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THE MAIN ORE UNLOADING DOCK FAILURES AND THEIR CORRECTION 1909-1925, GREAT LAKES REGION

1953; Coastal Engineering Research Council; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.9753/icce.v4.22

2156-1028

E. James Fucik,

Maritime and Coastal Archaeology

To start at the beginning of Chicago's lake structures (and first attempts to hold back ware action) we will go back about 120 years, to the year 1833. At that time an Illinois Congressman put through Congress an appropriation of $25,000 to construct a harbor at the south end of Lake Michigan (Fig. 1). At that time the Chicago River was navigable only by canoes. That Congressman, however, argued that the harbor should be located eleven miles south at the Calumet River. He was out-argued by a Captain of the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, who prevailed, and two 500 foot piers were built at the mouth of the Chicago River. The Congressman's name was Stephen A. Douglass and the Captain's name was Jefferson Davis, who evidently was a very persuasive fellow. These piers were either wooden cribs filled with stone, or stone-filled pile piers.