Seven Wonders From The Industrial Age
by Check out Seven Wonders from the Industrial Age. These great engineering projects changed the world we live in.
Long ago the ancient Greeks described the seven wonders of the ancient world. We know that Herodotus and Callimachus of Cyrene thought about the subject. We also know that in 224 BC Philo of Byzantium produced the definitive list that we recall today.
Thoughts of the seven wonders of the ancient world have been so influential that there have been numerous attempts to produce similar lists. Scholars worked on these lists in the Middle Ages. In our media driven age the lists of seven wonders have multiplied. We could discuss the seven wonders of the modern age, the seven wonders of the undersea world, or the seven wonders of the natural world. My interest is going to focus upon the seven wonders of the industrial age.
In 2003 the BBC produced a seven part documentary based upon the book “The Seven Wonders of the Industrial World” by Deborah Cadbury.
The seven topics chosen were:
- SS Great Eastern
Source: Wikipedia
When launched in 1858 The Great Eastern was the largest ship in the world by a wide margin. The ship could carry 4,000 passengers around the world without refueling
- Bell Rick Lighthouse
Source: Wikipedia
The Bell Rock lighthouse was built by Stevenson between 1807 and 1810. It is a marvel of engineering because it was build 12 miles (18 km) off the coast of Angus, Scotland, east of the Firth of Tay.Brooklyn Bridge
- The Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge connects the New York boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. The bridge stretches 1,825 metres across the East River. When completed in 1883 it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.
- London sewerage system
Until the 1850s England suffered from regular cholerea epidemics. Summer in London in 1858 was hot and foul smelling. Sanitation was such that raw sewage floated in the Thames outside Parliament. Conditions forced Parliament to recognised the urgent need to improve public health. Joseph Bazagette worked on an extensive network of sewers that diverted waste into the Thames Estuary. He used more than 318 million bricks and installed over 13,000 miles of tunnel. Although most of the system worked under gravity pumping houses were installed in Chelsea, Deptford and Abbey Mills. The original Abbey Mills pumping house is illustrated.
- The Panama Canal
The Panama Canal. The Miraflores Locks in 2004. Source: Wikipedia
The Panama Canal links the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Construction was one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken. In 1880 the French tried to build a sea level canal under the leadership of Ferdinand de Lesseps. This project experienced appalling working conditions and the loss of an estimated 22,000 workers due to disease. The French abandoned their efforts in 1893. Between 1904 and 1914 the United States completed the project.
- First Transcontinental Railroad
The Last Spike by Thomas Hill 1881 (commemorating the completion of the line) Source: Wikipedia
The First Transcontinental Railroad which linked the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of America by rail was completed in 1869. Crossing the Sierra Nevada mountais was a major engnineering and organisational achievement. The Union Pacific Railroad built the line westward from Omaha while the Central Pacific Railroad built the line eastwards from Sacramento, California. The two railroads met at Promontory Summit in Utah which is commemorated in the picture. Competion of the railroad revolutionised the development of the American West.
- Hoover Dam
The Hoover Dam by Ansel Adams (1942). Source: Wikipedia
The Hoover Dam was constructed between 1931 and 1936. When completed it was both the world’s largest electric-power generating station and the world’s largest concrete structure. It lies on the border between Arizona and Nevada thirty miles sout east of Las Vegas.
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