This steam crawler-tractor emancipated horses from the killing work of hauling trains of sleds over iced roads in the winter woods of the United States and Canada.
Designed, patented (1901), and built by Alvin C. Lombard (1856-1937) of Waterville, Maine, eighty-three "Lombards" were the first practical examples of the often-tried lag or crawler tread that would become the mark of the internal combustion engine-driven agricultural and construction equipment and military tank in current use.
1982
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/cliff1066,
Image Caption:
Lombard Steam Log Hauler
Era_date_from:
1910
1982
The workforce consisted of less than 100 men, yet they finished construction in just 94 days. Such speed was possible due to the elimination of scaffolding. Instead, iron rods were used to support construction of the trusses between the towers, and workers moved back and forth across the rods. A dangerous venture, yet no workers were seriously injured.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/Peter Pawlowski (CC BY 2.0)
Image Caption:
Kinzua Railway Viaduct
Era_date_from:
1882
1982
In 1866, the Covington and Cincinnati Suspension Bridge was the largest suspension bridge in the world. Also called the Ohio Bridge, it was officially renamed the John A. Roebling Bridge in 1983. It was the first permanent bridge over the Ohio River and the only public project in America financed by private investors during the Civil War.
Renowned bridge designer John A. Roebling proposed the structure in 1846; but building the bridge would become a 20-year saga, with heated lobbying both for and against the crossing.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/Tom Hamilton (CC BY 2.0)
Image Caption:
John A. Roebling Bridge
Era_date_from:
1866
1982
The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel is a 5,160-foot structure that carries traffic under the Detroit River between Detroit, Michigan and Ontario, Canada. Privately financed, built, and owned, it was completed in 26 months, 10 months ahead of schedule.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/Brian Rawson-Ketchum (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Image Caption:
Detroit-Windsor Tunnel
Era_date_from:
1930
1982
The Carrollton Viaduct over Gwynn's Falls was the first masonry railroad viaduct constructed in the United States. This structure proved the feasibility of using a viaduct to transport railway vehicles across wide and deep valleys.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Public Domain (National Park Service)
Image Caption:
Carrollton Viaduct
Era_date_from:
1829
1982
This was a pioneering venture in mainline railroad electrification. It established single-phase alternating current as a technical and economical alternative to direct current. This concept exerted considerable influence over subsequent systems both in the United States and abroad. The major components of the system were developed by the engineering staffs of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad and the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company of East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy of the New York Public Library.
Image Caption:
Alternating-Current Electrification of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad
Era_date_from:
1907
1982
The idea of constructing a rotating boom for
hydromechanical tests at the Alden Hydraulic Laboratory
originated with Professor Charles Metcalf Allen, head of
the lab from 1896 to 1950. The original boom was designed
in 1908 by Professor Allen, assisted by two Worcester
Polytechnic Institute students.
Professor Allen needed a moving test stand for hydraulic
experiments and for rating current meters.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy ASME
Image Caption:
L.J. Hooper (left), Charles M. Allen (center) and Clyde W. Hubbard (right) sit together on the rotating boom.
Era_date_from:
1908
1982
The 1.6-mile Holland Tunnel was the first underwater vehicular crossing of the Hudson River and the first tunnel specifically designed for automobiles and trucks. It dramatically reduced the time required to traverse the Hudson River, a trip previously possible only by ferry.
A major difficulty when tunneling beneath a river is to keep water and mud from inundating the workers and equipment in the tunnel. Builders of the Holland Tunnel used a shield that enveloped the work site as the excavation progressed; this also avoided obstruction of shipping traffic during construction.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/Chris Leung (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Image Caption:
Holland Tunnel
Era_date_from:
1927
1982
During the 1930's, research into advanced ballistic measurement techniques began at Aberdeen Proving Ground—the world's first large-scale, fully-instrumented ballistic range producing data on the aerodynamic characteristics of missiles in free flight.
YearAdded:
Image Credit:
Courtesy U.S. Army RDECOM
Image Caption:
High Explosive shells at Aberdeen Proving Ground
Era_date_from:
1943
1982
Innovations
