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1991

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
St. Clair Tunnel
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: TunnelsEra: 1890-1899DateCreated: 1891Beneath the St. Clair RiverSarniaState: ONZip: N7T 8G8Country: CanadaWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/St--Clair-Tunnel/Creator: Hobson, Joseph , Beach, Alfred

A Day's Pay According to tunnel records, the following pay rates were established for the 600-700 laborers required for this project: 

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Public DomainImage Caption: Postcard of the west end St. Clair River Tunnel in Port Huron, Michigan, United States.Era_date_from: 1891
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Minerals Extraction & RefiningEra: 1800-1829DateCreated: 1828Furnace Town Living Heritage MuseumSnow HillState: MDZip: 21863Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/minerals-extraction-and-refining/-159-nassawango-iron-furnace-%281828%29Creator: Maryland Iron Company
This furnace was the focal point of a pre-Industrial Revolution industry town, one of hundreds of furnaces that thrived and failed in the 19th century. The Maryland Iron Company (incorporated 1828) built this furnace along the Nassawango Creek roughly four miles northwest of the Pocomoke River to produce pig iron by the cold-blast process. In 1836-37 the furnace changed ownership several times, until Thomas Spence of Worcester County purchased it and began producing pig iron at a rate of 700 tons a year. Spence is credited with the installation of the hot-blast stove.
YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Nassawango Iron FurnaceEra_date_from: 1828
Lookout Mountain Incline Railway
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Rail TransportationEra: 1890-1899DateCreated: 1895Lookout MountainChattanoogaState: TNZip: 37350Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/rail-transportation---2/-156-lookout-mountain-incline-railway-%281895%29, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/769218e7-8ab4-486a-8de5-f5e7a4299859/156-Lookout-Mountain-Incline-Railway-1895.aspxCreator: Crass, John , Lookout Mountain Incline Railway Company

At the mountain where the Civil War's Battle Above the Clouds was waged, tourist business has thrived from the building of its first toll road (Whiteside Pike) in 1857 to present day.

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Duane Tate (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Lookout Mountain Incline RailwayEra_date_from: 1895
Jeep Model MB
Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, RoadSub Category: Road TransportationEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1947 Jeep HouseToledoState: OHCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/road-and-off-road-transportation/-152-jeep-model-mb-%281947%29, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/4a0140bc-eb23-4e7a-837e-8fa5fe675075/152-Jeep-Model-MB-1947.aspxCreator: Willys-Overland Motors

Although not the first four-wheel-drive vehicle or the first designed for rough, multipurpose field use, the Jeep MB was built as an unusual combination of these and other features of modern vehicle design in the World War II era.

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Public Domain (United States Army)Image Caption: Jeep Model MBEra_date_from: 1947
Victoria Dutch Windmill
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Wind Power ProductionEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1944Memorial ParkVictoriaState: TXZip: 77901Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/wind-power-production/-151-victoria-dutch-windmill-%281840s%29, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/34e19ef6-403f-4bb4-8a57-92c17d01716e/151-Victoria-Dutch-Windmill-1840s.aspxCreator: Meiss, Fred , Fiek, Otto

This is an old technology brought here by new immigrants. It represents the beginning of modern life in a hard wilderness. This wind-powered gristmill was built in 1870 by Fred Meiss, Jr., and Otto Fiek near Spring Creek, from parts of the first windmill in the new state of Texas, erected by E.G. Witte. The millstones are the ones Witte imported from Europe and are believed to be one of the earliest sets in the United States to survive.

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Larry D. Moore (CC BY-SA 3.0)Image Caption: German RocketEra_date_from: 1944
Greens Bayou Generator Plant
Society: ASMEMain Category: Electric, MechanicalSub Category: SteamEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 194913300 West Bellfort AvenueHoustonState: TXZip: 77099Country: USAWebsite: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/154-greens-bayou-generator-plantCreator: Sinton, Walton

On April 21, 1949, a completely outdoor turbine-generator was placed into commercial operation at the Greens Bayou electric power plant--the first fully outdoor unit to operate in the United States. The demand for unprecedented quantities of electricity after World War II pressed utilities to provide addition power quickly. The outdoor design, unlike the traditional large turbine hall, resulted in significant reductions in the cost per kilowatt to build the plant.

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: Greens Bayou Generator PlantEra_date_from: 1949
Fritz Engineering Laboratory
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Civil Engineering ProfessionEra: 1910-1919DateCreated: 1910Lehigh University BookstoreBethlehemState: PAZip: 18015Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Fritz-Engineering-Laboratory/Creator: Fritz, John

In 1907, John Fritz, known as the "Father of the Steel Industry in the United States," rejoined the Lehigh University Board of Trustees after an absence of a decade. He began the development of what would prove to be his greatest gift to Lehigh: a modern engineering laboratory and funding for its construction.

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Courtesy Lehigh University Digital LibraryImage Caption: Fritz Engineering LaboratoryEra_date_from: 1910
Fresno Scraper
Society: ASMEMain Category: CivilSub Category: AgricultureEra: 1880-1889DateCreated: 1883FresnoState: CACountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/agriculture/-158-fresno-scraper-%281883%29Creator: Porteous, James

The Fresno scraper established the basis for the modern earthmoving scraper, being able to scrape and move a load of soil, then discharge it at a controlled depth. It quadrupled the productivity of manual labor, replacing hand shoveling of earth into horse carts.

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Alisha Vargas (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Fresno ScraperEra_date_from: 1883
Eddystone Lighthouse
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Water TransportationEra: 1880-1889DateCreated: 1882Eddystone RocksState: CornwallCountry: UKWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Eddystone-Lighthouse/Creator: Winstanley, Henry , Smeaton, John

An early image of the James Douglass lighthouse, with the stump of the Smeaton-designed building beside it.  

Eddystone Lighthouse is located in the English Channel, 14 miles south of Plymouth, England. The reef upon which it stands was the source of many shipwrecks... and many lighthouses, the first of which was built in 1698. The first three lighthouses were wooden, and suffered the fate of sea storms. John Smeaton  built the fourth lighthouse in 1759 of Cornish granite.   

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Public Domain; Produced prior to 1/1/1923Image Caption: Eddystone LighthouseEra_date_from: 1882
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Innovations

Cruquius Pumping Station

This is one of three nearly identical pumping stations that drained the Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem Lake), 1849- 52, then continued to maintain the polder's water table for more than 80 years. The Haarlemmermeer area covers 45,000 acres (about 70 square miles) in a triangular region between the…

Read More
Eddystone Lighthouse

An early image of the James Douglass lighthouse, with the stump of the Smeaton-designed building beside it.  

Eddystone Lighthouse is located in the English Channel, 14 miles south of Plymouth, England. The reef upon which it stands was the source of many shipwrecks... and many…

Read More
Fresno Scraper

The Fresno scraper established the basis for the modern earthmoving scraper, being able to scrape and move a load of soil, then discharge it at a controlled depth. It quadrupled the productivity of manual labor, replacing hand shoveling of earth into horse carts.

James Porteous, a…

Read More
Fritz Engineering Laboratory

In 1907, John Fritz, known as the "Father of the Steel Industry in the United States," rejoined the Lehigh University Board of Trustees after an absence of a decade. He began the development of what would prove to be his greatest gift to Lehigh: a modern engineering laboratory and funding for…

Read More
Greens Bayou Generator Plant

On April 21, 1949, a completely outdoor turbine-generator was placed into commercial operation at the Greens Bayou electric power plant--the first fully outdoor unit to operate in the United States. The demand for unprecedented quantities of electricity after World War II pressed utilities to…

Read More
Victoria Dutch Windmill

This is an old technology brought here by new immigrants. It represents the beginning of modern life in a hard wilderness. This wind-powered gristmill was built in 1870 by Fred Meiss, Jr., and Otto Fiek near Spring Creek, from parts of the first windmill in the new state of Texas, erected by E.G…

Read More
Jeep Model MB

Although not the first four-wheel-drive vehicle or the first designed for rough, multipurpose field use, the Jeep MB was built as an unusual combination of these and other features of modern vehicle design in the World War II era.

The prototype four-cylinder "Quad" was designed in 1940-…

Read More
Lookout Mountain Incline Railway

At the mountain where the Civil War's Battle Above the Clouds was waged, tourist business has thrived from the building of its first toll road (Whiteside Pike) in 1857 to present day.

More than 75,000 tourists a year were visiting the site when the war interceded. Tourism was not…

Read More
This furnace was the focal point of a pre-Industrial Revolution industry town, one of hundreds of furnaces that thrived and failed in the 19th century. The Maryland Iron Company (incorporated 1828) built this furnace along the Nassawango Creek roughly four miles northwest of the Pocomoke River to… Read More
St. Clair Tunnel

A Day's Pay According to tunnel records, the following pay rates were established for the 600-700 laborers required for this project: 

  1. 17.5 cents per hour for diggers 
  2. 15 cents per hour for erectors 
  3. 12.5 cents per hour for others 
  4. One additional dollar…
Read More
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

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