Skip to main content

1974

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
Philadelphia Municipal Water Supply
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water Supply & ControlEra: 1800-1829DateCreated: 18012600 Benjamin Franklin PkwyPhiladelphiaState: PAZip: 19130Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Philadelphia-Municipal-Water-Supply/Creator: Graff, Frederick , Latrobe, Benjamin

After an initial difficulty in attracting customers (who were used to getting their water from public pumps and private wells and cisterns), Philadelphia's waterworks soon couldn't keep up with demand. John Davis and Frederick Graff designed a complete remodeling of the system in 1811 so that it could supply the city's growing needs. 

YearAdded:
1974
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Philadelphia Municipal Water SupplyEra_date_from: 1801
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage Treatment Plant
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water Supply & ControlEra: 1910-1919DateCreated: 1919Lake FreewayMilwaukeeState: WIZip: 53207Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Milwaukee-Metropolitan-Sewage-Treatment-Plant/

This was America's first large-scale activated sludge plant. The successful operation of Milwaukee's sewage treatment plant led the way for many other American municipalities to adopt its methods of efficient environmental recycling.

Prior to 1925, sewage and industrial waste from the City of Milwaukee and its suburbs (then population 500,000) was discharged to the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic rivers, which converge in Milwaukee and flow together through a single outlet into Lake Michigan.

YearAdded:
1974
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage Treatment PlantEra_date_from: 1919
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: PumpingEra: 1910-1919DateCreated: 1914 Sewerage and Water BoardNew OrleansState: LAZip: 70165Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/pumping/-3-a-b--wood-screw-pump-%281914%29Creator: Wood, Baldwin
With a water table several feet below ground level, New Orleans faced a crisis after every heavy rainfall, not just through flooding but also through disease (yellow fever and malaria) caused by impure water. New Orleans was dependent on mechanical means for lifting water from its canals and sewage systems. A. Baldwin Wood (1879-1956), a young assistant city engineer, designed and installed a system of large screw pumps (axial flow machines) to syphon water and accelerate drainage. By 1915 the Wood screw pump became the most advanced drainage pump in use.
YearAdded:
1974
Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: This 14-foot tall Wood Screw Pump, constructed 1929, drained even more sewage/water/drainage than the 12-foot drains that preceded itEra_date_from: 1914
Subscribe to 1974

Innovations

With a water table several feet below ground level, New Orleans faced a crisis after every heavy rainfall, not just through flooding but also through disease (yellow fever and malaria) caused by impure water. New Orleans was dependent on mechanical means for lifting water from its canals and sewage… Read More
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage Treatment Plant

This was America's first large-scale activated sludge plant. The successful operation of Milwaukee's sewage treatment plant led the way for many other American municipalities to adopt its methods of efficient environmental recycling.

Prior to 1925, sewage and industrial waste from the…

Read More
Philadelphia Municipal Water Supply

After an initial difficulty in attracting customers (who were used to getting their water from public pumps and private wells and cisterns), Philadelphia's waterworks soon couldn't keep up with demand. John Davis and Frederick Graff designed a complete remodeling of the system in 1811 so that it…

Read More
Kansas City Park and Boulevard System

"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."  
- Andre Maurois, French author and lecturer…

Read More

We hope you enjoyed this essay.

Please support America's only magazine of the history of engineering and innovation, and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to Invention & Technology.

Donate

Stay informed - subscribe to our newsletter.
The subscriber's email address.