Evolution in the trade, a history lesson

摘要

There is nothing that will not change, given enough time. Sometimes changes come at a snail's pace, like a tree growing, and sometimes with lightning speed like, uh, well, like lightning. The common denominator is, of course, change. No matter how tenaciously we cling to our old standby "that's the way it's always been done," the facts of the matter dictate differently. In 1905, the industrial revolution was shifting into high gear. Wooden water mains in large cities, such as New York, were being replaced by the new material called ductile iron. All of the technology and skill needed to effect repairs on wood water mains morphed into the skills necessary to install and effect repairs on ductile iron.