City dwellers don’t like to be at the mercy of the elements: “efforts are made to open the thoroughfares for traffic at the earliest moment so that business may not be interrupted.” Here, a snow plow is attached to a municipal motor truck. Credits: Scientific American, December 16, 1916
Urban Engineering in 1916: Science and Technology for the City
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City dwellers don’t like to be at the mercy of the elements: “efforts are made to open the thoroughfares for traffic at the earliest moment so that business may not be interrupted.” Here, a snow plow is attached to a municipal motor truck. Scientiric American, December 16, 1916
Hobart Mills, California: a town that grew and shrank with the lumber business. At an elevation of over a mile, snow was a fact of life. This train is the snowplow. Scientific American Supplement, February 5, 1916
San Antonio, Texas, with a population of well over 100,000 in 1916, needed sewers for the waste. Here's a long-lasting concrete-lined sewer under construction in 1916 Scientific American Supplement, March 11, 1916
Concrete is the backbone of urban infrastructure: durable, strong, and cheap. In 1916 the article proclaims “we are living in the age of concrete.” Here, construction industry workers use ropes to steer concrete pouring through different chutes. Scientific American, October 21, 1916
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Water can make a desert bloom or a town appear. Concrete can bring the water there. This photo shows a project in Wyoming in 1916. Scientific American, March 4, 1916
Terrible storms in January 1916 killed several people in the Netherlands. Technology, though, was credited with saving lives through “better organization of help, better roads, better telegraphic and telephonic communication and railway service.” Scientific American, March 4, 1916
Cities grow beyond their natural barriers. In Cleveland this massive artery for motorized traffic joined the city across the Cuyahoga River. The Detroit–Superior Bridge (now the Veterans Memorial Bridge) was finished in 1918. Scientific American, November 25, 1916
Bridge between Quebec City and its suburbs across the St. Lawrence river, under construction. The work collapsed a few months after this image was published. Eventually the new bridge carried rail, tram, motor and pedestrian traffic. Scientific American, May 6, 1916
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Railroad lines for commuting and freight down Manhattan's west side are balanced with competing needs of Riverside Park's recreation value in this nicely designed plan of 1916. The basic plan was accomplished two decades later. Scientific American, May 6, 1916
Urban pottery: “light industry” and population centers coexisted for the first few decades of the 20th century. Here, workers in a “typical American pottery” within a city prepare clay vessels for firing. Scientific American, October 7, 1916
Small apartment designed by an inventor in Cincinatti, Ohio, fits into an 18-by-20-feet space. Different types of living and family arrangements were starting to become common in the cities of the early 20th century. Scientific American, June 24, 1916
Hydroelectric power house supplies the electricity for the modern city. The building, illuminated from within like a palace, reveals the esteem and importance of an electricity supply in 1916. Scientific American, December 2, 1916
