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

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  • Commercial Acetylene Gas Generator, ca. 1905

    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…

  • Ireland’s Seven Great Canals and a Network of Smaller Inland Waterways

    The Great Irish Waterway Renaissance parallels the tremendous interest in and expansion of the inland waterway of America, beginning with the building of the Erie Canal from 1817-1825 in New York,creating a direct link between New York City and the Great Lakes.  While the railroad rendered obsolete the inland waterways in America for the most…

  • Fast-growing Water Plants Clog Florida Inland Waterways, Impede Navigation and Promote Flooding

    From Lawrence, Kansas (PRWEB) September 14, 2009: When a hurricane roars inland, most low-lying coastal states rely on a network of pumps and canals to dissipate the storm surge and protect both lives and property. But add invasive plants and weeds to the mix, and you have a recipe for a disaster. Overgrown vegetation can…

  • Integrating An Inland Waterways System with Roadways (Goa)

    Since we face heavy traffic every day, the waterways could be integrated with the existing road transport network. This system would greatly benefit the tourists and the locals. The various phases of the project are: 1. Documentation of existing river transport facilities. 2. Proposal for an overall inland waterway network. Suggesting new routes to add…

  • Transport Aqueduct in Wales Designed by Thomas Telford (1806)

    Designed by acclaimed British bridge designer Thomas Telford, this metal transport aqueduct is 304 meters long and was completed in 1806. Before Telford began designing transport aqueducts in iron, aqueducts were constructed for centuries in brick and mortar.  Brick construction, however, was not impervious to water leakage even though similar construction methods were used as…

  • Hon. Joseph Hampton Moore, president of the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Ass’n

    Unquestionably the ‘Father’ of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, in 1907 Congressman J. Hampton Moore sponsored a bill to direct the Corps of Engineers to survey the Delaware River in his district for much needed deepening. Bills dealing with such questions were referred to as Rivers and Harbors bills and were passed, generally, every few years…

  • 1889 Survey of New River Inlet at Fort Lauderdale reveals littoral shift of 4,500 feet

    Artur F. Wrotnowski, another civil engineer and graduate of West Point, performed the ground survey of the proposed Florida East Coast Canal (Intracoastal Waterway) for acclaimed Chicago railway and inland waterway engineer Elmer Corthell whom the Florida canal company had engaged to render the final survey in 1888. In examining the work that lay ahead,…

  • Lake Worth Inlet leading into the Intracoastal Waterway

    This aerial photograph looks westerly first over the Atlantic Ocean, then over the Lake Worth Inlet (sometimes called the Palm Beach Inlet) The inlet bifurcates a long barrier island into two parts.  The part on the left or the southern part constitutes the Town of Palm Beach. The part on the right or the northern…

  • Dum(b)foundling Bay — north of Biscayne Bay, Miami, Fla.–a humorous interlude

    North of Biscayne Bay is a small geographic feature known more accurately as Dumfoundling Bay, part of today’s Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in Miami-Dade County, Florida. After federal takeover of the Intracoastal in 1929, the Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND) began the process of surveying the contour of the waterway as well as any other rights-of-way…

  • The Giant Orange of Melbourne, Florida

    This is sometimes referred to as the Giant Orange of Melbourne, Florida. Erected in 1967 from concrete and steel, the Orange is fifteen feet in diameter.  Not to burst too many bubbles but there are several such Giant Oranges throughout Florida. For several years, the Eau Gallie Chamber of Commerce operated it as a orange…