Florida’s Big Dig
The story of the Intracoastal and other thoughts on water, waterways, land, and ecology
Category: Uncategorized
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As early as 1822, before Florida had even attained statehood in 1845, the Army Corps of Engineers had reported to Washington the desirability of building a cross-Florida barge canal, cutting off as much as a thousand miles in transporting men and material at time of war. For decades lobbyists for and against such a large…
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Acquiring and perpetually maintaining spoil areas for the deposit of “spoil” from the dredging of the Intracoastal Waterway was one of the principal statutory tasks imposed upon the Florida Inland Navigation (FIND) when the Federal Government accepted the old Florida East Coast Canal, now the Intracoastal Waterway, in 1929. This aerial photo shows the progress…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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!
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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…
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This extremely interesting film shows a shipment of coal making its way on the Regent’s Canal through various locks from east of central London through the city to the rural areas north of London. The film states that the canal was then 100 years old, indicating a construction date of 1824.
Florida’s Big Dig 