John B. Jervis and the Development of New York City's Water Supply System

摘要

New York City became the nation's largest city at the end of the 18th century. Its population exploded after the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 opened its protected port to midwestern markets. But without a dependable, adequate water supply system, the city could not grow. That water supply system was due to the engineering genius of John Bloomfield Jervis (1795-1885). Jervis, the leading American civil engineer of the antebellum period, built or managed three canals, seven railroads and two major urban water supply systems. In addition to the original Croton Water Supply System, Jervis engineered other projects important to the city, including the Delaware and Hudson Canal and the Hudson River Railroad. His career spanned more than half a century. The Croton Water Supply System (1842) was the most outstanding municipal water supply system in the United States at the time and was the prototype for later projects throughout the world.