Show AM A n dinv inv 4 ja ua it it 4 NO M I 1 I 1 mm culebra CUT IN THE PANAMA CANAL colar 4 ZA A w na 7 al 1 A 0 4 R offley e THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL P r 7 WILSON DAM ELMO SCOTT WATSON ROM the earliest days of the republic in speaking ahing of some preat great con 1 st ruction project to say that the harmy engineers built it has been equivalent to saying that here was t apiece f accomplished with ue utmost economy igind inc honesty therefore during the last administration when it was proposed to transfer river a and n harbor improvement projects from the corps of engineers in the war department part ment to a division of public works in another executive department there was an immediate protest from those who had the best reason to know how valuable were the services of the army engineers in this ills work and what the result of such a transfer might be upon those very factors of effi efficiency clency economy and honesty to many americans rivers and harbors work Is synonymous with pork barrel legislation 11 by congress what they do not realize Is that tor for more than a quarter ci of a century the corps of engineers of the united states array army has been the watchdog which has kept rivers and harbors projects from being just that its board of engine engineers 1 ers on rivers and harbors functions as a sort of supreme court irr waterway matters submitted to then them by congress from june 13 11 02 to march 31 1028 1928 this board of engineers has r reported on 2377 waterway projects of these only 85 reports were favorable as compared to 1572 that were unfavorable in other words these army engineers turned down two out of every three projects submitted to them and the degree of confidence which congress has ip the integrity and judgment of the army engineers Is shown by the fact that during the last 10 years yea rs in less than halt a dozen cases has congress authorized the projects upon which the board of engineers on rivers and harbors had presented an adverse report perhaps one reason why the corps of engl engi stands so high in the estimation of both government officials and the public lies iles in the fact that the efficiency and the honesty of the army engineer has become proverbial millions and millions of dollars of public money have been expended under their direction without the slightest breath of scandal or question as to their ability arid and perhaps another reason for this confidence UPS iles in the close association of the corps of engineers with the united states military academy at west point where the mot to Is duty lionor country duty alie bedrock upon which their character Is founded and their careers are hullt built honor the barrier invisible but invincible which sets the bounds to their activities country that august godlike ilk K mistress to abo whose se service their lives are del dedicated bated and for whose safety they would lay down their lives in case of need the academy at west point was founded in 1802 as a school for engineers of the united states army it being the first engineering school in this country and from the beginning it has been those who have won honors the cream of the crop of new officers who have been given the privilege of entering the corps of engineers in the army so there has grown up a set of traditions find and an esprit du corps corp that la Is difficult to duplicate anywhere in the world of the corps it hrs has been sald said one of the most wonderful records in the history of the human race Is that out of all the thousands of men who haye have served in the corps of engineers during its century of existence only one canhas ever broken through that invisible barrier of honor the contribution of the file corps to to public service covers a multiplicity of things mapping explorations pl orations and surveys s beddings bud dings gs and city engineering roads rall railways ways bridges siege works explosives camouflage and decorative tits its chemical engineering mechanical and elec 4 washington MONUMENT NT I 1 UNDER construction IN 1867 1967 7 engineering power plants field engineering sea seacoast const defenses anti and shipping marine design and operation of rind waterways it would be impossible within the space of this article to list all of the projects which stand as enduring monuments to the engineer corps of the nimy army authere but here are some of their outstanding achievements the panama canal at first it was under the control of civilian engineers but the men who conquered difficulties which seemed almost insuperable and pushed through to a triumphant conclusion the greatest engineering project the world has ever seen were army engineers in the minds of americans there will forever be associated with the name of the panama canal the name nidine of in an army engineer col george IV goethals who organized the work solved complicated enal engineering problems lemR and problems of supply personnel wed and finance find and completed the construction of the canal ahead of the estimated time the work was organ organized tied in three divisions as follows the atlantic division under sibert where was built the hatun 1 atun dam the worlds largest earth dam and the gatun galun locks also the worlds largest the pacific division under williamson which included three locks of the same size but requiring less concrete and the central division under gaillard Gall lard which included the culebra now gaillard Gall lard cut the worlds largest single excavation the total cost of the panama canal was the total amount of concrete placed was cubic yards the equivalent of a wall 8 feet high and 8 feet wide run running ring clear across the continent from new york to san francisco teetotal the total excavation work was cubic yards another big job which the army engineers did and did with their accustomed thoroughness ans was in connection with the american Amert can expeditionary force in n the world war under the lead leadership ershIL of langfitt taylor tailor patrick and jad ji biere re are some of the enormous engine engineering er problems of construction construct iop and supply which the corps was called upon to solve the bu building lid of miles of railways the construction of GOO COO miles of light railways and the operation of 2000 more miles of the same class the maintenance and repair of 1750 miles of roads building and operating lumber mills producing ties poles cord wood and over bosi board feet of lumber per day erection of barracks equivalent to miles and providing space for beds jn in hospitals of which ahi cb relies miles of wards were new construction building storage warehouses covering the equivalent of WO neres acres vinder under roof building yv wharves harves the equi equivalent valent of seven miles of for ships nial waking king improvements and additions to existing water supplies and sewerage among N aqueduct CABIN JOHN BRIDGE which was wag a system supplying gallons of water per day receiving storing and issuing tons of engineer kup supplies plIes the famous epitaph of sir christopher wren builder of st pauls cathedral might well be paraphrased for the corps of engineers and the torto the national Nal lonal capital might well be told if you would see their monument look around you TI the I 1 e city of washington was laid out by major lenfant li enfant of the french engineers but it was surveyed by andrew ellicott professor of mathematics at west point and the development of bf the city plan was continued thereafter by army engineers one of them was wag T L casey who in found the washington monument feet high and unfinished by civilians in charge lie 17 put a new foundation under the exl existing stink monument an intricate and difficult lob job albeit and finished it to its ita full height of feet but the washington monument to la not the only work of the army elgi engineers in washington the public buildings there which they constructed include the capitol the library of congress the government printing office the state war and navy building the post office building and the lincoln memorial moreover the water supply of Washl washington ngon the washington aqueduct war built and la Is now being ope operated ratel under the direction of army engineers in the vicinity ot of wa washington ashington sh ington are three bridges which are outstanding engineering accomplishments all built by this arps corpa they are the cabin john bridge comple 1855 1955 by meigs which lo longest niest masonry arch bridge in the world single span feet fedt for nearly 50 years the francis scott key bridge built in 1020 by tyler to replace the old aqueduct bridge connecting georgetown with virginia and the arlington memorial bridge which Is being constructed under the direction of mehaffey which Is to cost and which will connect the mall mail with the virginia side leading to the Arifi arlington niton memorial the imprint of tb the earmy army engineers Is strong upon both the highway and railway systems of the country the famous old cumberland road from cumberland md to st si louis tho the first national highway was constructed and maintained by officers of the corps of engineers from 1824 to 1840 the alaska rond road commission consisting of three thre army earmy officers has constructed and maintained 1100 miles of wagon roads OW miles of sled roads and miles griea of trails mention of river arid harbor work it at the beginning of this article recalls the fact that this work was begun by the corps of engineers in 1824 ahen west point was the only engineering er school in the country on this account and also beca because tise there ther ewas was then no continuing civil services 1 iciano and because fortification con construction st ruction was already an organized organ led service of the army these works were put under the charge of army engineers rs from that time to this they have dave bebenin been in charge odthe of the development of wok and up tip to the present time the investment of the government in these projects la Is over 1 their upkeep require ng a year the corps corp of engineers now has charge of harbors riven anek ana 53 canals sl 0 by ein Mw LD J |