Sitting on the deck of the Seadog, a gaggle of tourists wait anxiously with ready cameras and tapping feet for the boat to start moving again. A tour guide’s explanation for the wait is a mere rambling speech that these tourists care little for, preferring to see the sights rather than hear the history of Chicago. What they are missing is the important fact of how they are where they are and the reason they are waiting at the boat lock. A reason that is crucial to not only Chicago’s history, but the history of many major civil engineering projects of the future.
The Chicago River today is home to a vast network of trade, tourism, and other commercial enterprises, linked in one direction to the Mississippi River through the Des Plaines River and linked in the other direction to Lake Michigan and the rest of the Great Lakes. At intervals, a fountain sprays over the river, creating a picturesque scene for tourists. At Navy Pier and areas on the river’s banks, boat tours are offered of the river and history lessons given by some of the boat operators. On particular tours, you are taken out on Lake Michigan and given a chance to enjoy the view of the city. It is a sight like no other and the tours continue to be popular with locals and tourists. It however has not always been this way.
In Chicago’s early days of rising to become a major US city, its population exploded, causing the city to modernize quickly and businesses to cut corners to keep their edge. The river soon became the dumping ground for both sewage and toxic waste dumped by the slaughter houses. By demand of citizens, a canal was built “which later would be named the Illinois and Michigan (I&M) Canal (Hansen, pg. 41). The proposed canal “called for an excavation that woul...
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...far too much backlash in terms of human geography, trade, and ecosystems to ever occur, especially since the canals have existed for so long. After nearly a hundred and fifteen years of existence, Chicago’s defiance of its river’s flow is here to stay for a long time yet.
Works Cited
Brown, Jeff L. “Landmarks in American civil engineering history.” Civil Engineering Nov/Dec 2002: 110-111. Print/Database. 10 April, 2014.
Cuddington, K, W. J. S. Currie, and M. A. Koops. “Could an Asian carp population establish in the Great Lakes from a small introduction?” 27 April, 2014.
Great Lakes Fishery Commission. A river reversed, a problem created. Journal Sentinel, 2010. JPEG file. http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/97745959.html
Hansen, Brett. “The Reversal of The Chicago River: Flushing the System.” Civil Engineering Dec. 2009: 40-43. Print/Database. 8 April, 2014.
In late 1912 Charles Schaeffer, founded the Dayton Canoe Club, and in 1913, they broke the ground for their new club to be built (Stoecker). Schenck & Williams Company, hired by Schaeffer, to be built with “all modern improvements,” commissioned Oliver Ritzert, who also designed and built the Ohio Theatre, for the building of the club (Hover 95). During the Great Dayton Flood of 1913, in the midst of construction, people rushed to the club to see if it was still standing, and to great amazement it was, one pamphlet stating, “…Possibly Neptune, understanding that we three, the water, the canoe and the individual, were inseparable friends, interceded and had the angry waters pass up, around, and even through our uncompleted Clubhouse, doing but little damage," (Stoecker). The club was almost finished only three months later, on the Eleventh of June, 1913 (Stoecker). Oliver designed the building in prairie style, with the building to seem to come naturally out of the bank of the confluence of t...
Think of the most beautiful city in world. You are walking the streets, taking in the scenery in complete admiration of a city built by men. Then one day you go to sleep, a few hours later you awaken, and that beautiful city is completely destroyed. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was one of the largest disasters in American history (“The Great Chicago”). After many failed attempts to put out the fire, people were left homeless and helpless to rebuild their city. Thankfully, after every tragedy there is always a recovery.
As global temperatures and ocean levels rise, the water levels of the Great Lakes continues to fall. As the lakes hit their all time lowest level in global history in 2012, society remains ignorant to the imposing doom that lurks ahead. Since the Great Lakes make up the largest group of fresh water lakes on Earth and are responsible for approximately 21% of the Earth’s fresh water supply, this issue is becoming one of the largest environmental and economical issues our modern world faces. The effects of this issue include destroying animal habitats and a major economic market; shipping. Water levels in the Great Lakes have been dropping for the past fourteen years, but it wasn’t until boats were scraping the bottom of Lake Huron that people began to take notice. This terrible environmental issue has been dubbed a long term cycle of over evaporation and not enough precipitation to replenish the Lakes. Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of watershed hydrology for the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit has been monitoring this issue for a decade and has made startling discoveries, such as in 2012, he discovered Lake Michigan and Lake Huron’s water levels only rose four inches after winter, whereas the Lakes have been regularly recorded as gaining a foot of water after the winter season had ended. This amount of water added is not enough to maintain a proper water level during the dry, hot summer seasons that evaporate much water from the Great Lakes. While some scientists say that this is just a cycle that will adjust itself naturally, most experts that have been studying this phenomenon, such as Kompoltwicz, would agree that the issue has gone to far
Love Canal was a small town in Niagara Falls, New York, located between two bodies of water: the Bergholtz Creek to the North and the Niagara River to the South. Seems innocent enough right? Wrong. This town was built on top of 21,000 tons of toxic waste (Verhovek). In the early 1890’s, William T. Love wanted to build a canal which would connect the Niagara River to Lake Ontario to generate hydroelectric power for his would be city. However, due to a severe drop in investors and laws passed by Congress, he was not able to bring his idea to life. By the time his funds were completely depleted in 1910, he had dug one mile of the canal, about 50 feet wide, and 10 to 40 feet deep and he had constructed a few streets and homes (Blum). In the 1920’s, the giant hole was used as a dumpsite for the nearby city of Niagara Falls, which lead the way into one of the most appalling environmental tragedies in American history (Beck). A small handful of people who decided they would not leave are all that remains of the town today; 90% of the buildings were demolished or boarded up (Verhovek).
Every morning on my way to school I often pick up the Red Eye newspaper and read the latest news happening in Chicago. As I skim the pages I often see a section that shows the homicide tracker in the city of Chicago. This section of the newspaper shows numerous of deaths occurred in a month in a specific area. Consequently, similar to this homicide tracker on the newspaper the following articles have about the same homicide stories that have occurred in the city of Chicago years ago. In the book The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson illustrates the dreadful events about crime, violence, and illness all leading to death; The Coldest Case: The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre by Jonathan Eig describes a tragic murder of six men by the mob making Chicago seen as a gangland murder capital; The Untouchables by Eliot Ness tells the conflict Eliot Ness experienced trying to put the gangster Al Capone out of business, and For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago by Simon Baatz retells the case of judge Clarence Darrow which was to defend two boys of receiving the death penalty. The combination of these three stories shows serious issues such as crime, corruption and violence that are plaguing Chicago.
This paper will attempt to do several things in regards to the Great Lakes Heritage Coast. First, the author will provide some background information pertinent to this issue. Secondly, a summary of the current status of the Great Lakes Heritage Coast as presented by the guest speaker. Furthermore, the author of this paper will provide a personal opinion in regards to the importance of a partnership with First Nations along the coast.
The Colorado RIver is best known for being the principal river of the southern United States and Mexico, but it soon could lose that title. Running about 1,500 miles long, the river is a vital source of water for agricultural and urban areas in the southern desert lands of North America. However over the past decade or so, the river has begun to deteriorate. There are many causes and solutions to the deterioration of the Colorado River.
Michigan is the only state in the union composed to two separated peninsulas. At the closest point, the upper and lower peninsulas are a mere five miles apart. In the early twentieth century, the only way to make the trip across the five miles of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron was to take a boat ride from one side to the other. As businesses expanded and industry grew, the demand to cross the lakes for travel and commerce purposes grew. The only way to cross the lake was by means of a ferry service, which was unable to keep up with consumer demand. Michigan residents were unable to get convenient and frequent transport between the peninsulas. They needed a consistent, fast, and safe way to travel freely from the mainland to the upper-peninsula. In response, the construction of a five-mile-long suspension bridge to link the peninsulas was set into action. The construction of the Mackinac Bridge was greatly significant to the national economy, the field of engineering, the efficiency of travel, and the historic symbolism of the state of Michigan.
... line the canal today. The development of the railroad in the 19th century and the automobile in the 20th century sealed the fate of the Erie Canal.
“River Restoration Project Offers a Sprinkle of Hope” by Daniel Weintraub published by the Sacramento Bee provides strong ethos, logos, and pathos argument for the project. The Sacramento bee located in Sacramento, California's capital city, where big businesses and where the importance lies with politics. City folks take time out of their day to read another hot topic from the Sacramento Bee. Daniel Weintraub born, and raised in San Diego, California, and lived with seven siblings. Daniel studied at San Diego University to get an economics degree and now spends his life in Northern California. This proves that Daniel knows the project he discusses. Daniel worked hard to become exceptionally credible and aware of the cause, and effect the
The Mississippi River, the third longest river in North America and one of the world’s major rivers in terms of habitat diversity, flows over 2,000 miles and passes through 10 different states in the United States. Even with its massive size, there has been an ongoing problem and scares that the Mississippi might be taken over by a river called the Atchafalaya. By being taken over, it is meant that there was a navigation lock in the Mississippi River where ships can escape that descends about 30 feet which is drawing off more and more water from the river as years go by. Naturally, the water of the Mississippi’s current flows that direction, and has made a waterscape known as the Atchafalaya.
I had an opportunity to visit the oriental institute museum . During my visit to the museum I was made aware of its location and the importance of it to chicago. The museum housed many exhibits of historical value dating civilization back to the paleolithic period of 2,500,000-100,000 B.C. Below you'll find examples of mans rise through the use of tools and refined skills from cave living to structured living throughout evolution. This is an experience that has grounded me to a new interest in structures that we have devised to become the homes we use today for the rest of my life.
In the 1930’s before the Love Canal area was turned into neighborhoods, the Hooker Chemical Company purchased the area and used it as a burial site for 20,000 metric tons of chemicals. In 1953 the Hooker Chemical Company sold the land to the Niagara Falls Board of Education for $1.00. There was a stipulation in the deed, which stated that if anyone incurred physical harm or death because of their buried wastes, they would not be responsible. Shortly after, the land changed hands yet again and this time home building began directly adjacent to the canal. Families who bought homes here were unaware of the waste buried in their backyards.
WEATHERFORD, G.D. BROWN, F.L,. (1986) New Courses For The Colorado River, Albuquerque, N.M., pp. 25 3.
Krueckeberg, Donald A. (ed.) 1983. Introduction to Planning History in the United States. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for Urban Policy Research.