I certainly understand the straight line construction, but that curve behind the workers? 1891 water main.
Screenshot 2024-08-07 at 10.23.47 AM.jpg
[OP]
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I certainly understand the straight line construction, but that curve behind the workers? 1891 water main.
Screenshot 2024-08-07 at 10.23.47 AM.jpg
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I've walked on one near St Johnsbury, VT*
In the mid 1990's i had gone over to Fitzwilliam to visit Kenneth Roberts, the infill plane collector and writer.
Passed it on the way and made a mental note of it. Later, on a trip with wife & small son, we got out and walked on it for a mile or so.
We also pass this one most every summer.
https://thecarpentryway.blog/2012/06...ooden-serpent/
There's also one on the way to visit friends on Highland Lake in NH, and remnants of a different/earlier one in Hillsboro.
They apparently still have advantages, portability of components being one, and ease of making all those snakey bends in difficult terrain being mentioned.
(easier than, say, steel pipe.) Not sure how welded PVC comes in - it has made big inroads in a lot of projects just in the last few years.
smt
* I may be confused about the location of the one we walked on.
Google can't seem to find any references to one near St Johnsbury. Which is where i am pretty sure the family hiked on one.
Also, Fitzwilliam, NH is much further south, closer to the ones we pass most summers.
Nonetheless, there are "a few" rather large wooden pipes still in use in New England.
Resolution! - Found the one we walked on in the 1990's/very early 2000's. It was near Marshfield VT, about midway between Montpelier and St Johnsbury.
Unfortunately replaced by steel, in phases, starting around 2008.
https://www.timesargus.com/news/mars...3581842ac.html
Last edited by stephen thomas; 08-07-2024 at 12:37 PM.
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Here welded pipe is black polyethylene for sewage pipe, not much pressure.
Bill D.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...9-s-world-fair
https://www.hiddenhydrology.org/the-water-in-the-wood/
https://www.kelleyhousemuseum.org/pipe-dreams/
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Looks like cal trans working hard doing nothing back then.
Same as now 1 guy working 9 watching
Aj
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"I work for the WPA....and I lean on my shovel all day...."Originally Posted by Andrew Hughes
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
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Noo way don’t say that. What’s the WPA?
Aj
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Richard,
Fabulous pic. Thank you for posting.
Andrew Hughes,
Hilarious! Thanks for that.
Howard Rosenberg
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WPA Works Progress Administration. A New Deal make work depression federal program. Some of the sidewalk in front of the high school is stamped WPA. Adult version of CCC building stone walls in parks.
Other countries forced them into the military and WW2. They lost millions of young soldiers and got nothing to show for it. We got parks, roads, bridges, dams, artwork and recordings of interviews of elderly slaves and cicil war veterans. etc that are still in use today.
I have seen mention of my high school architecture style as WPA Moderne.
Bill D
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_...Administration
Last edited by Bill Dufour; 08-07-2024 at 8:16 PM.
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CCC was also an important program. Lots of favorite park shelters in our area were built by the CCC. (Including the site of our daughters wedding). Getting a photograph taken in 1891 would have been a big deal. Those guys are obviously far from being slackers. They are just waiting for the photographer to get his kit in order. I appreciate that said kit was made by hand from wood, fabric, glass, chemicals, etc. Thats a great image!
Last edited by Maurice Mcmurry; 08-07-2024 at 9:39 PM. Reason: left out a word
[OP]
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Why did you have to go there? In 1891, clicking the camera could be a 3 minute exposure. You had to stay frozen so your picture was not a blur. Many workers had never had their pictures taken. It was a big event!
[OP]
Contributor
The WPA was as much about returning human dignity as it was work. I suspect nearly all the men were so glad to have a job and food for their families and themselves they worked their butts off. In the 1890s, families dropped 1 or more of their children off at an orphanage because they couldn't afford them. I respect the past and study it a lot.
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Richard I was just goofing around.
I believe in the hard working men of those days. If anything I’m making fun of today’s worker including me. I was a roofer here in California starting in 1985. So I know hard work dedication and suffering. I feel I’ve earned the right to poke fun at any construction worker.
Its a cool photo
Good Luck
Last edited by Andrew Hughes; 08-07-2024 at 10:59 PM.
Aj
Contributor
Wooden tanks are still preferred as water supply in NYC; though that might be changing in the last 10 years as traditional lumber (redwood and cedar) stocks dry up (no pun intended).
https://blog.americanpipeandtank.com...y-water-towers
I used to work at times in NYC and was intrigued by why they were still wooden, (described in the article)
Flying over, in the days before 9-11 when that was relatively uncontrolled, was fascinating; not least for spotting all the wooden tanks everywhere!
Contributor
Good article. Thanks for posting - didnt know about that!
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
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Craigslist near me used to have old growth redwood planks from old pickle vats. The wood was said to smell like pickles. Vats like twenty feet tall and twenty foot diameter. I have never seen redwood wine vats for sale.
Bill D
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