator: Eiffel, Gustave

Built to cross one of the steepest valleys along the Douro River, the Ponte Maria Pia was the first major work to emerge from the French firm of Gustav Eiffel  and Company, establishing Eiffel as an important bridge designer and civil engineer of his day. Resting on a parabolic arch spanning 160 meters, the Ponte Maria Pia was the longest iron arch bridge in the world at the time of its construction. The bridge's latticework construction reflects the later design of the well-known Eiffel Tower, erected in Paris to commemorate the International Exposition of 1900. 

YearAdded:
1990
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Kate Watkiss (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Ponte Maria Pia BridgeEra_date_from: 1877
Pioneer Oil Refinery California Star Oil Works
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Minerals Extraction & RefiningEra: 1870-1879DateCreated: 187623802 Pine StreetNewhallState: CAZip: 91321Country: USAWebsite: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/8-pioneer-oil-refinery-california-star-oil-worksCreator: California Star Oil Works

The economic situation in the whale oil business (for lighting), coupled with the increased demand for lubricants, stimulated growth in the U.S. petroleum industry. The drilling of the heavy, sulfurous, and asphaltic California crude began in the 1870s at the Pico Canyon area, using the apparatus and techniques from Titusville, Pennsylvania, developments.

YearAdded:
1975
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Konrad Summers (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Caption: Pioneer Oil Refinery California Star Oil WorksEra_date_from: 1876
Pelton Impulse Water Wheel
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Power GenerationEra: 1870-1879DateCreated: 1878CamptonvilleState: CACountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Pelton-Impulse-Water-Wheel/Creator: Pelton, Lester

Water wheels have been used to power mills and pumps for centuries. However, the traditional water wheel was inefficient: water hitting a bucket would splash back against the next bucket, slowing the wheel. This is especially true when water is delivered to the buckets under very high pressure.

YearAdded:
1973
Image Credit: Public Domain (Author's Choice)Image Caption: Pelton Impulse Water WheelEra_date_from: 1878
Monongahela Incline
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Rail TransportationEra: 1870-1879DateCreated: 1870near Station Square MallPittsburghState: PACountry: USAWebsite: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/26-monongahela-inclineCreator: Endres, John , Diescher, Samuel

As a practical conveyance during the horse-and-buggy era, the Monongahela Incline was one of seventeen built and operated in Pittsburgh in the last century. Of the seventeen, the Monongahela and the Duquesne are the only two remaining operating units. While the Mt. Washington Incline was known as a coal-carrying incline plane in 1854, the Monongahela Incline is probably the earliest passenger-carrying incline in the United States and has been in continuous successful service since its construction.

YearAdded:
1977
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Jason Rosenberg (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Monongahela InclineEra_date_from: 1870
High Bridge
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1870-1879DateCreated: 1877Kentucky RiverWilmoreState: KYZip: 40390Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/High-Bridge/Creator: Lindenthal, Gustav

In the 1850s, the Lexington and Danville Railroad began building a suspension bridge over the Kentucky River. The bridge was designed by John A Roebling. Due to unforeseen increases in train loads, the Roebling bridge was never completed. The High Bridge would then be built 20 years later on the existing foundations.

YearAdded:
1985
Image Credit: Public Domain (Author's Choice)Image Caption: High BridgeEra_date_from: 1877
Knight Foundry and Machine Shop
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: ManufacturingEra: 1870-1879DateCreated: 187313280 Volcano RdSutter CreekState: CAZip: 95685Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/manufacturing---2/-182-knight-foundry-and-machine-shop-%281873%29---Creator: Knight, Samuel

This is one of the earliest US foundry-machine shops remaining in operation and one of the few water powered. It was founded by Samuel N. Knight (1838-1913) to manufacture machinery for the gold mines of the Mother Lode region. Knight was one of several inventors experimenting with impulse turbines to exploit the area's abundant high-head water power for driving hoists, ore stamps, and other mining machinery.

YearAdded:
1995
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Bobak Ha'Eri (CC BY 3.0)Image Caption: Knight Foundry and Machine ShopEra_date_from: 1873
keeseville
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1870-1879DateCreated: 1878AuSable RiverKeesevilleState: NYCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/bridges-of-keeseville/Creator: Townsend, Soloman , Berlin Iron Bridge Company

A 214-foot single-span covered wooden bridge, built above the cribs of stone in the AuSable River that served to break log jams and ice floes, collapsed during the winter of 1875 under the weight of a three-foot snowfall and high winds. The "Upper Bridge" (pictured) was built in its place.

YearAdded:
1987
Image Credit: Public Domain (Released by Creator)Image Caption: The Keeseville Suspension Bridge built 1888, Keeseville, one of the three "Bridges of Keeseville" that span the AuSable RiverEra_date_from: 1878
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Innovations

Tehachapi Pass Railroad Line

The Tehachapi Pass Railroad Line was cut through solid and decomposed granite by about 3,000 Chinese laborers using nothing more than picks, shovels, horse drawn carts, and blasting powder. This line, which rises from the San Joaquin Valley and through the Tehachapi Mountains, originally…

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Ward House

It is a large, imposing structure (over a dozen rooms and spacious halls) dominated by a four-story octagonal tower at one corner and a second shorter square tower at another corner containing tanks for potable and fire-fighting water supply.

The Ward House, named for its builder William…

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"Eads had to succeed in the face of conventional wisdom which doomed him to disaster. Entrenched authorities not only completely dismissed his theories, but pointed to the indifferent European experiences with what he proposed."  
 - ASCE Landmark Nomination Proposal, 1982   

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East Maui Irrigation System

The East Maui Irrigation System is Hawaii's most dramatic water story. It began with the construction of the Old Hamakua Ditch built between 1876 and 1878. This privately financed, constructed and managed irrigation system was one of the largest in the United States. It eventually included…

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Bell

On 10 August 1876, Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated on this site that the human voice could be transmitted electrically over distance. While family members spoke into a transmitter in Brantford, 13 km away, Bell was able to hear them at a receiver located in Paris. This test convinced Bell…

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The first transmission of intelligible speech over electrical wires took place on 10 March 1876. Inventor Alexander Graham Bell called out to his assistant Thomas Watson, “Mr. Watson, come here! I want to see you.” This transmission took place in their attic laboratory located in a near here at…

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John W. Draper

The American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2001. Founded in 1876 in New York City, the Society now has 186 local sections in all 50 states, international chapters, and 32 technical divisions that bring together scientists with…

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First Oil Tanker

 

The Zoroaster, commissioned and completed in 1878, is widely considered to be the world's first successful oil tanker. It was designed by Ludvig Nobel, who notably refused to patent any part of it, leading to the design being widely studied and duplicated around the world. The tanker…

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Pit Silo

Designated a Historic Landmark of Agricultural Engineering at Oakland Manor In 1876 Francis Morris Built Brick Silos in His Barn and Introduced the Practice of Making Corn Silage in the United States. His Further Experiments Developed the Use of Earthen Trenches and Thereby Significantly…

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Tower Silo

First Tower Silo Designated A Historic Landmark Of  Agricultural Engineering. The First Tower Silo In America Was Erected Near This Site On The Hatch Farm, One Half-Mile East Of Spring Grove, Illinois. Fred L. Hatch And His Father, Lewis Hatch, Erected This Silo In October 1873, After Fred…

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