Skip to main content

USA

Milwaukee River Flushing Station
Society: ASME Main Category: Mechanical Sub Category: Solid Waste Era: 1880-1889 DateCreated: 1888 River Milwaukee State: WI Zip: Country: USA Website: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/solid-waste/-166-milwaukee-river-flushing-station-%281888%29, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/759894e1-2be9-4a23-942b-2d2c272336a5/166-Milwaukee-River-Flushing-Station-1888.aspx Creator: Reynolds, Edwin, Edward P. Allis Company

This pump, designed by Edwin Reynolds (1831-1909) and built by the Edward P. Allis company, is the major component of one of the earliest water-pollution control systems. It was capable of pumping more than a half billion gallons of water a day, the highest-capacity pump in the world when installed. It still is used during the summer to pump water from Lake Michigan into the Milwaukee River upstream of the downtown area. This maintains a current in the lower portion of the river and greatly reduces the concentration of pollutants.

YearAdded:
1992
Image Credit: Image Caption: Milwaukee River Flushing Station Era_date_from: 1888
Old Mill in Nantucket
Society: ASME Main Category: Mechanical Sub Category: Wind Power Production Era: 1700-1749 DateCreated: 1746 50 Prospect Street Nantucket State: MA Zip: Country: USA Website: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/wind-power-production/-165-old-mill-in-nantucket-%281746%29 Creator: Wilbur, Nathan

The Old Mill, a smock type of windmill, believed to be the oldest operating windmill in the United States. Most of its parts are original. This mill is the sole survivor of four that once stood along the range of hills west of the town of Nantucket. The long spar and wheel rotate the top of the mill and turn the sails into the wind. Inside, visitors can watch the gears as corn is ground into meal, producing about 5 bushels an hour. Documentation of the restoration of the windmill is located at the Nantucket Historical Association's Research Center.

YearAdded:
1992
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Hiroshi Okugawa (CC BY 2.0) Image Caption: Old Mill in Nantucket Era_date_from: 1746
United States Military Academy
Society: ASCE Main Category: Civil Sub Category: Civil Engineering Profession Era: 1800-1829 DateCreated: 1813 On the Hudson River West Point State: NY Zip: 10996 Country: USA Website: http://www.asce.org/project/united-states-military-academy-at-west-point/ Creator: Jefferson, Thomas , Thayer, Sylvanus

In 1794, Congress authorized and President Thomas Jefferson signed into law the raising of a Corps of Artillerists and Engineers (now the United States Army Corps of Engineers) to be educated and stationed at the newly created United States Military Academy. The U.S. Military Academy was the first school of engineering in America to offer formal instruction in civil engineering. 

YearAdded:
1978
Image Credit: Original Image: Public Domain (US Army) Image Caption: United States Military Academy Era_date_from: 1813
Middlesex Canal
Society: ASCE Main Category: Civil Sub Category: Water Transportation Era: 1800-1829 DateCreated: 1803 71 Faulkner Street Billerica State: MA Zip: 01862 Country: USA Website: http://www.asce.org/Project/Middlesex-Canal/ Creator: Baldwin, Loammi , Weston, William

While the Erie Canal  has become well-known in the annals of American history, the Middlesex Canal, built two decades earlier and a model for canal engineers throughout young America, has only recently become recognized for its important achievements. Extending 27 miles northeast from Boston harbor to the Merrimack River near present-day Lowell, Masachusetts, the Middlesex Canal provided low-cost and efficient freight transport for almost five decades, helping to establish the canal in the U.S. as a viable means of economic development.  

YearAdded:
1967
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Daderot (CC BY-SA 3.0) Image Caption: Middlesex Canal Era_date_from: 1803
McNeill Street Pumping Station
Society: ASCE Main Category: Civil Sub Category: Water Supply & Control Era: 1880-1889 DateCreated: 1887 Water Works Museum Shreveport State: LA Zip: 71101 Country: USA Website: http://www.asce.org/Project/McNeill-Street-Pumping-Station/ Creator: Worthington, Henry R.

The city of Shreveport could not justify the cost of building a water distribution system solely for the purpose of supplying potable water. It was a series of disastrous fires in the 1880s that galvanized support for a pumping facility that would provide ample water for firefighting. 

YearAdded:
1999
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service) Image Caption: McNeill Street Pumping Station Era_date_from: 1887
McKinley Climatic Laboratory
Society: ASME Main Category: Mechanical Sub Category: Research and Development Era: 1940-1949 DateCreated: 1944 46th Test Wing Eglin AFB State: FL Zip: 32542 Country: USA Website: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/research-and-development/-116-mckinley-climatic-laboratory-%281944%29 Creator: McKinley, Ashley, U.S. Army Air Force

Designed and constructed in the early 1940s, this laboratory has an unequalled capacity to simulate a wide range of climatic conditions from arctic cold to jungle moisture. Data from tests of some three hundred different aircraft and over two thousand items of equipment has provided information vital to the performance, safety, and reliability of aircraft operating in extremes of weather.

YearAdded:
1987
Image Credit: Public Domain (United States Air Force) Image Caption: McKinley Climatic Laboratory Era_date_from: 1944
Society: IEEE Main Category: Electrical Sub Category: Power, Energy & Industry Application Era: 1890-1899 DateCreated: 1895 1501 Buffalo Avenue Niagara Falls State: NY Zip: 14303 Country: USA Website: http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:Adams_Hydroelectric_Generating_Plant,_1895 Creator: McKim Mead & White
When the Adams Plant went into operation on August 26, 1895, it represented a key victory for alternating-current systems over direct-current. The clear advantage of high voltage AC for long distance power transmission and the unprecedented size of the plant (it reached its full capacity of ten 5,000-HP generators in May 1900) influenced the future of the electrical industry worldwide. In August 1895 the Adams No. 1 generating station of the Niagara Falls Power Company first supplied electric power to local industries in Niagara Falls, New York.
YearAdded:
1990
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Lvklock (CC BY-SA 3.0) Image Caption: Adams Hydroelectric Generating Plant Era_date_from: 1895
Rogue River Bridge
Society: ASCE Main Category: Civil Sub Category: Bridges Era: 1930-1939 DateCreated: 1931 Rogue River Gold Beach State: OR Zip: 97444 Country: USA Website: http://www.asce.org/Project/Rogue-River-Bridge/ Creator: McCullough, Conde

The Rogue River Bridge was the most advanced concrete bridge in America when it was built. Distinguished bridge engineer Conde McCullough employed the techniques of Frenchman Eugene Freyssinet to create thin, graceful concrete arches for this seven-span structure.

Pre-compression of the concrete arch was achieved and, as a result of its success, pre-stressing became one of the hallmarks of American bridge building techniques.

YearAdded:
1982
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Bruce Fingerhood (CC BY 2.0) Image Caption: Rogue River Bridge Era_date_from: 1931
Mason-Dixon Line
Society: ASCE Main Category: Civil Sub Category: Boundaries & Surveys Era: 1750-1799 DateCreated: 1767 Delaware Pennsylvania State: Zip: Country: USA Website: http://www.asce.org/Project/Mason-Dixon-Line/ Creator: Mason, Charles , Dixon, Jeremiah

The granite milestones marking the Mason-Dixon Line bear crests from the two parties involved in the land-grant dispute, the families of William Penn and Charles Calvert (also known as Lord Baltimore). 

YearAdded:
1977
Image Credit: Original Image: Flickr/Padraic (CC BY-SA 2.0) Image Caption: Mason-Dixon Line Era_date_from: 1767
Marshall Building
Society: ASCE Main Category: Civil Sub Category: Buildings Era: 1900-1909 DateCreated: 1906 207 E. Buffalo Street Milwaukee State: WI Zip: 53202 Country: USA Website: http://www.asce.org/Project/Marshall-Building/ Creator: Turner, Claude

Designed by Claude A. P. Turner, a pioneer of reinforced concrete construction, the Marshall Building was constructed originally in 1906 as a five-story building. In 1911 the sixth floor of the building was added as per Turner's original design. This building is the oldest extant example of Turner's "mushroom" flat-slab system which transformed the design and construction of reinforced-concrete floors worldwide.

YearAdded:
2002
Image Credit: Courtesy ASCE Image Caption: Marshall Building Era_date_from: 1906
Subscribe to USA

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.