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ASCE

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asce
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilEra: 1850-1859DateCreated: 1852Old Croton AqueductSleepy HollowState: NYCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/site-of-the-founding-meeting-of-asce-on-nov-5,-1852/

On October 23rd, 1852 a notice was sent to practitioners of civil engineering in and near New York City requesting their participation in developing an association that would serve the professionals who design and construct America's built environment. Twelve men responded to this invitation, meeting on November 5 in the office of Alfred W. Craven, chief engineer of the Croton Aqueduct  Department. These men became the founders of the American Society of Civil Engineers and Architects, later renamed the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water Supply & ControlEra: 1900sDateCreated: 1900The Chicago RiverChicagoState: ILCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/reversal-of-the-chicago-river/

Until 1900, the Chicago River drained into Lake Michigan, along with all the sewage from the city; and the Des Plaines River west of Chicago emptied into the Illinois River, which eventually flows to the Mississippi. Chicago residents drew their drinking water from polluted areas of the lake near the mouth of the Chicago River, leading to outbreaks of typhoid and other waterborne diseases. 

Image Credit: Courtesy F. E. COMPTON AND COMPANY, 1914 (PD-US-1923) (CC BY-SA 3.0)Image Caption: Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (at the time named the Chicago Drainage Canal)
Russell Sage Laboratory
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: EducationEra: 1800-1829DateCreated: 1824Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteTroyState: NYCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/rensselaer-polytechnic-institute/

Amos Eaton and Stephen Van Rensselaer founded the Rensselaer School for "the application of science to the common purposes of life" in 1824. Eaton had practiced surveying as a teenager building his own compass and chain and wrote an early book on surveying. Later he studied law before becoming interested in geology and agriculture. Stephen Van Rensselaer was the seventh patroon of Rensselaerwyck a track of land comprising most of the current Rensselaer, Albany and Columbia Counties in the State of New York.

Image Caption: Russell Sage Laboratory, Front View, 1909-
Point of Beginning, U.S. Public Lands
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Boundaries & SurveysEra: 1750-1799DateCreated: 1785East LiverpoolState: OHZip: 43920Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Point-of-Beginning,-U-S--Public-Lands/Creator: Hutchins, Thomas

The "Land Ordinance of 1785" required that U.S. lands in the public domain be surveyed before sale, and that the surveys be made in accordance with a consistent, integrated system of lines grid-oriented to a true meridian (north-south reference line) and base line (east-west reference line), subdividing the land into approximately square parcels, called townships.  

Thomas Hutchins, the first Geographer of the United States, drove his stake near East Liverpool, Ohio to mark the Point of Beginning of the Geographer's Line, the first westward base line.

YearAdded:
1985
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Nyttend Image Caption: This monument marks the site that served as the basis for the entire Public Land Survey System — the system by which most of the United States, outside of the original colonies, was surveyed.Era_date_from: 1785
Emanuel Bowen's 1747 map showing the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina.
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Boundaries & SurveysEra: 1700-1749DateCreated: 1728-1821MiddlesboroState: KYCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Royal-Colonial-Boundary-of-1665/Creator: Charles II

The Royal Colonial Boundary of 1665 was decreed by England's King Charles II to demarcate his American colonies. It provided a survey from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River along 36 degrees, 30 minutes north latitude. The boundary now serves to divide Virginia from North Carolina and Kentucky from Tennessee. 

YearAdded:
1985
Image Caption: Emanuel Bowen's 1747 map showing the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina.Era_date_from: 1728
Vancouver's Mapping of the West Coast of North America
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Boundaries & SurveysEra: 1750-1799DateCreated: 1791-1795West Coast of North AmericaN/ACountry: USAWebsite: https://www.asce.org/project/vancouver-s-mapping-of-the-west-coast-of-n-a-/Creator: Vancouver, George

The voyage of Captain George Vancouver, 1791 -1795, was commissioned by the British Admiralty to map in detail the west coast of North America from Mexico to Alaska and to meet with Spanish authorities on the coast to enforce the terms of the Nootka Sound Convention of 1790. 

YearAdded:
2009
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/RobbotImage Caption: A view of Mount Rainier from Captain Vancouver's voyage.Era_date_from: 1791
River des Peres Sewage & Drainage Works
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1924-1921St. LouisState: MOZip: 63109Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/River-des-Peres-Sewage---Drainage-Works/Creator: Horner, W.W.

In 1915, a tropical storm dropped nearly 11 inches of rain on St. Louis in just 17 hours, causing a devastating flood. Claiming 11 lives and the homes of 1,025 families, the flood focused public and government attention onto the problems of the river. 

YearAdded:
1988
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/MillbrookyImage Caption: Today, the River Des Peres Sewage & Drainage Works provides the backbone for the 110-square-mile St. Louis drainage basin.Era_date_from: 1924
Missouri River Bridge
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1920-1927ChamberlainState: SDZip: 57325Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Missouri-River-Bridges/Creator: Kirkham, John Edward

The Chamberlain is the only surviving bridge of the original five. The others were replaced as the river rose due to flood control dams put in place over time.

YearAdded:
1994
Image Caption: Members of the South Dakota Army National Guard’s 200th Engineer Company guide a raft on the Missouri River during a river crossing operation on June 11, 2016. The Chamberlain in the background is the only surviving bridge of the five. The others were replaced as the river expanded due to flood control dams.Era_date_from: 1920
Lacey V. Murrow Bridge and Mount Baker Ridge Tunnels
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1940King County State: WAZip: 98040Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Lacey-V--Murrow-Bridge-and-Mount-Baker-Ridge-Tunnels/Creator: Murrow, Lacey V., Hadley, Homer

The 1.5 mile Lacey V. Murrow Bridge was the largest floating structure in the world and the first to be built of reinforced concrete when completed in 1940.  The bridge consisted of typically 300-foot long pontoons floated to site and rigidly connected to form a continuous structure and incorporated a unique floating concrete draw-span to allow for passage of marine traffic.  The original floating structure, constructed by Pontoon Bridge Builders, was accidentally sunk in 1990 during a major renovation effort and was replaced by 1993.

YearAdded:
2008
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Walter SiegmundImage Caption: The bridge and tunnel project were key in improving eastern access to Seattle, a major commercial port on the eastern rim of the Pacific Ocean. Era_date_from: 1940
Kansas City Park and Boulevard System
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BuildingsEra: 1910-1919DateCreated: 1915Kansas CityState: MIZip: 64106Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Kansas-City-Park-and-Boulevard-System/Creator: Kessler, George

"Who in Europe, or in America for that matter, knows that Kansas City is one of the loveliest cities on earth? [...] the residential section is a masterpiece of city planning [...]; Few cities have been built with so much regard for beauty."  

YearAdded:
1974
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/CharvexImage Caption: The park system encouraged planned land use, raised real estate values, and provided incentives for quality residential developments.Era_date_from: 1915
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