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Texas Commerce Bank Building
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BuildingsEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1929JP Morgan Chase BuildingHoustonState: TXZip: 77002Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/texas-commerce-bank-building/Creator: Simpson, William E.

The tower was designed to rest on a continuous reinforced concrete mat, 4 feet thick, with the base of the slab 24 feet below street level.

What makes the Texas Commerce Bank Building revolutionary in the civil engineering world is not so much the building itself, but its foundation.  Initial studies for the type of foundation to be used began in the fall of 1927.  William E. Simpson, the building's chief structural engineer, suggested using a mat foundation, something new for Houston's multistory buildings.

YearAdded:
1997
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Reagan Rothenberger Image Caption: The Texas Commerce Bank Building, now called the JP Morgan Chase Building, had a reinforced concrete mat foundation that was revolutionary at the time.Era_date_from: 1929
Stevens Pass Railroad Tunnels & Switchback System
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Rail TransportationEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 1900Stevens PassState: WAZip: 98826Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/stevens-pass-railroad-tunnels/Creator: Stevens, John F.

In the years following the Civil War, the land west of the Mississippi River was being settled and the Pacific Northwest explored. There remained, however, a large portion of Montana, Idaho, and Washington that contained enormous quantities of timber and minerals, but was not accessible by rail. By far the most grueling stretch was the Stevens Pass area in the Cascade Mountains.

YearAdded:
1993
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/SeattleretroImage Caption: Railroad development in Stevens Pass made accessible a timber and mineral rich region of Montana, Idaho, and Washington.Era_date_from: 1900
San Antonio River Walk & Flood Control System
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water Supply & ControlEra: 1930-1949DateCreated: 1929-1941San AntonioState: TXZip: 78205Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/San-Antonio-River-Walk---Flood-Control-System/Creator: Hugman, Robert H.H., Arneson, Edward P.

San Antonio's River Walk, a catalyst for abundant commercial and tourism enterprise, is generally regarded by cities and urban planners throughout the world as a prototype for the development of urban riverfront sites. The River Walk's success, however, would not have been possible without a series of flood-control and architecture projects completed in the first half of the 20th century that relied heavily on civil-engineering expertise. 

YearAdded:
1996
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Tim Pearce (CC BY 2.0) Image Caption: San antonio texas river walk 2011 riverwalkEra_date_from: 1929
Lake Washington Ship Canal & Hiram M. Chittenden Locks
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water TransportationEra: 1910-1919DateCreated: 1917Hiram M. Chittenden Locks and Carl S. English Jr. Botanical GardenZanesvilleState: WAZip: 98107Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/lake-washington-ship-canal---hiram-m-chittenden-locks/Creator: Chittenden, Hiram

After more than 50 years of contention and debate, dredging began in 1911 on an eight-mile channel connecting Puget Sound, Seattle's gateway to the Pacific, to two inland freshwater lakes, Lake Washington and Lake Union. With the completion of the Lake Washington ship channel and Chittenden locks, coal and logs from the interior had a dedicated water route to the ocean, and the city's 4 1/2 miles of coastal harbor burgeoned into 100 miles of commercial, industrial and recreational piers and wharves.  

YearAdded:
1997
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/gb_packards (CC BY-ND 2.0)Image Caption: Lake Washington ship channel and Chittenden locks allowed for the transport of coal and logs and revitalized the coastal harbor.Era_date_from: 1917
Joining of the Rails - Transcontinental Railroad
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Rail TransportationEra: 1860-1869DateCreated: 1869Golden Spike RdPromontoryState: UTZip: 84307Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/joining-of-the-rails--transcontinental-rr/Creator: Union Pacific Railroad, Central Pacific Railroad

"May God continue the unity of our Country as this Railroad unites the two great Oceans of the world."  
- Inscription on the ceremonial Golden Spike 

The symbolic Golden Spike, staked in Promontory, Utah in 1869, marked the completion of the first transcontinental railroad, joining the Union Pacific Railroad from the East and the Central Pacific Railroad from the west. 

Image Credit: Courtesy of the National Park ServiceImage Caption: A crowd of 1,500 assembled in Promontory for the ceremony to join the rails and, symbolically, the nation.Era_date_from: 1869
Ironbridge
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1750-1799DateCreated: 1779Coalbrookdale-IronbridgeZip: TF8 7ALCountry: UKWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/iron-bridge/Creator: Darby III, Abraham

This bridge is recognized as the first iron bridge in the world. This rural region of England was an important industrial area thanks to coal deposits near the surface. In 1776 the nearest bridge that enabled people and goods to pass over the River Severn was two miles away at Buildwas. There was a ferry crossing, but the trip was difficult and dangerous especially in winter. In 1776, an Act to build a bridge to remedy this situation received Royal Assent.

Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/JasonjsmithImage Caption: This bridge is recognized as the first iron bridge in the world.Era_date_from: 1779
Iron Building of the U.S. Army Arsenal
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BuildingsEra: 1850-1859DateCreated: 1859US Army ArsenalWatervlietState: NYZip: 12189Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Iron-Building-of-the-U-S--Army-Arsenal/Creator: Badger, Daniel D.

The Watervliet arsenal complex originally was built to house and manufacture weapons for the War of 1812. During the Civil War, it specialized in gun cartridges and artillery carriages. The facility today is a primary site for making state-of-the-art tank cannon, howitzers, mortars, and recoilless rifles.

Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/US ArmyImage Caption: The 1859 cast iron storehouse at the U.S. Army's Watervliet Arsenal is a unique example of early prefabricated construction technology.Era_date_from: 1859
International Boundary Marker #1
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilEra: 1850-1859DateCreated: 1855El PasoState: TXCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/international-boundary-marker/Creator: Emory, William

William Emory was an 1831 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. When the Mexican War broke out, he was assigned as chief engineer officer to General Stephen Kearny, whose army traversed largely unknown territories in the West. The U.S. War Department would later print 10,000 copies of Emory's Notes of a Military Reconnaissance, which made a significant contribution to understanding the geography and topography of the Southwest.

Image Caption: The easternmost boundary marker along the Mexico–United States border, just west of the Rio Grande. The photograph is taken from the northeastern corner, in the United States. The northern side of the obelisk contains a plaque in English; the eastern side of the obelisks contains a plaque in English and Spanish; the southern side of the obelisk presumably contains a plaque in Spanish.Era_date_from: 1855
Ifugao Rice Terraces
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilEra: BCDateCreated: BC 100BananueCountry: PhilippinesWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/ifugao-rice-terraces/

This is the oldest and most extensive use of terraces in the world. The 20,000 hectares of terraces represent a rearrangement of the Cordillera Mountain Range from bedrock to topsoil. The engineering principles of hydrology, sustainable development, and efficient use of water resources and irrigation are all embodied in the careful design of this ancestral land management program. 

Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/AgricmarketingImage Caption: Using only the simplest tools, the first inhabitants of Ifugao began the construction of 20,000 hectares of the oldest and most extensively used terraces.Era_date_from: BC 100
Hydraulics Laboratory at the University of Iowa
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: WaterEra: 1910-1919DateCreated: 1919Iowa CityState: IAZip: 52240Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Hydraulics-Laboratory-at-the-University-of-Iowa/Creator: University of Iowa

The Hydraulics Laboratory at The University of Iowa, renovated in 2001 and in 2003 renamed the C. Maxwell Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory, is the oldest university-based hydraulics laboratory in the U.S. that continuously has focused on research, education, and service in hydraulic engineering. Since its initial construction in 1919, the facility and staff have produced a massive amount of research that has shaped water-related constructs around the world. Its efforts have been guided by noted directors such as Floyd Nagler (1920-1933), Hunter Rouse (1944-1965), and John F.

Image Credit: Courtesy University of Iowa LibrariesImage Caption: Man sits across river from Hydraulic Laboratory, the University of Iowa, circa 1933Era_date_from: 1919
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Innovations

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