Florida’s Big Dig

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

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about

I am Bill Crawford. I was born and raised in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., bisected by the Intracoastal. I graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in commerce, with distinction, concentrating in finance. I obtained my juris doctor degree from Stetson University College of Law. I have practiced law for more than 43 years. I am a professional historian and author of the award-winning book, “Florida’s Big Dig,” (2008) the story of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. I have practiced law in Florida since 1975. Along the way, I developed a keen interest in researching and writing history, publishing numerous scholarly journal articles and one award-winning book, “Florida’s Big Dig,” the story of Florida’s Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, using my legal pbackground to understand legal transactions, deeds, wmortgages, bonds, preferred stock, and legal descriptions of land and water. In recent years, I have maintained a limited practice consulting with other professionals on various historical land and water issues, including sovereign, riparian, and submerged land rights, focusing on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and Florida inland waterways. I maintain a broad regular website here at www.floridasbigdig.me and a website solely on how the book was researched as well as some of the major themes explored. The website on the book itself is at www.floridasbigdig.com. The website on contacts for professional services is at www.floridasbigdiglawyer.com?. A fifteen-page outline of my book

Month: July 2015

  • The San Antonio River and the Las Olas Riverwalk Controversy

    The source of the San Antonio River, a major waterway in Texas, is a series of springs originating about four miles north of the center of town, running southeasterly 240 miles until it ends at its mouth, the Gulf of Mexico. River Walk runs approximately one level down from automobile street level, paralleling the San…

  • Will Reeves DC Municipal Building Be Preserved in Stadium Deal?

    In 1961, President John F. Kennedy named Frank D. Reeves, a Howard University law professor, as his advisor on minority affairs, the first African American chosen to serve as a presidential advisor.  That same year, in December, Reeves defended the NAACP and two prominent Fort Lauderdale, Fla. blacks, a physician, Dr. Von D. Mizell, and…

  • Largest Dam in the World: The Three Gorges Dam

    It took 40,000 workers 17 years to complete the Three Gorges Dam in China. This videotape lasts about 45 minutes, but is very interesting if you can spend the time. The primary purpose of the Dam was to tame the violent Yangtse River, which every decade or so would flood and demolish whole villages and…

  • Lake Mead: Largest Water  Reservoir in the U.S. at Historic Lows Because of Drought

    Lake Mead, largest water reservoir in America, resulted when thousands of out-of-work men and women built the Hoover Dam during the Depression. The dam served to not only tame the Colorado River but create a water resource for Nevada and New Mexico and generate electricity for hundreds of thousands of people throughout the West. Unprecedented…

  • The Suez Canal — 150 years and counting

    This is a forty-five minute documentary film.  Having been the author of “Florida’s Big Dig,” I participated in the making of the Modern Marvels documentary on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.  I know that the organization makes every effort to get its facts straight because when I suggested changes in the script for accuracy, the producer/writer…

  • Panama Canal Begins Filling New Locks

    Excitement builds as the Panama Canal begins filling in its new locks.  The expansion of the canal by one-third will meet the demands of the next one hundred years as mega-cargo ships transit through the locks each ship carrying perhaps a third more cargo, making transportation through the Canal more economically efficient.

  • Battling the Asian Carp Invasion in the Great Lakes and in the Chicago locks

    VIDEO: How water flows through Brandon Road LockRegion: Inland Rivers – Chicago to Mobile Source: The Waterway Guide Date Reported: Jul 9, 2015 Reported By: Mike Ahart, News Editor Source: USGS Courtesy of the US Geological Survey, this video portrays two areas near the Brandon Road Lock and Dam as the lock was emptied through…

  • “The Forest and the Sea,” Marston Bates, and Ecology (edited)

    The line http://ensmble.net/track/the-study-of-life introduces us to a four-minute snippet to the “The Study of Life” from the album, “The Forest and the Sea,” by the Spanish musician Pyrenees. The snippet above is intended to interpret a portion of “The Forest and the Sea,” a book on ecology written by Dr. Marston Bates fifty-five years ago.…

  • 2015:Chief of Army Corps of Engineers Approves Port Everglades, Fla. Expansion (The Details)

    The legend shows the details of the plan, which you should study carefully.  Although none of the expansion will be paid for by imposing increased property taxes on Broward County property owners, one should take heed of the amount of mangrove land to be eliminated to accommodate Port expansion in the light blue rectangle to…

  • Valley Palooza event to take place on the Intracoastal on Monday, July 5th:  Enjoy but Beware!

    Valley Palooza hits the ICW, July 5 Region: Atlantic ICW – FL & St. Johns R. Date Reported: Jul 2, 2015 Reported By: Mike Ahart, News Editor Source: Coast Guard News Coast-Guard-Reponse-Boat.jpgWatch out for a raft of rafts – it’s a floating party on the ICW around Mile 755 on Sunday, July 5, 2015, according…