Florida’s Big Dig

The story of the Intracoastal and other thoughts on water, waterways, land, and ecology

Month: January 2015

  • Several years ago, I participated in the making of a documentary shown on the History Channel called, appropriately, “The Intracoastal Waterway.”  The writer/assistant producer and I discussed the accuracy of some of the information in the documentary. Before filming in Miami, he sent me the script and questions he was going to ask me via…

  • It seems that celery has always been the staple crop of Sanford, Florida. One of my African-American friends, W. George Allen, just retired from the practice of law at 70 years old, a veteran of the civil rights movement.  George grew up in Sanford. As a child, George picked celery every day during the dark…

  • While the average 1890’s sternwheel steamboat paddled along at approximately 10 miles per hour (16 kph) on the old Florida East Coast Canal, some of Dubai’s (UAE) fleet of police cars like its Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Porsches can chase down almost any but the fastest automobiles in the world. … Dubai doesn’t appear to be interested…

  • In the short period of time between kerosene or oil lamps and electricity, many cities, towns, and villages, hotels and  businesses throughout America relied upon the often dangerous acetylene gas generator.  Such also was the case for canal dredges and excavators running day and night, twenty-four hours a day.  The generators mixed calcium carbide and…

  • Sometime in 1888, the Florida canal company engaged acclaimed Chicago-based railway and waterway engineer Elmer Lawrence Corthell to undertake a complete survey of the cost of the work to be done in completing what would become the Intracoastal Waterway from St. Augustine to Miami, Florida.  In turn, Corthell retained Arthur F. Wrotnowski, an experienced civil…

  • Within two weeks of Philadelphia congressman Joseph Hampton Moore (Rep.) filing a bill in March 1907 authorizing the Army Corps of Engineers to survey a route for an Intracoastal waterway from Maine south to Beaufort, N.C., North Carolina congressman John Humphrey Small (Dem.) filed a similar bill authorizing a survey from Beaufort, N.C., to Key…

  • Sometime in 1896 or 1897, the Steamer Saint Lucie joined the Steamers “Saint Augustine,” “Saint Sebastian,” and “The Swan” in plying the waters of the Indian River. The Indian River and Bay Biscayne Inland Navigation Company, an affiliate of the Florida canal company constructing the ICW, purchased these vessels from the bankrupt Indian River Steamboat…

  • Originally posted on Ariadnisthread: This city took me by surprise for how beautiful it was. Endless canals and bikes give the tourist a pleasant experience. Just walk around the city and you won’t regret it. Follow me on: my Bloglovin, flickr, google, youtube, instagram, pinterest and facebook for more information!

  • Using time-lapse photography, this video captures a one day’s transit down the Canal du Midi in France in one minute’s time. Included in the video is the famous six-step staircase lock system locking down a total of more than 60 vertical feet. In the early 1800s, the French academies of the sciences has attained such…