1.
Houston, Texas
–
Houston is the most populous city in the state of Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million within an area of 667 square miles, it also is the largest city in the southern United States and the seat of Harris County. Located in Southeast Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, it is the city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land. Houston was founded on August 28,1836, near the banks of Buffalo Bayou and incorporated as a city on June 5,1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded, the burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the citys population. Houstons economy has an industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics. Leading in health care sectors and building equipment, Houston has more Fortune 500 headquarters within its city limits than any city except for New York City. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled, the city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse city in Texas and has described as the most diverse in the United States. It is home to cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has a visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District. In August 1836, two real estate entrepreneurs from New York, Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen, purchased 6,642 acres of land along Buffalo Bayou with the intent of founding a city. The Allen brothers decided to name the city after Sam Houston, the general at the Battle of San Jacinto. The great majority of slaves in Texas came with their owners from the slave states. Sizable numbers, however, came through the slave trade. New Orleans was the center of trade in the Deep South. Thousands of enslaved African Americans lived near the city before the Civil War, many of them near the city worked on sugar and cotton plantations, while most of those in the city limits had domestic and artisan jobs. Houston was granted incorporation on June 5,1837, with James S. Holman becoming its first mayor, in the same year, Houston became the county seat of Harrisburg County and the temporary capital of the Republic of Texas
Houston, Texas
–
Clockwise from top: Sam Houston monument,
Downtown Houston,
Houston Ship Channel,
The Galleria,
University of Houston, and the
Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center.
Houston, Texas
–
Sam Houston
Houston, Texas
–
Houston, c. 1873
Houston, Texas
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Union Station, Houston, Texas (postcard, c. 1911)
2.
Port of Houston
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The Port of Houston is a port in Houston, Texas, the fourth-largest city in the United States. The port is a 25-mile-long complex of diversified public and private facilities located a few hours sailing time from the Gulf of Mexico. It is the busiest port in the United States in terms of tonnage, second-busiest in the United States in terms of overall tonnage. In particular the ports busiest terminal, the Barbours Cut Terminal, is located in Morgans Point, many petroleum corporations have built refineries along the channel where they are partially protected from the threat of major storms in the Gulf of Mexico. The petrochemical complex associated with the Port of Houston is one of the largest in the world, the original Port of Houston was located at the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou in downtown Houston by the University of Houston–Downtown. This area is called Allens Landing and is now a park and it is the birthplace of the City of Houston. Shipping points grew at multiple locations on the Buffalo Bayou including the port of Harrisburg, by the end of the 19th century Buffalo Bayou had become a major shipping channel with traffic beginning to rival Galveston. The citizens of Harris County approved creation of the port in 1909. President Woodrow Wilson officially opened the port to traffic as the World Port of Houston, early supporters would prove to be correct, the port has grown to be one of the worlds largest, overtaking the nearby Port of Galveston in significance. In 1977 the Port of Houston opened the Barbours Cut Terminal, Texas first cargo container terminal and this new terminal, in the Bay Area, quickly became the ports most important terminal. The opening of the Bayport Terminal in 2006 further extended the port authoritys reach outside the city of Houston, approximately 215 million tons of cargo moved through the Port in 2005, most of which is petroleum related. The Port has two separate terminals dedicated to the handling of containers, Barbours Cut, and Bayport. The Barbours Cut terminal was, in fact, the ports first terminal specifically designed for these shipments, additional general cargo terminals include Turning Basin, Jacintoport, Woodhouse, and Care. The Port Authority offers a 90-minute free cruise aboard the M/V Sam Houston, since the Houston Ship Channel is closed to recreational traffic, this is the only means by which the general public can view port operations, and thus the tours are highly popular. Most Volkswagen automobiles sold in North America pass through the port of Houston, the Port is operated by the Port of Houston Authority, an independent political subdivision of the State of Texas governed by a seven-member commission. The City of Houston and the Harris County Commissioners Court each appoint two commissioners, these two governmental entities also jointly appoint the chairman of the Port Commission, the Harris County Mayors and Councils Association and the City of Pasadena each appoint one commissioner. Daily operations are overseen by an Executive Director who serves at the will of the Commission, a renovation project for the Ports Turning Basin Terminal began in 2010 and is expected to take 10 years. The Turning Basin Terminal is a complex with open wharves and 37 docks that are used for direct discharge and loading of breakbulk, containerized
Port of Houston
–
Lifting towers at the port of Houston in the late 19th or early 20th century.
Port of Houston
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The Port of Houston handles the second largest amount of shipping, in tonnage, of all U.S. Ports, with only
South Louisiana handling more.
Port of Houston
–
The
Barbours Cut Terminal
3.
US
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
US
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Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
US
–
Flag
US
–
The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
US
–
The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
4.
Seaport
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A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land. Port locations are selected to optimize access to land and navigable water, for commercial demand, Ports with deeper water are rarer, but can handle larger ships. Since ports throughout history handled every kind of traffic, support and storage facilities vary widely, may extend for miles, some ports have an important military role. One of the worlds oldest known artificial harbors is at Wadi al-Jarf on the Red Sea, along with the finding of harbor structures, ancient anchors have also been found. Guangzhou was an important port during the ancient times as far back as the Qin Dynasty, canopus was the principal port in Egypt for Greek trade before the foundation of Alexandria. Athens port of Piraeus was the base for the Athenian fleet, lothal is one of the most prominent cities of the ancient Indus valley civilisation, located in the Bhāl region of the modern state of Gujarāt and dating from 3700 BCE. Ostia Antica was the port of ancient Rome with Portus established by Claudius, Ports often have cargo-handling equipment, such as cranes and forklifts for use in loading ships, which may be provided by private interests or public bodies. Often, canneries or other processing facilities will be located nearby, some ports feature canals, which allow ships further movement inland. Access to intermodal transportation, such as railroads and highways, is critical to a port, so that passengers, Ports with international traffic have customs facilities. Harbor pilots and tugboats may maneuver large ships in tight quarters when near docks, the terms port and seaport are used for different types of port facilities that handle ocean-going vessels, and river port is used for river traffic, such as barges and other shallow-draft vessels. An inland port is a port on a lake, river, or canal with access to a sea or ocean. An example of this is the St. Lawrence Seaway which allows ships to travel from the Atlantic Ocean several thousand kilometers inland to Great Lakes ports like Duluth-Superior, a fishing port is a port or harbor for landing and distributing fish. It may be a facility, but it is usually commercial. A fishing port is the port that depends on an ocean product. In recent decades, regulations to save fishing stock may limit the use of a fishing port, a dry port is an inland intermodal terminal directly connected by road or rail to a seaport and operating as a centre for the transshipment of sea cargo to inland destinations. A warm-water port is one where the water does not freeze in wintertime, because they are available year-round, warm-water ports can be of great geopolitical or economic interest. A seaport is further categorized as a port or a cargo port. Additionally, cruise ports are known as a home port or a port of call
Seaport
–
The
Port of New York and New Jersey grew from the original
harbor at the convergence of the
Hudson River and the
East River at the
Upper New York Bay.
Seaport
–
Seaport, a 17th-century depiction by
Claude Lorrain, 1638
Seaport
–
Shanghai Port is the
world's busiest container port
Seaport
–
Port of Hamburg
5.
Channel (geography)
–
In physical geography, a channel is a type of landform consisting of the outline of a path of relatively shallow and narrow body of fluid, most commonly the confine of a river, river delta or strait. The word is cognate to canal, and sometimes shows in this form, most examples of this are fjords in the Pacific Northwest, a notable exception is the Casiquiare canal. All likely share borrowing from Spanish, Portuguese or French, channels can be either natural or human-made. A channel is typically outlined in terms of its bed and banks, Channel initiation refers to the site on a mountain slope where water begins to flow between identifiable banks. This site is referred to as the head and it marks an important boundary between hillslope processes and fluvial processes. The channel head is the most upslope part of a network and is defined by flowing water between defined identifiable banks. A channel head forms as overland flow and/or subsurface flow accumulate to a point where shear stress can overcome resistance of the ground surface. Channel heads are associated with colluvium, hollows and landslides. Overland flow is a factor in channel initiation where saturation overland flow deepens to increase shear stress. Overland flows converge in topographical depressions where channel initiation begins, soil composition, vegetation, precipitation, and topography dictate the amount and rate of overland flow. The composition of a soil determines how quickly saturation occurs and cohesive strength retards the entrainment of material from overland flows, vegetation slows infiltration rates during precipitation events and plant roots anchor soil on hillslopes. Subsurface flow destabilizes soil and resurfaces on hillslopes where channel heads are often formed and this often results in abrupt channel heads and landslides. Natural channels are formed by fluvial process and are found across the Earth and these are mostly formed by flowing water from the hydrological cycle, though can also be formed by other fluids such as flowing lava. Channels also describe the course through a reef, sand bar, bay. One example is the Columbia River, a located in the US states of Washington and Oregon. A stream channel is the confine of a stream consisting of a bed. Stream channels exist in a variety of geometries, Stream channel development is controlled by both water and sediment movement. There is a difference between low gradient streams and high gradient streams, a wide variety of stream channel types can be distinguished
Channel (geography)
–
Vivari Channel in Albania links Lake Butrint with the Straits of
Corfu.
Channel (geography)
–
Wooden pilings mark the navigable channel for vessels entering
Lake George from the
St. Johns River in
Florida.
Channel (geography)
6.
Gulf of Mexico
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The Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. The U. S. states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas border the Gulf on the north, Atlantic and Pacific coasts, or sometimes the south coast, in juxtaposition to the Great Lakes region being the north coast. One of the seven main areas is the Gulf of Mexico basin. The Gulf of Mexico formed approximately 300 million years ago as a result of plate tectonics, the Gulfs basin is roughly oval and is approximately 810 nautical miles wide and floored by sedimentary rocks and recent sediments. It is connected to part of the Atlantic Ocean through the Florida Straits between the U. S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba, with the narrow connection to the Atlantic, the Gulf experiences very small tidal ranges. The size of the Gulf basin is approximately 1.6 million km2, almost half of the basin is shallow continental shelf waters. The basin contains a volume of roughly 2,500 quadrillion liters, the consensus among geologists who have studied the geology of the Gulf of Mexico, is that prior to the Late Triassic, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist. It was created by the collision of plates that formed Pangea. As interpreted by Roy Van Arsdale and Randel T. Cox, geologists and other Earth scientists agree in general that the present Gulf of Mexico basin originated in Late Triassic time as the result of rifting within Pangea. The rifting was associated with zones of weakness within Pangea, including sutures where the Laurentia, South American, first, there was a Late Triassic-Early Jurassic phase of rifting during which rift valleys formed and filled with continental red beds. Second, as rifting progressed through Early and Middle Jurassic time and it was at this time that tectonics first created a connection to the Pacific Ocean across central Mexico and later eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. This flooded the basin created by rifting and crustal thinning to create the Gulf of Mexico. While the Gulf of Mexico was a basin, the subsiding transitional crust was blanketed by the widespread deposition of Louann Salt. Initially, during the Late Jurassic, continued rifting widened the Gulf of Mexico and progressed to the point that sea-floor spreading, at this point, sufficient circulation with the Atlantic Ocean was established that the deposition of Louann Salt ceased. During the Late Jurassic through Early Cretaceous, the occupied by the Gulf of Mexico experienced a period of cooling. The subsidence was the result of a combination of stretching, cooling. Initially, the combination of stretching and cooling caused about 5–7 km of tectonic subsidence of the central thin transitional
Gulf of Mexico
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Sediment in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
–
Undersea
topography of the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
–
Fishing boats in
Biloxi
Gulf of Mexico
–
Gulf beach near Sabine Pass
7.
USS Texas (BB-35)
–
USS Texas, the second ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the US state of Texas, is a New York-class battleship. The ship was launched on 18 May 1912 and commissioned on 12 March 1914, soon after her commissioning, Texas saw action in Mexican waters following the Tampico Incident and made numerous sorties into the North Sea during World War I. Texas was decommissioned in 1948, having earned a total of five stars for service in World War II. She is also noteworthy for being one of seven remaining ships. Texas was the first of two New York-class battleships authorized on 24 June 1910, bids for Texas were accepted from 27 September to 1 December with the winning bid of $5,830, 000—excluding the price of armor and armament—submitted by Newport News Shipbuilding. The contract was signed on 17 December and the plans were delivered to the building yard seven days later, Texass keel was laid down on 17 April 1911 at Newport News, Virginia. She was launched on 18 May 1912, sponsored by Miss Claudia Lyon, daughter of Colonel Cecil Lyon, the ship was commissioned on 12 March 1914 with Captain Albert W. Grant in command. Texass main battery consisted of ten 14-inch /45 caliber Mark 1 guns and her secondary battery consisted of twenty-one 5-inch /51 caliber guns. She also mounted four 21-inch torpedo tubes for the Bliss-Leavitt Mark 8 torpedo, one each on the port bow and stern and starboard bow. The torpedo rooms held 12 torpedoes total, plus 12 naval defense mines, Texas and her sister New York were the only battleships to store and hoist their 14-inch ammunition in cast-iron cups, nose-down. On 24 March 1914, Texas departed Norfolk Navy Yard and set a course for New York City, making a stop at Tompkinsville, New York. Entering New York Navy Yard on the day, she spent the next three weeks there undergoing the installation of fire-control equipment. President Wilson saw in the incident an opportunity to put pressure on a government he felt was undemocratic and that action was carried out on 21–22 April. Due to the intensity of the situation, Texas put to sea on 13 May and headed directly to operational duty without benefit of the shakedown cruise. After a five-day stop at Hampton Roads from 14–19 May, she joined Rear Admiral Fletchers force off Veracruz on 26 May and she remained in Mexican waters for just over two months, supporting the American forces ashore. On 8 August, she left Veracruz and set a course for Nipe Bay, Cuba, and from there steamed to New York, where she entered the Navy Yard on 21 August. The battleship remained there until 6 September, when she returned to sea, joined the Atlantic Fleet, in October, she returned to the Mexican coast. Later that month, Texas became station ship at Tuxpan, a duty that lasted until 4 November, while at Galveston on 7 November, Texas Governor Oscar Colquitt presented the ships silver service to Captain Grant
USS Texas (BB-35)
–
USS Texas at San Jacinto State Park, 2014
USS Texas (BB-35)
–
Texas in World War I (after July 1916 and before October 1917). The two large steel towers are her
lattice masts, which were replaced with a tripod version during her modernization overhaul in 1925–1926
USS Texas (BB-35)
–
Crewmen of Texas pose for a picture on top of one of the
main battery guns, 1918
USS Texas (BB-35)
–
Texas in the Gatun Locks, while transiting the
Panama Canal en route to the US east coast, 21 June 1937
8.
San Jacinto Monument
–
The San Jacinto Monument is a 567. 31-foot-high column located on the Houston Ship Channel in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, United States, near the city of Houston. The monument is topped with a 220-ton star that commemorates the site of the Battle of San Jacinto, the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. The monument, constructed between 1936 and 1939 and dedicated on April 21,1939, is the worlds tallest masonry column and is part of the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site. By comparison, the Washington Monument is 554.612 feet tall, the column is an octagonal shaft topped with a 34-foot Lone Star – the symbol of Texas. Visitors can take an elevator to the observation deck for a view of Houston. The San Jacinto Museum of History is located inside the base of the monument and it was designated a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1992. In 1856, the Texas Veterans Association began lobbying the legislature to create a memorial to the men who died during the Texas Revolution. After a careful survey to determine the boundaries of the battle site, land was purchased for a new state park east of Houston. This became San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas began pressuring the legislature to provide an official monument at the site of the Battle of San Jacinto. The chairman of the Texas Centennial Celebrations, Jesse H. Jones, finn provided the final design, in conjunction with engineer Robert J. Cummins. In March 1936, as part of the Texas Centennial Celebration, the project took three years to complete and cost $1.5 million. The funds were provided by both the Texas legislature and the United States Congress, from its opening, the monument has been run by the nonprofit association, the San Jacinto Museum of History Association. In 1966, the monument was placed under the control of the Texas Parks, the Parks Department allows the history association to continue its oversight of the monument. The monument was renovated in 1983, in 1990, the base of the monument was redone to contain the San Jacinto Museum of History and the Jesse H. Jones Theatre for Texas Studies. The exterior of the monument underwent a renovation in 1995. The San Jacinto monument is an octagonal column, bellows Construction and primarily constructed of reinforced concrete. Its exterior was faced with Texas limestone, from a quarry near the Texas State Capitol and it stands 567.31 feet tall and is the tallest monument column in the world. It is 9.6 feet taller than the next tallest, the base of the monument contains a 15,625 square feet museum and a 160-seat theater
San Jacinto Monument
–
San Jacinto Battlefield
San Jacinto Monument
–
Aerial View San Jacinto Monument
San Jacinto Monument
–
USS Texas and the Monument seen at sunrise in late 2007.
San Jacinto Monument
–
The base of the monument.
9.
Dredging
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Dredging is an excavation activity usually carried out underwater, in shallow seas or freshwater areas with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location. This technique is used to keep waterways navigable. It is also used as a way to replenish sand on some public beaches, fishing dredges are used as a technique for catching certain species of edible clams and crabs. Capital, dredging carried out to create a new harbor, berth or waterway, preparatory, work and excavation for future bridges, piers or docks/wharves, often connected with foundation work. This is often carried out with a trailing suction hopper dredge, most dredging is for this purpose, and it may also be done to maintain the holding capacity of reservoirs or lakes. Land reclamation, dredging to mine sand, clay or rock from the seabed and this is typically performed by a cutter-suction dredge or trailing suction hopper dredge. The material may also be used for flood or erosion control, beach nourishment, mining sand offshore and placing on a beach to replace sand eroded by storms or wave action. This is done to enhance the recreational and protective function of the beaches and this is typically performed by a cutter-suction dredge or trailing suction hopper dredge. Harvesting materials, dredging sediment for elements like gold, diamonds or other valuable trace substances, seabed mining, a possible future use, recovering natural metal ore nodules from the seas abyssal plains. Construction materials, dredging sand and gravels from offshore licensed areas for use in construction industry, very specialist industry focused in NW Europe using specialized trailing suction hopper dredgers self discharging dry cargo ashore. Anti-eutrophication, Dredging is an option for the remediation of eutrophied water bodies. Contaminant remediation, to areas affected by chemical spills, storm water surges. Disposal becomes a large factor in these operations. Removing trash and debris, often done in combination with maintenance dredging, flood prevention, this can help to increase channel depth and therefore increase a channels capacity for carrying water. This tradition has now more or less obsolete and the tools used to do this have also changed significantly. Oyster dredging or harvesting, in Louisiana and other states with salt water estuaries that can sustain bottom oyster beds. A heavy metal rectangular scoop device is towed astern of a boat with a chain bridle attached to a cable. The device is periodically hauled aboard and the oysters in it are sorted and bagged for shipment to a processing facility
Dredging
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The Geopotes 14 lifting its boom on a canal in The Netherlands. (gēopotēs is Greek for "that which drinks earth")
Dredging
–
A grab dredge
Dredging
–
Clamshell dredging in process in
Port Canaveral,
Florida
Dredging
–
Steam dredger Bertha, built 1844, on a demonstration run in 1982
10.
Buffalo Bayou
–
Buffalo Bayou is a slow-moving river which flows through Houston in Harris County, Texas. As the principal river of Greater Houston, the Buffalo Bayou watershed is heavily urbanized and its 102-square-mile direct drainage area contains a population of over 440,000. Including tributaries, the bayou has an area of approximately 500 square miles. The upper watershed of Buffalo Bayou is impounded by the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, the reservoir system plays a crucial role in delaying and attenuating the peak outflow of the river during large rainfall events. Moving eastward, the Buffalo flows under State Highway 6 and into Terry Hershey Park, the bayou meanders around the Memorial Villages between Beltway 8 and Loop 610. This stretch does not contain any public-access parkland or trails, on the east side of Loop 610, Buffalo Bayou passes along the south side of Memorial Park and the north side of River Oaks Country Club, and is once again accessible to the public. Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, the estate of Houston philanthropist Ima Hogg, is located on the north bank of the bayou just east of Memorial Park. After passing under Shepherd Drive, the waterway enters Buffalo Bayou Park, which is bordered on the north by Memorial Drive, the park continues for 2.3 miles to Interstate 45, where it enters Downtown Houston. The bayou flows past Allens Landing and joins White Oak Bayou before exiting the business district at Interstate 69. The bayou widens considerably as it travels through the East End, early communities began to appear at the beginning of the 19th century, including Lynchburg, Harrisburg, and New Washington in the 1820s. The bayou became important in Texas history when the battle for Texas Independence was fought along its banks where it merges with the San Jacinto River. In the 1830s, new communities such as Houston were established along the shoreline, a local entrepreneur named Samuel Allen established a large ranch, later known as the Allen Ranch, between Harrisburg and Galveston Bay. Docks at Harrisburg, Houston, and the Allen Ranch gradually became the foundations of what would become the modern Port of Houston, Harrisburg served as the regions major trade center until the 1870s, when a large fire destroyed its railroad facilities, which were subsequently rebuilt in Houston. Houstons original docks, today known as Allens Landing, were established at the foot of Main Street at the confluence of Buffalo Bayou, the first wharves were opened in 1840, and the Port of Houston was established in 1841. This was the most westerly location a small trading schooner could turn around, without extensive dredging and this site is now a public park adjacent to the University of Houston–Downtown. After the Civil War, which bolstered the economy, dredging became a more viable option. The Bayou Ship Channel Company began major dredging operations in 1870, and this first dredging of the Buffalo Bayou was completed in 1876. By the mid-20th century, the Port of Houston had established itself as the port in Texas, eclipsing the natural harbors at Galveston
Buffalo Bayou
–
Buffalo Bayou as it passes by Houston's Memorial Park, May 2014.
Buffalo Bayou
–
The "Original Plan of Houston" shows a city hugging Buffalo Bayou with space reserved for a courthouse, churches, and schools. (1869)
Buffalo Bayou
–
Merger of Buffalo Bayou and
White Oak Bayou at
Allen's Landing
Buffalo Bayou
–
Boats in Buffalo Bayou in 1910.
11.
Galveston Bay
–
Galveston Bay is the seventh-largest estuary in the United States, located along the upper coast of Texas. It is connected to the Gulf of Mexico and is surrounded by marshes and prairies on the mainland. The water in the bay is a mixture of sea water. The bay has played a significant role in the history of Texas, Galveston Island is home to the city of Galveston, the earliest major settlement in southeastern Texas and the states largest city toward the end of the 19th century. Today, Galveston Bay is encompassed by the Greater Houston metropolitan area, the Port of Houston, which has facilities spread across the northeastern section of the bay, is the second-busiest port in the nation by overall tonnage. Other major ports utilizing the bay include the Port of Texas City, with its diverse marine life, Galveston Bay also produces more seafood than any bay in the nation except the Chesapeake. The Gulf Coast gained its present configuration during the most recent glacial period approximately 18 ka, as the glacial period came to a close, rising sea levels initially filled this narrow canyon, followed by the broad lowlands of present-day Trinity Bay. Rapid sea level rise between 7.7 and 5.5 ka shifted the Gulf coastline northward to its contemporary latitude and this was quickly followed by the formation of Galveston Island, a barrier island, and Bolivar Peninsula, which began as a spit. Human settlement in what is now Texas began at least 10,000 years ago following migrations into the Americas from Asia during the last ice age. The first substantial settlements in the area are believed to have been the Karankawa and Atakapan tribes, louis Aury established a naval base at the harbor in 1816 to support the Mexican War of Independence. His base was appropriated by pirate Jean Lafitte, who temporarily transformed Galveston Island. Following its independence from Spain, the new nation of Mexico claimed Texas as part of its territory, settlements were established around the bay, including Galveston, Anahuac, Lynchburg, and San Jacinto. Following growing unrest, Texas revolted and gained independence in 1836 at the Battle of San Jacinto, the new Republic of Texas grew rapidly and joined the United States in 1845. After the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, residents of Galveston strongly supported secession, however, at the Battle of Galveston in January 1863, a small Confederate force managed to overwhelm the Unions naval forces in the bay and retake the island. Despite this victory, the Union continued to blockade the outlets of Galveston Bay until the end of the war, reconstruction was swift in southeast Texas. Ranching interests were major economic drivers on the mainland in the 19th century, the city of Galveston became a major U. S. commercial center for shipping cotton, leather products and cattle, and other goods produced in the growing state. Railroads were built around the shore and new communities continued to emerge, commercial fishing developed as a substantial industry, particularly oysters, finfish, and later, shrimp. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 devastated the city of Galveston and heavily damaged communities around the bay, growth moved inland to Houston as fear of the risks posed by establishing businesses at Galveston limited the islands ability to compete
Galveston Bay
–
Galveston Bay (Orbital photo courtesy of NASA)
Galveston Bay
–
Anonymous portrait claimed to be of
Jean Lafitte in the early 19th century,
Rosenberg Library,
Galveston, Texas
Galveston Bay
–
The
Beach Hotel, a famous 19th century Galveston resort.
Galveston Bay
–
The
Johnson Space Center near
Clear Lake and Galveston Bay
12.
Petrochemical
–
Petrochemicals, also called petroleum distillates, are chemical products derived from petroleum. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas. The two most common classes are olefins and aromatics. Oil refineries produce olefins and aromatics by fluid catalytic cracking of petroleum fractions, chemical plants produce olefins by steam cracking of natural gas liquids like ethane and propane. Aromatics are produced by catalytic reforming of naphtha, Olefins and aromatics are the building-blocks for a wide range of materials such as solvents, detergents, and adhesives. Olefins are the basis for polymers and oligomers used in plastics, resins, fibers, elastomers, lubricants, global ethylene and propylene production are about 115 million tonnes and 70 million tonnes per annum, respectively. Aromatics production is approximately 70 million tonnes, the largest petrochemical industries are located in the USA and Western Europe, however, major growth in new production capacity is in the Middle East and Asia. There is substantial inter-regional petrochemical trade, primary petrochemicals are divided into three groups depending on their chemical structure, Olefins includes ethylene, propylene, and butadiene. Ethylene and propylene are important sources of chemicals and plastics products. Butadiene is used in making synthetic rubber, aromatics includes benzene, toluene, and xylenes. Benzene is a raw material for dyes and synthetic detergents, manufacturers use xylenes to produce plastics and synthetic fibers. Synthesis gas is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen used to make ammonia, ammonia is used to make the fertilizer urea and methanol is used as a solvent and chemical intermediate. The prefix petro- is an abbreviation of the word petroleum, since petro- is Ancient Greek for rock. Therefore, the correct term would be oleochemicals. However, the term oleochemical is used to describe chemicals derived from plant, benzene, toluene and xylenes, as a whole referred to as BTX and primarily obtained from petroleum refineries by extraction from the reformate produced in catalytic reformers. Methane and BTX are used directly as feedstocks for producing petrochemicals, the output ethylene capacity of large steam crackers ranged up to as much as 1.0 –1.5 Mt per year. Steam crackers are not to be confused with steam reforming plants used to produce hydrogen, like commodity chemicals, petrochemicals are made on a very large scale. Petrochemical manufacturing units differ from commodity chemical plants in that often produce a number of related products
Petrochemical
–
Petrochemical plant in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
13.
Midwestern United States
–
It was officially named the North Central region by the Census Bureau until 1984. Illinois is the most populous of the states and North Dakota the least, a 2012 report from the United States Census put the population of the Midwest at 65,377,684. The Midwest is divided by the Census Bureau into two divisions, the East North Central Division includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, all of which are also part of the Great Lakes region. Major rivers in the include, from east to west, the Ohio River, the Upper Mississippi River. Chicago is the most populated city in the American Midwest and the third most populous in the entire country, other large Midwest cities include, Indianapolis, Columbus, Detroit, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Omaha, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Wichita and St. Louis. Chicago and its suburbs form the largest metropolitan area with 9.8 million people, followed by Metro Detroit. Paul, Greater St. Louis, Greater Cleveland, Greater Cincinnati, Kansas City metro area, the term Midwestern has been in use since the 1880s to refer to portions of the central United States. A variant term, Middle West, has used since the 19th century. Another term sometimes applied to the general region is the heartland. Other designations for the region have fallen out of use, such as the Northwest or Old Northwest, the Northwest Territory was one of the earliest territories of the United States, stretching northwest from the Ohio River to northern Minnesota and upper-Mississippi. The upper-Mississippi watershed including the Missouri and Illinois Rivers was the setting for the earlier French settlements of the Illinois Country, economically the region is balanced between heavy industry and agriculture, with finance and services such as medicine and education becoming increasingly important. Its central location makes it a crossroads for river boats, railroads, autos, trucks. Politically the region swings back and forth between the parties, and thus is heavily contested and often decisive in elections, after the sociological study Middletown, which was based on Muncie, Indiana, commentators used Midwestern cities as typical of the nation. The region has a higher ratio than the Northeast, the West. Traditional definitions of the Midwest include the Northwest Ordinance Old Northwest states, the states of the Old Northwest are also known as Great Lakes states and are east-north central in the United States. The Ohio River runs along the section while the Mississippi River runs north to south near the center. Many of the Louisiana Purchase states in the west-north central United States, are known as Great Plains states. The Midwest lies north of the 36°30′ parallel that the 1820 Missouri Compromise established as the line between future slave and non-slave states
Midwestern United States
–
Typical terrain of the
Driftless Area as viewed from
Wildcat Mountain State Park in
Vernon County, Wisconsin
Midwestern United States
–
The Midwest as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Midwestern United States
–
Flint Hills grasslands of Kansas
Midwestern United States
–
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
14.
Grain
–
Grains are small, hard, dry seeds, with or without attached hulls or fruit layers, harvested for human or animal consumption. Agronomists also call the plants producing such seeds grain crops, the two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals such as wheat and rye, and legumes such as beans and soybeans. Because of the ubiquity of grain as a source, the term grain is often used to describe something small. After being harvested, dry grains are more durable than other foods, such as starchy fruits. Thus, major global commodity markets exist for canola, maize, rice, soybeans, wheat, in botany, grains and cereals are synonymous with caryopses, the fruits of the grass family. In agronomy and commerce, seeds or fruits from other plant families are called if they resemble caryopses. For example, amaranth is sold as grain amaranth, and amaranth products may be described as whole grains, the pre-Hispanic civilizations of the Andes had grain-based food systems but, at the higher elevations, none of the grains was a cereal. All three grains native to the Andes are broad-leafed plants rather than such as corn, rice. All cereal crops are members of the grass family, cereal grains contain a substantial amount of starch, a carbohydrate that provides dietary energy. As is the case all other whole plant foods, pulses also contain carbohydrate. Vegetable oils provide dietary energy and some essential fatty acids and they are also used as fuel or lubricants. Those who handle grain at grain facilities may encounter numerous occupational hazards, risks include grain entrapment, where workers are submerged in the grain and unable to remove themselves, explosions caused by fine particles of grain dust, and falls
Grain
–
Food grains at a weekly market
Grain
–
Cereal grain seeds from left to right:
wheat,
spelt,
barley,
oat.
Grain
–
Barley
Grain
–
Rye grains.
15.
Headwater
–
The source or headwaters of a river or stream is the furthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. As an example of the definition above, the USGS at times considers the Missouri River as a tributary of the Mississippi River. But it also follows the first definition above in using the combined Missouri - lower Mississippi length figure in lists of lengths of rivers around the world. This definition, from geographer Andrew Johnston of the Smithsonian Institution, is used by the National Geographic Society when pinpointing the source of rivers such as the Amazon or Nile. A definition given by the state of Montana agrees, stating that a source is never a confluence but is in a location that is the farthest, along water miles. Under this definition neither a lake nor a confluence of tributaries can be a river source. Likewise, the source of the Amazon River has been determined this way, when not listing river lengths, however, alternative definitions may be used. In the case of the Missouri River, Lewis and Clark would have had to travel to the east. to reach the source. Sometimes the source of the most remote tributary may be in an area that is more marsh-like, for example, the source of the River Tees is marshland. The furthest stream is often called the headstream. Headwaters are often small streams with cool waters because of shade and they may also be glacial headwaters, waters formed by the melting of glacial ice. Headwater areas are the areas of a watershed, as opposed to the outflow or discharge of a watershed. The river source is often but not always on or quite near the edge of the watershed, for example, the source of the Colorado River is at the Continental Divide separating the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean watersheds of North America. A river is considered a geographic feature, with only one mouth. For an example, note how the Mississippi River and Missouri River sources are officially defined, U. S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System, Mississippi River, Length,2,340 miles, Source, 47°14′22″N 95°12′29″W U. S. For example, The River Thames rises in Gloucestershire, the White Nile rises in the Great Lakes region of central Africa. The word source, when applied to lakes rather than rivers or streams, refers to the lakes inflow
Headwater
–
River Wey near its source at
Farringdon,
Hampshire
Headwater
–
The marker indicating the source of the
Po River, near
Crissolo. "Here is born the Po"
Headwater
–
Rhume Spring, source of the Rhume river in Germany.
16.
Wharf
–
A wharf, quay, staith or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbor or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths, and may also include piers, warehouses, a wharf commonly comprises a fixed platform, often on pilings. Commercial ports may have warehouses that serve as storage areas. A pier, raised over the rather than within it, is commonly used for cases where the weight or volume of cargos will be low. Smaller and more modern wharves are sometimes built on devices to keep them at the same level as the ship. In some contexts wharf and quay may be used to mean pier, berth, in old ports such as London many old wharves have been converted to residential or office use. Certain early railways in England referred to goods loading points as wharves, the term was carried over from marine usage. The person who was resident in charge of the wharf was referred to as a wharfinger. The word wharf comes from the Old English hwearf, meaning bank or shore, wharfage also refers to a fee charged by ports for the cargo handled there. Originally, werf or werva in Old Dutch simply referred to inhabited ground that was not yet built on and this could explain the name Ministry Wharf located at Saunderton, just outside High Wycombe, which is nowhere near any body of water. In support of this explanation is the fact that places in England with wharf in their names are in areas with a high Dutch influence. In the northeast and east of England the term staith or staithe is also used, both originally referred to staithes in the sense of jetties or wharves. However, the term staith may also be used to only to loading chutes or ramps used for bulk commodities like coal in loading ships. Quay, on the hand, has its origin in the Proto-Celtic language. Before it changed to its current form under influence of the modern French quai, its Middle English spelling was key and this in turn also came from the Old North French cai, both roughly meaning sand bank. The Old French term came from Gaulish caium, ultimately tracing back to the Proto-Celtic *kagio- to encompass, modern cognates include Welsh cae fence, hedge and Cornish ke hedge. Canal basin Dock Port Safeguarded wharf The dictionary definition of wharf at Wiktionary The dictionary definition of quay at Wiktionary
Wharf
–
Long Wharf in
Boston, Massachusetts, United States, c. 19th century, jutting into
Boston Harbor
Wharf
–
The
Barbours Cut Terminal of the
Port of Houston, USA. This cargo shipping terminal has a single large wharf with multiple berths.
Wharf
–
King Henry's Wharves, typical London wharves converted to apartments
Wharf
–
Wharf by Marriott/Pacquereau Bay on
St. Thomas
17.
Berth (moorings)
–
A berth is a designated location in a port or harbour used for mooring vessels when they are not at sea. Berths provide a front which allows safe and secure mooring that can then facilitate the unloading or loading of cargo or people from vessels. Berth is the used in ports and harbors for a designated location where a vessel may be moored. Berths are designated by the management of a facility, vessels are assigned to berths by these authorities. Most berths are alongside a quay or a jetty or a floating dock, berths are either general or specific to the types of vessel that use them. The size of the berths varies from 5–10 m for a boat in a marina to over 400 m for the largest tankers. The general rule of thumb is that the length of a berth should be roughly 10% longer than the longest vessel to be moored at the berth. Open Structure Berth Open berths feature structures supported by piles set slightly off shore from the extent of the land or the farthest extent of fill dirt. The following is a list of berth types based on the method of geometry, Finger piers are often used for small to medium vessels associated with passenger travel. Finger piers can also be used for dangerous cargoes such as military munitions that can not be used with offshore berths because of the weight, in these instances long finger piers allow for far reach far off shore with access for rail or other cargo moving methods on the pier. Offshore Berth Used when cargo handling/storage can be hazardous, often offshore berths are created for berthing of oil and gas vessels. They contain stand alone structures called dolphins which have fenders and bollards located to based on the geometry of the vessels which would call the berth. The following is a list of berth types based on cargo of the ships calling, vessels are loaded using either excavators, conveyor belts, and/or pipelines. Storage facilities for the cargo are often alongside the berth – e. g. silos or stockpiles. Container Berth Used to handle standard intermodal containers, vessels are loaded and unloaded by container cranes, designed specifically for the task. These berths will feature large areas of land for container handling near the berth and will also have significant equipment on dock to facilitate movement of containers on. Alongside the quay there is often a flat area used to store both the imported and exported containers. General Berth Used to handle shipments of general cargo
Berth (moorings)
–
Two small 'marina'-type berths
18.
Barbours Cut Terminal
–
The Barbours Cut Container Terminal, or simply the Barbours Cut Terminal, is a major deep water port in the Greater Houston area in the U. S. state of Texas. It is part of one of the worlds busiest ports by cargo tonnage, Barbours Cut is situated along the Barbours Cut Ship Channel, between La Porte and Morgans Point, Texas. This channel, located at the mouth of Buffalo Bayou on Galveston Bay, is itself a tributary to the larger Houston Ship Channel and it is located approximately 27 miles from downtown Houston. The terminal is located near the Battleground Industrial District, an industrial complex in the jurisdiction of La Porte. Opened in 1977, the Barbours Cut Terminal was built at a cost of US$53 million, the new terminal had a distinct geographical advantage over the old Turning Basin terminal. Whereas Turning Basin, situated upriver at the head of Buffalo Bayou, is 6 hours or more from the Gulf. In 2007 the terminal handled 15.4 million short tons of cargo including more than one million cargo containers, the terminal both directly and indirectly contributes thousands of jobs to the Galveston Bay Area and is a key factor in the economy of Greater Houston. Part of the larger Port of Houston complex, Barbours Cut is the largest of the terminals, the terminal has six berths with 6,000 feet of continuous wharfs. The loading area covers 230 acres, with 255,000 square feet of warehouse/storage space, the channel depth is 40 feet at low tide. The facilities at Barbours Cut include a ship terminal. Until 2007 Norwegian Cruise Line ran cruises from this terminal but currently there are no cruise lines operating from the terminal. Barbours Cut was the first port in the United States to implement the ISO14001 environmental management standard, bayport Terminal Port of Galveston Port of Houston Port of Texas City Appleton, John D, ed. Lloyds ports of the world. Port of Houston, Barbours Cut Terminal
Barbours Cut Terminal
–
The terminal along the Barbours Cut Ship Channel and the
Houston Ship Channel
Barbours Cut Terminal
–
Large cities
19.
Bayport Terminal
–
The Bayport Container Terminal, or simply the Bayport Terminal, is a major deep water port in the Greater Houston area in Texas. This relatively new terminal, part of the Port of Houston, is designed to handle standardized cargo containers and offload the nearby Barbours Cut Terminal, the Bayport Terminal is situated along the Bayport Ship Channel off Galveston Bay, between La Porte, Texas and Seabrook, Texas. This channel itself feeds into to the larger Houston Ship Channel, the port sits adjacent to the Bayport Industrial District, a large complex of firms primarily involved in petroleum and petrochemical processing. The facilities at Bayport include a ship terminal, built at a cost of US$81 million. Bayport Cruise Terminal will become port of call for both Princess Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line in 2013-2014, the Bayport Terminal was controversial since before its construction because of concerns raised about environmental impact and the general suitability of the site. Homes are within 600 feet of the docks, due to the prevailing southeast wind and the proximity of the residents, the Corps of Engineers recommended a 30-foot sound wall to block sound levels that they estimated to be as high as 70 dBA. The Port of Houston approached residents who are affected by the pollution, in 2010, the mayor of Shoreacres published a letter to the community raising concerns about the scope of the easement and rights residents might be waiving by accepting it. That same year residents of Shoreacres filed suit against the Port of Houston Authority for damages, Barbours Cut Terminal Bayport Industrial District Port of Houston Port of Texas City Port of Houston, Bayport Terminal
Bayport Terminal
–
Large cities
20.
Salt marsh
–
It is dominated by dense stands of salt-tolerant plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the marsh in trapping and binding sediments. Salt marshes play a role in the aquatic food web. They also support terrestrial animals and provide coastal protection, salt marshes occur on low-energy shorelines in temperate and high-latitudes which can be stable or emerging, or submerging if the sedimentation rate exceeds the subsidence rate. Commonly these shorelines consist of mud or sand flats which are nourished with sediment from inflowing rivers and these typically include sheltered environments such as embankments, estuaries and the leeward side of barrier islands and spits. In the tropics and sub-tropics they are replaced by mangroves, an area that differs from a marsh in that instead of herbaceous plants. Most salt marshes have a low topography with low elevations but a vast wide area, salt marshes are located among different landforms based on their physical and geomorphological settings. Such marsh landforms include deltaic marshes, estuarine, back-barrier, open coast, embayments, deltaic marshes are associated with large rivers where many occur in Southern Europe such as the Camargue, France in the Rhone delta or the Ebro delta in Spain. They are also extensive within the rivers of the Mississippi Delta in the United States, in New Zealand, most salt marshes occur at the head of estuaries in areas where there is little wave action and high sedimentation. Such marshes are located in Awhitu Regional Park in Auckland, the Manawatu Estuary, back-barrier marshes are sensitive to the reshaping of barriers in the landward side of which they have been formed. They are common along much of the eastern coast of the United States, large, shallow coastal embayments can hold salt marshes with examples including Morecambe Bay and Portsmouth in Britain and the Bay of Fundy in North America. They have a big impact on the biodiversity of the area, salt marsh ecology involves complex food webs which include primary producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers. The low physical energy and high grasses provide a refuge for animals, many marine fish use salt marshes as nursery grounds for their young before they move to open waters. Saltmarshes across 99 countries were mapped by Mcowen et al, a total of 5,495,089 hectares of mapped saltmarsh across 43 countries and territories are represented in a Geographic Information Systems polygon shapefile. This estimate is at the low end of previous estimates. Mats of filamentous blue-green algae can fix silt and clay sized sediment particles to their sticky sheaths on contact which can increase the erosion resistance of the sediments. This assists the process of sediment accretion to allow colonising species to grow, as a result, competitive species that prefer higher elevations relative to sea level can inhabit the area and often a succession of plant communities develops. Coastal salt marshes can be distinguished from terrestrial habitats by the tidal flow that occurs
Salt marsh
–
An
estuarine salt marsh along the
Heathcote River,
Christchurch,
New Zealand
Salt marsh
–
Salt marsh during
low tide, mean low tide,
high tide and very high tide (
spring tide).
Salt marsh
–
Salt marsh on
Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA
Salt marsh
–
An
Atlantic coastal salt marsh in
Connecticut.
21.
Houston Port Authority
–
The Houston Ship Channel, in Houston, Texas, is part of the Port of Houston, one of the USs busiest seaports. The channel is the conduit for ocean-going vessels between Houston-area terminals and the Gulf of Mexico, and it serves a volume of inland barge traffic. The channel is a widened and deepened natural watercourse created by dredging Buffalo Bayou, major products, such as petrochemicals and Midwestern grain, are transported in bulk together with general cargo. The original watercourse for the channel, Buffalo Bayou, has its headwaters 30 miles to the west of the city of Houston, the navigational head of the channel, the most upstream point to which general cargo ships can travel, is at Turning Basin in east Houston. The channel has numerous terminals and berthing locations along Buffalo Bayou, the major public terminals include Turning Basin, Barbours Cut, and Bayport. Many private docks are there, as well, including the ExxonMobil Baytown Complex, the channel, periodically widened and deepened to accommodate ever-larger ships, is 530 feet wide by 45 feet deep by 50 miles long. The islands in the channel are part of the ongoing widening and deepening project. The islands are formed from soil pulled up by dredging, the channel has been used to move goods to the sea since at least 1836. Buffalo Bayou and Galveston Bay were dredged during the late 19th, by the mid 1900s the Port of Houston had established itself as the leading port in Texas eclipsing the natural harbors at Galveston and Texas City. The Turning Basin terminal in Harrisburg became the ports largest shipping point. On January 10,1910, residents of Harris County voted 16 to 1 to fund dredging the Houston ship channel to a depth of 25 feet for the amount of $1,250,000, which was then matched by federal funds. On June 14,1914 the first deepwater ship, steamship Satilla, arrived at the port of Houston, on November 10,1914, President Woodrow Wilson opened the Houston Ship Channel, part of the Port of Houston. The onset of World War I and the first mechanized wars thirst for oil greatly increased use of the ship channel, the United States Army Corps of Engineers increased the depth of the channel from 25 to 30 feet in 1922. The Public Works Administration provided $2,800,000 dollars for the project, now the channel and surrounding area support the second-largest petrochemical complex in the world. While much of the Houston Ship Channel is associated with heavy industry, the USS Texas saw service during both world wars, and is the oldest remaining example of a dreadnought-era battleship in existence. The nearby San Jacinto Monument commemorates the Battle of San Jacinto in which Texas won its independence from Mexico, the US Armys San Jacinto Ordnance Depot was located on the channel from 1941–1964. Currently, the channel is dredged to a depth of 43–45 feet, the channel was designated a National Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1987. The “Texas chicken” maneuver is known to mariners who regularly navigate large vessels on the Houston Ship Channel
Houston Port Authority
–
The Buffalo Bayou portion of the Houston Ship Channel
Houston Port Authority
–
San Jacinto River in Channel - inset (white line top left) magnified as bottom photo showing the
Texas and
San Jacinto Monument
Houston Port Authority
–
Drawing of ship at port 1859
Houston Port Authority
–
The Houston Ship Channel during its first opening in 1915
22.
Environmental mitigation
–
To mitigate means to make less harsh or hostile. Environmental mitigation is typically a part of an environmental crediting system established by governing bodies which involves allocating debits and credits. Debits occur in situations where a resource has been destroyed or severely impaired. Therefore, when an entity such as a business or individual has a debit they are required to purchase a credit, Crediting systems can allow credit to be generated in different ways. For example, in the United States, projects are valued based on what the intentions of the project are which may be to preserve, enhance, Mitigation inevitably creates a mitigation industry. By requiring those who impact natural resources to purchase credits, a demand for credit is formed. Businesses related to environmental work typically benefit from such a system, buyers are typically looking for mitigation credits that are both cheap and the most likely to meet regulatory requirements for compensatory mitigation. Regulators must therefore find a balance between protecting the long term public interest and ensuring that buyers have the incentives to participate in the environmental marketplace. Mitigation systems place the environmental costs of development mostly on the individuals or entities that are impacting the environment, land previously unused or impractical for development is given greater monetary value under a mitigation system. For instance, land in floodplains may be impractical for commercial or residential development, land in rural areas with very little potential for growth are more valuable when given the opportunity to be used for mitigation credits. Governing bodies are responsible for prescribing the ecological criteria required to attain credits for mitigation. They are also responsible for valuation of credit, to address these uncertainties regulators often assign coverage ratios to compensatory mitigation agreements. Coverage ratios of, for example,3,1 require 3 compensatory mitigation credits for every 1 unit of ecological disturbance. Mitigation could be seen as contributing to the increasing cost of land because some mitigation work requires that large amounts of land be purchased or put into conservation easements, Mitigation can therefore compete with other rural land uses such as agriculture and residential development. This suggests that land owners must be alert to find the highest and best use for their properties given the market value that mitigation credits represent. Commitment of lands to compensatory mitigation must be done in perpetuity, otherwise, the long-term public interest could not be served via compensatory mitigation programs. This means that properties must continue to be managed with ecosystem values in mind, for example, future large scale development projects would not likely be permitted on previously dedicated mitigation properties. United States EPA Compensatory Mitigation website National Mitigation Banking Association Endangered Species and Threatened Wildlife and Plants, Recovery Crediting Guidance
Environmental mitigation
–
General
23.
Washburn Tunnel
–
The Washburn Tunnel is a two-lane underwater motor-vehicle tunnel connecting Galena Park and Pasadena, two suburbs of Houston, Texas. Completed in 1950, it travels north-south underneath the Houston Ship Channel and it was named after Harris County, Texas Auditor Harry L. Washburn. It is the largest and first toll-free vehicular tunnel in the Southern United States, merritt Chapman and Scott Corporation of New York engineered the $7 million project. First, a trench 90x40 feet had to be dug, second, these sections had to be locked into position 85 feet underwater. Finally, the last touches, such as tiling the inside, were completed and it is the only underwater vehicle tunnel currently in operation in the state, as the Baytown Tunnel was replaced in 1995 by a bridge. The tunnel consists of a bore,895 meters in length, with a six-percent roadway grade outward from the center towards each exit. Forced transverse ventilation is provided by three automatic high-speed Westinghouse Sturtevant blower fans located in a tower at the north entrance. These fans are designed to keep the air free from high-levels of carbon monoxide, in the event of electrical failure, a generator can support the electrical needs of the tunnel. Every twelfth light is powered by a generator, the light intensity at the portals is three times brighter than the interior. This prevents temporary blindness when entering the tunnel, pumps located under the road surface counter accumulation of water by draining it back into the ship channel. Before Hurricane Ike in 2008, the tunnel had never been flooded, the tunnel is one of five vehicular crossings of the Ship Channel. The tunnel is also the only operation in Precinct Two. The tunnel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 16,2008, Total Cost, $7,683,915 Total Length,3,791 Ft. Distance between Portals,2,936 Ft. Length of Tube Section,1,500 Ft. Roadway Width,22 Ft. Headroom,13 Ft. Headroom,18 Ft, internal Diameter of Tubes,32 Ft. External Diameter of Tubes,38 Ft. Max, dept,80 Ft. Dredging,425,273 cu. yards Excavation,289,600 cu. yards Tremie Concrete,11,750 cu. yards Concrete,34,250 cu
Washburn Tunnel
–
Washburn Tunnel
24.
Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge
–
Sam Houston Tollway Ship Channel Bridge is a bridge in Harris County, Texas. It was acquired from the then–Texas Turnpike Authority on May 5,1994, the bridge opened to traffic in May 1982. It carries four lanes of Beltway 8 over the Houston Ship Channel with a clearance of 175 feet, the 1952 City of Houston planning document recommended a second loop designated the Outer Belt. Harris County took control of the project in 1960, efforts to construct the Beltway 8 crossing started in the mid-1960s, culminating in an effort vetoed by Governor John Connally on June 18,1967. Voters twice rejected bond funds for the bridge, so the effort was reconstituted as a toll bridge and this did not work at that time. In 1978, the Texas Turnpike Authority performed a study showing the project as feasible, among designs looked at, a cable-stayed design was studied, but not sufficiently understood at the time. Construction completed in 1982 and the bridge was opened on May 6, at the time of completion, the bridge was the longest box girder span in the Western Hemisphere, which record it held until 1997 and the opening of the Confederation Bridge. It is no longer in the top 20 of longest box girder spans, traffic volume had been projected to be 4 million vehicles in 1982, but came in at only 1.69 million, a 58-percent shortfall. This was attributed to a lack of connections to the bridge, additional ramps were completed in 1984, but the results were insufficient to service the bonds. The bonds were refinanced in 1985 at a rate of 12.625 percent, total debt service as of the end of 1985 was $522M, with a minimum of $176M. Traffic volume increased, but not sufficiently to cover the 1985 junk bonds, in 1994, Harris County took over the bridge for the consideration of TxDOT contributing money toward further area highway construction. By 2002, the toll of $2 brought in approximately $20M. This is because of a widening project, sidney Sherman Bridge Harris County Toll Road Authority
Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge
–
Sam Houston Tollway Ship Channel Bridge
25.
Fred Hartman Bridge
–
The Fred Hartman Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge in the U. S. state of Texas, spanning the Houston Ship Channel. The bridge carries 2.6 miles of State Highway 146 and it is expected to carry State Highway 99, the Grand Parkway when it is completed around Houston. It is the seventy-seventh largest bridge in the world, the construction cost of the bridge was $91.25 million. The bridge replaced the Baytown Tunnel, the tunnel had to be removed when the Houston Ship Channel was deepened to 45 feet, with a minimum 530 feet bottom width, to accommodate larger ships. The last section of the Baytown Tunnel was removed from the Houston Ship Channel on September 14,1999, in October 1985 the Texas Highway department announced the project and estimated it would take two years to complete. Construction began in 1987 and was contracted by Williams Brothers and Traylor Brothers construction companies, in 1993, The firm selected to produce the steel, a Mexican company, went bankrupt. The contract was awarded to a South African company which caused complaints because of the countrys apartheid policies. Finally, on September 27,1995 the Fred Hartman Bridge had its opening ceremony. Notable guests include George W. Bush, Miss Texas 1995, William Burnett and the Hartman family. Fred Hartman died in 1991 and did not live to see his dream come to fruition. ”As an attorney you would think he would seek the truth before making such a claim and blaming it on one of the best friends
Fred Hartman Bridge
–
Fred Hartman Bridge
Fred Hartman Bridge
Fred Hartman Bridge
–
Large cities
26.
Lynchburg Ferry
–
The 1,080 feet crossing is the oldest operating ferry service within the state of Texas. It carries automobiles, bicycles and pedestrians for free, Harris County has operated the ferry continuously since 1888. Ferries depart daily approximately every 5–10 minutes, beginning at 4,30 a. m. the service averages between approximately 1, 500-2,000 vehicles per day. The service has two ships in its fleet, both completed in 1964 by the Todd Shipyard, the ferries are named in honor of former Texas governors William P. Hobby and Ross S. Sterling. A third ferry with a capacity of 9 vehicles dating from 1937 is available on standby if needed, the ferry was used by the Republic of Texas troops fighting Mexican forces in the Battle of San Jacinto April 1836. In what was referred to as the Runaway Scrape, as many as 5,000 Texans fled eastward to escape the advancing army of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna utilizing the ferry. In the following days, Sam Houstons army defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto, by 1837 the Harris County Commissioners Court would set formal ferry rates only to eliminate them in 1890, and the ferry service has been free ever since. By 1949 the ferry service was renamed as the Lynchburg Ferry in serving as the first vehicular crossing of the Houston Ship Channel. The service would operate 24 hours per day,365 days a year under the operation of Harris County through June 2004 when hours were reduced to their current times, replacement vessels have been under consideration by the county since late 2004, but have yet to be ordered. February 26,1995 - A barge struck the south landing resulting in the closure of the service for eleven weeks. The service would reopen on May 11,1995, september 19,2004 - A woman drowned after the vehicle she was in was driven off the ferry into the channel. The driver was charged with intoxication manslaughter in the death. May 14,2008 - A man appeared to drive his truck into the Houston Ship Channel, authorities said. Witnesses say the man locked doors and refused help before going under, september 12,2008 - Hurricane Ike caused approximately $300,000 damage to the Lynchburg Ferry. The ferry was closed 52 days for repair and reopened November 3,2008
Lynchburg Ferry
–
Texas Historical Commission 2006 Marker - The Lynchburg Town Ferry
27.
1900 Galveston hurricane
–
It remains to the present day the deadliest single day event in US history. The hurricane appears to have started as a trough from West Africa, causing unsettled weather in the Caribbean. Owing to contradictory forecasts, the people of Galveston felt no alarm until the hurricane warning of September 7. Next morning a storm surge of 15 ft washed over the long, flat island-city which was only 8 ft above sea level, knocking buildings off their foundations, the disaster ended the Golden Era of Galveston, as the hurricane alarmed potential investors, who turned to Houston instead. The whole island of Galveston was presently raised by 17 ft, the Hurricane of 1900, also known as the Great Galveston Hurricane, made landfall on September 8,1900, in Galveston, Texas, in the United States. It had estimated winds of 145 miles per hour at landfall and it was the deadliest hurricane in US history, and the second costliest hurricane in U. S. history based on the dollars 2005 value. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 is the deadliest natural disaster ever to strike the United States, the hurricane occurred before the practice of assigning official code names to tropical storms was instituted, and thus it is commonly referred to under a variety of descriptive names. Typical names for the storm include the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the Great Galveston Hurricane, and, especially in older documents and it is often referred to by Galveston locals as the Great Storm or the 1900 Storm. The storms origins are unclear, because of the limited observation ability at the end of the 19th century. Ship reports were the only tool for observing hurricanes at sea, and because wireless telegraphy was in its infancy. The 1900 storm, like many powerful Atlantic hurricanes, is believed to have begun as a Cape Verde–type hurricane—a tropical wave moving off the western coast of Africa. The first formal sighting of the hurricanes precursor occurred on August 27, about 1,000 miles east of the Windward Islands, the storm passed through the Leeward Islands on August 30, probably as a tropical depression as indicated by barometric pressure reports from Antigua. Three days later, Antigua reported a severe thunderstorm passing over, followed by the hot, by September 1, U. S. Weather Bureau observers were reporting on a storm of moderate intensity southeast of Cuba. Continuing westward, the storm made landfall on southwest Cuba on September 3, on September 5, it emerged into the Florida Straits as a tropical storm or a weak hurricane. However, a region of high pressure had pushed the storm to the west into the Gulf of Mexico, details of the storm were not widespread, damage to telegraph lines limited communication. The Weather Bureaus central office in Washington, D. C. ordered storm warnings raised from Pensacola, Florida, by the afternoon of September 7, large swells from the southeast were observed on the Gulf, and clouds at all altitudes began moving in from the northeast. Both of these observations are consistent with a hurricane approaching from the east, the Galveston Weather Bureau office raised its double square flags, a hurricane warning was in effect. The ship Louisiana encountered the hurricane at 1 p. m. that day after departing New Orleans, captain Halsey estimated wind speeds of 100 mph
1900 Galveston hurricane
–
Surface weather analysis of the hurricane on September 8, just before landfall.
1900 Galveston hurricane
–
Hurricane track from September 1 to 10
1900 Galveston hurricane
–
People rummage through rubble of destroyed houses in Galveston several days after the hurricane
1900 Galveston hurricane
–
House in Galveston on Avenue N, October 15, 1900
28.
Galveston
–
Galveston is a coastal resort city on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U. S. state of Texas. The community of 209.3 square miles, with a population of 50,180 in 2015, is the county seat. It is within Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area, the Port of Galveston was established in 1825 by the Congress of Mexico following its independence from Spain. The city was the port for the Texas Navy during the Texas Revolution. During the 19th century, Galveston became a major U. S. commercial center and it was devastated by the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, whose effects included flooding and a storm surge. The natural disaster on the barrier island is still ranked as the deadliest in United States history. Much of Galvestons economy is centered in the tourism, health care, shipping, the 84-acre University of Texas Medical Branch campus with an enrollment of more than 2,500 students is a major economic force of the city. Galveston Island was originally inhabited by members of the Karankawa and Akokisa tribes who called the island Auia, the Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca and his crew were shipwrecked on the island or nearby in November 1528, calling it Isla de Malhado. They began their trek to a Spanish settlement in Mexico City. During his charting of the Gulf Coast in 1785, the Spanish explorer José de Evia named the island Villa Gálvez or Gálveztown in honor of Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez. The islands first permanent European settlements were constructed around 1816 by the pirate Louis-Michel Aury to support Mexicos rebellion against Spain, in 1817, Aury returned from an unsuccessful raid against Spain to find Galveston occupied by the pirate Jean Lafitte. Lafitte organized Galveston into a kingdom he called Campeche, anointing himself the islands head of government. Lafitte remained in Galveston until 1821, when the United States Navy forced him, in 1825 the Congress of Mexico established the Port of Galveston and in 1830 erected a customs house. Galveston served as the capital of the Republic of Texas when in 1836 the interim president David G. Burnet relocated his government there. In 1836, the French-Canadian Michel Branamour Menard and several associates purchased 4,605 acres of land for $50,000 to found the town that would become the city of Galveston. As Anglo-Americans migrated to the city, they brought along or purchased enslaved African-Americans, some of whom worked domestically or on the waterfront, in 1839, the City of Galveston adopted a charter and was incorporated by the Congress of the Republic of Texas. The city was by then a port of entry and attracted many new residents in the 1840s and later among the flood of German immigrants to Texas. Together with ethnic Mexican residents, these tended to oppose slavery, support the Union during the Civil War
Galveston
–
Downtown Galveston in June 2011
Galveston
–
Plan of the City of Galveston, Texas (circa 1845)
Galveston
–
Map of City of Galveston (circa 1904)
Galveston
–
The Beach Hotel catered to vacationers until a fire in 1898.
29.
Texas City
–
Texas City is a city in Galveston County in the US state of Texas. Located on the southwest shoreline of Galveston Bay, Texas City is a deepwater port on Texas Gulf Coast, as well as a petroleum refining. The population was 45,099 at the 2010 census, making it the third-largest city in Galveston County, behind League City and it is a part of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. The city is notable as the site of an explosion in 1947 that demolished the port. Three duck hunters in 1891 noted that a location along Galveston Bay, Shoal Point had existed since the 1830s, when veterans of the Texas Revolution were awarded land for their services. The name was applied to the community when a post office opened in 1878, the duck hunters were three brothers from Duluth, Minnesota named Benjamin, Henry and Jacob Myers. After they returned to Duluth, they formed the Myers Brothers syndicate, convinced investors to put up money to buy 10,000 acres of Galveston Bay Frontage. They renamed the area Texas City, by 1893, the investors had formed the Texas City Improvement Company, which plotted and filed the townsite plan. A post office opened in 1893 with Frank B. Davison appointed as the towns first postmaster, to serve approximately 250 people who had moved there from Minnesota and Michigan. TCIC also received permission from the Federal Government to dredge a channel in the bay from Bolivar Roads to serve Texas City. In 1894, the channel was first used commercially, TCIC eventually dredged the channel to a forty-foot depth and extended the length of the port to 1.5 mi. TCIC also built a 4-mi railroad to the Texas City Junction south of town, despite these successes, the TCIC went bankrupt in 1897. Its assets were reorganized into two new companies, Texas City Company, and Texas City Railway Terminal Company, TCC acquired 3,000 city lots and provided water, gas and electricity to the town. These companies were chartered on February 4,1899, a grid of streets and avenues was laid out during the 1890s and houses and other structures began to appear. The Davison Home, where the first childbirth in the town took place, was constructed between 1895 and 1897, as the TCIC, the TCC and TCRTC expanded, urbanization expanded. Permission was granted in the summer of 1900 to dredge the Texas City channel to a depth of 25 ft, the disastrous Galveston Hurricane of 1900 interrupted the project, washing the dredge ashore. However, the Texas City port remained open after the storm passed, even before the channel dredging was complete, the first ocean-goingship, SS Piqua, arrived at the port from Mexico on September 28,1904. Dredging was completed March 19,1905, when the U. S. government opened a house in Texas City
Texas City
–
Seatrain Louisiana at Refinery Dock, Texas City 1952
Texas City
–
Location in
Galveston County in the state of Texas
Texas City
–
Parking lot 1/4 of a mile away from the explosion
Texas City
–
Texas City Post Office
30.
Harris County, Texas
–
Harris County is a county located in the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 4,092,459, making it the most populous county in Texas and its county seat is Houston, the largest city in Texas and fourth-largest city in the United States. The county was founded in 1836 and organized in 1837 and it is named for John Richardson Harris, an early settler of the area. By the July 2016 Census Bureau estimate Harris Countys population had grown to 4,589,928, Harris County is included in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land Metropolitan Statistical Area. John Richardson Harris, early Harris County settler and founder of Harrisburg, on May 7,1813, he married Jane Birdsall. John and Jane Birdsall Harris settled near Waterloo, New York, in 1819 they were living in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, where their daughter Mary Jane Harris Briscoe was born, a third son, John Birdsall Harris, was born in 1821. Genevieve Harris met Moses Austin and decided to move to Texas and he came to Texas in his own vessel in 1824 and received title to 4,428 acres of land at the junction of Brays and Buffalo bayous in what is now Harris County. He boarded with William Scott while he built a house on the peninsula between the bayous and a store and warehouse on Buffalo Bayou, in 1826 he employed Francis W. Johnson to lay out the town of Harrisburg. With his brother David Harris, John Harris established a trading post at Bells Landing on the Brazos River. Their sloops and schooners plied between Texas and New Orleans, One of these vessels, the Rights of Man, carried eighty-four bales of cotton to New Orleans in 1828. Harris was building a steam sawmill-gristmill at Harrisburg in 1829, when he went to New Orleans to buy equipment, after his death on August 21,1829, his sawmill and shipping enterprise were operated by his brothers David, Samuel, and William Plunkett Harris. His widow and son DeWitt moved to Texas in 1833, the children came later. Litigation over Harriss estate prevented Harrisburg from becoming the seat of the new Texas government in 1836, when Houston was named instead. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,777 square miles. Both its total area and land area are larger than the state of Rhode Island. 6% of Harris Countys population, black Americans made up 18. 9% of the population. Native Americans made up 0. 7% of Harris Countys population, Asian Americans made up 6. 2% of the population. Pacific Islander Americans made up just 0. 1% of the population, individuals from other races made up 14. 3% of the population, people from two or more races made up 3. 2% of the countys population
Harris County, Texas
–
The Harris County Civil Courthouse in Houston
Harris County, Texas
–
Map of Harris County – Northeast one-fourth (circa 1912)
Harris County, Texas
–
Firefighters on San Jacinto Street, circa 1914
Harris County, Texas
–
Harris County 1910 Courthouse Restored
31.
Steamship
–
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically drive propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships came into usage during the early 1800s, however. Steamships usually use the designations of PS for paddle steamer or SS for screw steamer. As paddle steamers became less common, SS is assumed by many to stand for steam ship, Ships powered by internal combustion engines use a prefix such as MV for motor vessel, so it is not correct to use SS for most modern vessels. The steamship was preceded by smaller vessels designed for insular transportation, once the technology of steam was mastered at this level, steam engines were mounted on larger, and eventually, ocean-going vessels. Becoming reliable, and propelled by screw rather than paddlewheels, the changed the design of ships for faster. Paddlewheels as the main motive source became standard on these early vessels and it was an effective means of propulsion under ideal conditions but otherwise had serious drawbacks. Within a few decades of the development of the river and canal steamboat, the first sea-going steamboat was Richard Wrights first steamboat Experiment, an ex-French lugger, she steamed from Leeds to Yarmouth in July 1813. She carried passengers and freight to Paris in 1822 at an speed of 8 knots. The American ship SS Savannah first crossed the Atlantic Ocean, another claimant is the Canadian ship SS Royal William in 1833. The SS Archimedes, built in Britain in 1839 by Francis Pettit Smith, was the worlds first steamship to be driven by a screw propeller. It had considerable influence on development, encouraging the adoption of screw propulsion by the Royal Navy. The key innovation that made ocean-going steamers viable was the change from the paddle-wheel to the screw-propeller as the mechanism of propulsion and these steamships quickly became more popular, because the propellers efficiency was consistent regardless of the depth at which it operated. Being smaller in size and mass and being submerged, it was also far less prone to damage. The development of screw propulsion relied on the technological innovations. Steam engines had to be designed with the power delivered at the bottom of the machinery, a paddle steamers engines drive a shaft that is positioned above the waterline, with the cylinders positioned below the shaft. SS Great Britain used chain drive to power from a paddlers engine to the propeller shaft - the result of a late design change to propeller propulsion. An effective stern tube and associated bearings were required, the stern tube contains the propeller shaft where it passes through the hull structure
Steamship
–
Maiden voyage of the side-wheel paddle steamer
SS Great Western, the first purpose-built transatlantic steamship, on its maiden voyage in 1838.
Steamship
–
Francis Pettit Smith 1836 patent for his propeller design originally fitted to the Archimedes.
Steamship
–
Great Britain in the
Cumberland Basin, April 1844. This historic photograph by
William Talbot is believed to be the first ever taken of a ship.
Steamship
–
SS Agamemnon (1865)
32.
New York City
–
The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
New York City
–
Clockwise, from top:
Midtown Manhattan,
Times Square, the
Unisphere in
Queens, the
Brooklyn Bridge,
Lower Manhattan with
One World Trade Center,
Central Park, the
headquarters of the United Nations, and the
Statue of Liberty
New York City
–
New Amsterdam, centered in the eventual
Lower Manhattan, in 1664, the year
England took control and renamed it "New York".
New York City
–
The
Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the
American Revolution, took place in
Brooklyn in 1776.
New York City
–
Broadway follows the Native American Wickquasgeck Trail through Manhattan.
33.
Woodrow Wilson
–
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th President of the United States from 1913 to 1921. Born in Staunton, Virginia, he spent his years in Augusta, Georgia and Columbia. In 1910, he was the New Jersey Democratic Partys gubernatorial candidate and was elected the 34th Governor of New Jersey, while in office, Wilson reintroduced the spoken State of the Union, which had been out of use since 1801. Leading the Congress that was now in Democratic hands, he oversaw the passage of progressive legislative policies unparalleled until the New Deal in 1933. The Federal Reserve Act, Federal Trade Commission Act, the Clayton Antitrust Act, through passage of the Adamson Act that imposed an 8-hour workday for railroads, he averted a railroad strike and an ensuing economic crisis. Upon the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Wilson maintained a policy of neutrality, Wilson faced former New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes in the presidential election of 1916. By a narrow margin, he became the first Democrat since Andrew Jackson elected to two consecutive terms, Wilsons second term was dominated by American entry into World War I. In April 1917, when Germany had resumed unrestricted submarine warfare and sent the Zimmermann Telegram, the United States conducted military operations alongside the Allies, although without a formal alliance. During the war, Wilson focused on diplomacy and financial considerations, leaving military strategy to the generals, loaning billions of dollars to Britain, France, and other Allies, the United States aided their finance of the war effort. On the home front, he raised taxes, borrowing billions of dollars through the publics purchase of Liberty Bonds. In his 1915 State of the Union Address, Wilson asked Congress for what became the Espionage Act of 1917, the crackdown was intensified by his Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer to include expulsion of non-citizen radicals during the First Red Scare of 1919–1920. Wilson staffed his government with Southern Democrats who implemented racial segregation at the Treasury, Navy and he gave department heads greater autonomy in their management. Following his return from Europe, Wilson embarked on a tour in 1919 to campaign for the treaty. The treaty was met with concern by Senate Republicans, and Wilson rejected a compromise effort led by Henry Cabot Lodge. Due to his stroke, Wilson secluded himself in the White House, disability having diminished his power, forming a strategy for re-election, Wilson deadlocked the 1920 Democratic National Convention, but his bid for a third-term nomination was overlooked. Wilson was a devoted Presbyterian and Georgist, and he infused his views of morality into his domestic and he appointed several well known radically progressive single taxers to prominent positions in his administration. His ideology of internationalism is now referred to as Wilsonian, an activist foreign policy calling on the nation to promote global democracy and he was the third of four children of Joseph Ruggles Wilson and Jessie Janet Woodrow. Wilsons paternal grandparents immigrated to the United States from Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland and his mother was born in Carlisle, England, the daughter of Rev. Dr. Thomas Woodrow from Paisley, Scotland, and Marion Williamson from Glasgow
Woodrow Wilson
–
President Wilson in 1919
Woodrow Wilson
–
Wilson c. mid 1870s
Woodrow Wilson
–
Ellen Axson Wilson (1883)
Woodrow Wilson
–
daughters Jessie and Margaret
34.
World War I
–
World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
World War I
–
Clockwise from the top: The aftermath of shelling during the
Battle of the Somme,
Mark V tanks cross the
Hindenburg Line,
HMS Irresistible sinks after hitting a
mine in the
Dardanelles, a British
Vickers machine gun crew wears
gas masks during the Battle of the Somme,
Albatros D.III fighters of
Jagdstaffel 11
World War I
–
Sarajevo citizens reading a poster with the proclamation of the
Austrian annexation in 1908.
World War I
–
This picture is usually associated with the arrest of
Gavrilo Princip, although some believe it depicts Ferdinand Behr, a bystander.
World War I
–
Serbian Army
Blériot XI "Oluj", 1915.
35.
United States Army Corps of Engineers
–
The United States Army Corps of Engineers, also sometimes shortened to CoE is a U. S. Although generally associated with dams, canals and flood protection in the United States, the Corps of Engineers provides outdoor recreation opportunities to the public, and provides 24% of U. S. hydropower capacity. The corps mission is to Deliver vital public and military engineering services, partnering in peace and war to strengthen our Nations security, energize the economy and their most visible missions include, Planning, designing, building, and operating locks and dams. Other civil engineering projects include flood control, beach nourishment, design and construction of flood protection systems through various federal mandates. Design and construction management of military facilities for the Army, Air Force, Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve and other Defense and Federal agencies. The history of United States Army Corps of Engineers can be traced back to 16 June 1775, colonel Richard Gridley became General George Washingtons first chief engineer, however, it was not until 1779 that Congress created a separate Corps of Engineers. One of its first tasks was to build fortifications near Boston at Bunker Hill, the first Corps of Engineers was mostly composed of French subjects who had been hired by General Washington from the service of Louis XVI. that the said Corps. Shall be stationed at West Point in the State of New York, until 1866, the superintendent of the United States Military Academy was always an officer of engineer. During the first half of the 19th century, West Point was the major and, for a while, the General Survey Act of 1824 authorized the use of Army engineers to survey road and canal routes. Separately authorized on 4 July 1838, the U. S and it was merged with the Corps of Engineers on 31 March 1863, at which point the Corps of Engineers also assumed the Lakes Survey District mission for the Great Lakes. In 1841, Congress created the Lake Survey, the survey, based in Detroit, Mich. was charged with conducting a hydrographical survey of the Northern and Northwestern Lakes and preparing and publishing nautical charts and other navigation aids. The Lake Survey published its first charts in 1852, in the mid-19th century, Corps of Engineers officers ran Lighthouse Districts in tandem with U. S. Naval officers. The Army Corps of Engineers played a significant role in the American Civil War, many of the men who would serve in the top leadership in this institution were West Point graduates who rose to military fame and power during the Civil War. Some of these men were Union Generals George McClellan, Henry Halleck, George Meade, and Confederate generals Robert E. Lee, Joseph Johnston, the versatility of officers in the Army Corps of Engineers contributed to the success of numerous missions throughout the Civil War. They were responsible for building pontoon and railroad bridges, forts and batteries, the destruction of supply lines. The Army Corps of Engineers served as a function in making the war effort logistically feasible. This method of building trenches was known as the zigzag pattern, from the beginning, many politicians wanted the Corps of Engineers to contribute to both military construction and works of a civil nature. During World War II the mission grew to more than 27,000 military, included were aircraft, tank assembly, and ammunition plants, camps for 5.3 million soldiers, depots, ports, and hospitals, as well as the Manhattan Project, and the Pentagon
United States Army Corps of Engineers
–
Colonel Debra Lewis, the Gulf Region Division Central District commander with Sheik O'rhaman Hama Raheem, an Iraqi councilman, celebrate the opening of a new women's center in Assriya Village that the Corps helped construct in 2006.
United States Army Corps of Engineers
–
USACE Logo
United States Army Corps of Engineers
–
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Dredge Tauracavor 3 in New York Harbor.
United States Army Corps of Engineers
–
Mississippi River Improvement, 1890.
36.
United States Department of War
–
The Secretary of War, a civilian with such responsibilities as finance and purchases and a minor role in directing military affairs, headed the War Department throughout its existence. Retired senior General Henry Knox, then in civilian life, served as the first United States Secretary of War, forming and organizing the department and the army fell to Secretary Knox. On November 8,1800 the War Department building with its records, foundation of the new military academy at West Point along the Hudson River upstream from New York City in 1802 was important to the future growth of the American army. The multiple failures and fiascos of the War of 1812 convinced Washington that thorough reform of the War Department was necessary, winfield Scott became the senior general until the start of the American Civil War in 1861. The bureau chiefs acted as advisers to the Secretary of War while commanding their own troops, the bureaus frequently conflicted among themselves, but in disputes with the commanding general, the Secretary of War generally supported the bureaus. Congress regulated the affairs of the bureaus in detail, and their chiefs looked to that body for support, during the American Civil War, the War Department responsibilities expanded. It handled the recruiting, training, supply, medical care, transportation, a separate command structure took charge of military operations. In the late stages of the war, the Department took charge of refugees and freedmen in the American South through the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, during Reconstruction, this bureau played a major role in supporting the new Republican governments in the southern states. When military Reconstruction ended in 1877, the U. S. Army removed the last troops from military occupation of the American South, and the last Republican state governments in the region ended. The Army comprised hundreds of small detachments in forts around the West, dealing with Indians, the United States Army, with 39,000 men in 1890 was the smallest and least powerful army of any major power in the late 19th century. By contrast, France had an army of 542,000, temporary volunteers and state militia units mostly fought the Spanish–American War of 1898. This conflict demonstrated the need for effective control over the department. Elihu Root enlarged the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and established the United States Army War College and he changed the procedures for promotions and organized schools for the special branches of the service. He also devised the principle of rotating officers from staff to line, indeed, Secretary Taft exercised little power, President Theodore Roosevelt made the major decisions. In 1911, Secretary Henry L. Stimson and Major General Leonard Wood, his chief of staff, the general staff assisted them in their efforts to rationalize the organization of the army along modern lines and in supervising the bureaus. Assisted by industrial advisers, they reorganized the system of the army. General March reorganized the general staff along similar lines and gave it authority over departmental operations. After the war, the Congress again granted the bureaus their former independence, in the 1920s, General John J. Pershing realigned the general staff on the pattern of his American Expeditionary Force field headquarters, which he commanded
United States Department of War
–
State, War, and Navy Building in 1917
United States Department of War
–
The seal of the U.S. Department of War.
37.
Public Works Administration
–
Public Works Administration, part of the New Deal of 1933 was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act in June 1933 in response to the Great Depression and it built large-scale public works such as dams, bridges, hospitals, and schools. Its goals were to spend $3.3 billion in the first year, and $6 billion in all, to employment, stabilize purchasing power. Most of the came in two waves in 1933-35, and again in 1938. Originally called the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, it was renamed the Public Works Administration in 1935, the PWA spent over $6 billion in contracts to private construction firms that did the actual work. It created an infrastructure that generated national and local pride in the 1930s, frances Perkins had first suggested a federally financed public works program, and the idea received considerable support from Harold L. Ickes, James Farley, and Henry Wallace. After having scaled back the initial cost of the PWA, Franklin Delano Roosevelt agreed to include the PWA as part of his New Deal proposals in the Hundred Days of spring 1933. The PWA headquarters in Washington planned projects, which were built by construction companies hiring workers on the open market. Unlike the WPA, it did not hire the unemployed directly. More than any other New Deal program, the PWA epitomized the progressive notion of priming the pump to encourage economic recovery. Streets and highways were the most common PWA projects, as 11,428 road projects, or 33% of all PWA projects, school buildings,7,488 in all, came in second at 14% of spending. PWA functioned chiefly by making allotments to the various Federal agencies, making loans and grants to state and other public bodies, for example, it provided funds for the Indian Division of the CCC to build roads, bridges and other public works on and near Indian reservations. The PWA became, with its multiplier-effect and first two-year budget of $3.3 billion, by June 1934, the agency had distributed its entire fund to 13,266 federal projects and 2,407 non-federal projects. For every worker on a PWA project, almost two additional workers were employed indirectly, the PWA also electrified the Pennsylvania Railroad between New York and Washington, DC. At the local level it built courthouses, schools, hospitals, however it did not create as much affordable housing as supporters would have hoped, building only 29,000 units in 4 1⁄2 years. The PWA spent over $6 billion, but did not succeed in returning the level of activity to pre-depression levels. Though successful in many aspects, it has acknowledged that the PWAs objective of constructing a substantial number of quality. Some have argued that because Roosevelt was opposed to deficit spending, Reeves argues that the competitive theory of administration used by Roosevelt proved to be inefficient and produced delays. The cautious and penurious Ickes won out over the more imaginative Hugh S. Johnson as chief of public works administration, Political competition between rival Democratic state organizations and between Democrats and Progressive Republicans led to delays in implementing PWA efforts on the local level
Public Works Administration
–
Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works project plaque on the
Pine City, Minnesota City Hall
Public Works Administration
–
Fort Peck Dam in Montana; spillway construction. One of the largest dams in the world, it continues to generate electricity; in July 1936 its construction employed 10,500 workers.
38.
Oilfield
–
An oil field or oilfield is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over an area, possibly several hundred kilometres across. In addition, there may be exploratory wells probing the edges, pipelines to transport the oil elsewhere, because an oil field may be remote from civilization, establishing a field is often an extremely complicated exercise in logistics. This goes beyond requirements for drilling, to include associated infrastructure, for instance, workers require housing to allow them to work onsite for months or years. In turn, housing and equipment require electricity and water, in cold regions, pipelines may need to be heated. Also, excess gas may be burned off if there is no way to make use of it—which requires a furnace, chimney. More than 40,000 oil fields are scattered around the globe, on land, the largest are the Ghawar Field in Saudi Arabia and the Burgan Field in Kuwait, with more than 60 billion barrels estimated in each. Most oil fields are much smaller, according to the US Department of Energy, as of 2003 the US alone had over 30,000 oil fields. In the modern age, the location of oil fields with oil reserves is a key underlying factor in many geopolitical conflicts. The term oilfield is also used as a shorthand to refer to the petroleum industry. However, it is accurate to divide the oil industry into three sectors, upstream, midstream and downstream. Oil Fields from Space - nighttime satellite images showing fields around the world
Oilfield
–
An oil field with dozens of wells. This is the
Summerland Oil Field, near
Santa Barbara, California, before 1906
Oilfield
–
Oil Field
Mittelplate in the North Sea
39.
Oil refinery
–
Oil refineries are typically large, sprawling industrial complexes with extensive piping running throughout, carrying streams of fluids between large chemical processing units. In many ways, oil refineries use much of the technology of, the crude oil feedstock has typically been processed by an oil production plant. There is usually an oil depot at or near an oil refinery for the storage of incoming crude oil feedstock as well as bulk liquid products, an oil refinery is considered an essential part of the downstream side of the petroleum industry. The lighter elements, however, form explosive vapors in the tanks and are therefore hazardous. Petroleum fossil fuels are burned in internal combustion engines to power for ships, automobiles, aircraft engines, lawn mowers, dirt bikes. Different boiling points allow the hydrocarbons to be separated by distillation, Oil can be used in a variety of ways because it contains hydrocarbons of varying molecular masses, forms and lengths such as paraffins, aromatics, naphthenes, alkenes, dienes, and alkynes. Once separated and purified of any contaminants and impurities, the fuel or lubricant can be sold without further processing, smaller molecules such as isobutane and propylene or butylenes can be recombined to meet specific octane requirements by processes such as alkylation, or more commonly, dimerization. The octane grade of gasoline can also be improved by catalytic reforming, the final step in gasoline production is the blending of fuels with different octane ratings, vapor pressures, and other properties to meet product specifications. Another method for reprocessing and upgrading these intermediate products uses a process to separate usable oil from the waste asphaltene material. Oil refineries are large plants, processing about a hundred thousand to several hundred thousand barrels of crude oil a day. Because of the capacity, many of the units operate continuously, as opposed to processing in batches. The high capacity also makes process optimization and advanced process control very desirable, petroleum products are usually grouped into four categories, light distillates, middle distillates, heavy distillates and residuum. This classification is based on the way crude oil is distilled and separated into fractions as in the above drawing and these are not usually transported but instead are blended or processed further on-site. Chemical plants are often adjacent to oil refineries or a number of further chemical processes are integrated into it. For example, light hydrocarbons are steam-cracked in a plant. Using the Claus process, hydrogen sulfide is afterwards transformed to elementary sulfur to be sold to the chemical industry, the rather large heat energy freed by this process is directly used in the other parts of the refinery. Often an electrical plant is combined into the whole refinery process to take up the excess heat. Desalter unit washes out salt from the oil before it enters the atmospheric distillation unit
Oil refinery
–
Anacortes Refinery (
Tesoro), on the north end of March Point southeast of
Anacortes, Washington
Oil refinery
–
The oil refinery in
Haifa, Israel is capable of processing about 9 million tons (66 million barrels) of
crude oil a year. Its two
cooling towers are landmarks of the city's skyline.
Oil refinery
–
Fire-extinguishing operations after the Texas City refinery explosion.
Oil refinery
–
Refinery of
Slovnaft in
Bratislava.
40.
ExxonMobil
–
Exxon Mobil Corporation is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefellers Standard Oil Company, the worlds seventh largest company by revenue, ExxonMobil is also the seventh largest publicly traded company by market capitalization. The company was ranked ninth globally in the Forbes Global 2000 list in 2016, ExxonMobil was the second most profitable company in the Fortune 500 in 2014. ExxonMobil is the largest of the worlds Big Oil companies, or supermajors, with production of 3.921 million BOE. In 2008, this was approximately 3 percent of world production, when ranked by oil and gas reserves, it is 14th in the world—with less than 1 percent of the total. ExxonMobils reserves were 25.2 billion BOE at the end of 2013, ExxonMobil has a history of lobbying for climate change denial and against the scientific consensus that global warming is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. The company has also been the target of accusations of improperly dealing with rights issues, influence on American foreign policy. ExxonMobil was formed in 1999 by the merger of two oil companies, Exxon and Mobil. Both Exxon and Mobil were descendants of Standard Oil, established by John D. Rockefeller, in 1882, it together with its affiliated companies was incorporated as the Standard Oil Trust with Standard Oil Company of New Jersey and Standard Oil Company of New York as its largest companies. The Anglo-American Oil Company was established in the United Kingdom in 1888, in 1890, Standard Oil, together with local ship merchants in Bremen established Deutsch-Amerikanische Petroleum Gesellschaft. In 1891, a branch for the Netherlands and Belgium. At the same year, a branch for Italy, Società Italo Americana pel Petrolio, was established in Venice. The Standard Oil Trust was dissolved under the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1892, however, in 1893, the Chinese and the whole Asian kerosene market was assigned to Standard Oil Company of New York in order to improve trade with the Asian counterparts. In 1898, Standard Oil of New Jersey acquired controlling stake in Imperial Oil of Canada, in 1899, Standard Oil Company of New Jersey became the holding company for the Standard Oil Interests. The anti-monopoly proceedings against the Standard Oil were launched in 1898, by 1911, with public outcry at a climax, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Standard Oil must be dissolved and split into 34 companies. Two of these companies were Jersey Standard, which eventually became Exxon, and Socony, over the next few decades, Jersey Standard and Socony grew significantly. John Duston Archbold was the first president of Jersey Standard, Archbold was followed by Walter C. Teagle in 1917, who made it the largest oil company in the world, in 1919, Jersey Standard acquired a 50% share in Humble Oil & Refining Co. a Texas oil producer
ExxonMobil
–
ExxonMobil Building, former ExxonMobil offices in
Downtown Houston were vacated in early 2015.
ExxonMobil
–
Chart of the major energy companies dubbed "Big Oil", sorted by latest published revenue
ExxonMobil
–
ExxonMobil refinery in
Baton Rouge
ExxonMobil
–
Map of the Yellowstone River watershed
41.
San Jacinto River (Texas)
–
The San Jacinto River runs from Lake Houston in Harris County, Texas, to Galveston Bay. In the past, it was home to the Karankawa and Akokisa tribes and it is named after Saint Hyacinth. The two forks of the San Jacinto River are known as the East and West Forks, the west fork of the San Jacinto River feeds Lake Conroe and flows south through Montgomery County to meet with the east fork in northeast Harris County to form Lake Houston. The east fork begins in San Jacinto County, north of the Sam Houston National Forest, tributaries of both forks begin within just a few miles of Lake Livingston, a reservoir on the Trinity River. The east fork flows south through Cleveland in Liberty County, Montgomery County, continuing southward, the river merges with Buffalo Bayou before the mouth at Galveston Bay. The Battle of San Jacinto was fought near the rain-swollen Buffalo Bayou in what is now Harris County during the 1836 Texas Revolution, the decisive victory gave rise to the Republic of Texas. The site is now a historic park. The park is the site of the San Jacinto Monument, which is taller than the Washington Monument, in October 1994, flooding along the San Jacinto River led to the failure of eight petroleum products pipelines, and the undermining of a number of other pipelines. The escaping products were ignited, leading to smoke inhalation and/or burn injuries of 547 people, in 2008, the EPA added the San Jacinto River waste pits to the federal Superfund cleanup list. List of rivers of Texas San Jacinto River from the Handbook of Texas Online
San Jacinto River (Texas)
–
Map of the San Jacinto River and associated watershed
42.
History of Texas
–
The recorded History of Texas begins with the arrival of the first Spanish conquistadors in the region now known as Texas in 1519, who found the region populated by numerous Native American tribes. Native Americans ancestors had been there for more than 10,000 years as evidenced by the discovery of the remains of Leanderthal Lady, in 1682, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle established a French colony, Fort Saint Louis, near Matagorda Bay. The colony was killed off by Native Americans after three years, but Spanish authorities felt pressed to establish settlements to keep their claim to the land, several missions were established in East Texas, they were abandoned in 1691. Twenty years later, concerned with the French presence in neighboring Louisiana, over the next 110 years, Spain established numerous villages, presidios, and missions in the province. A small number of Spanish settlers arrived, in addition to missionaries, Spain signed agreements with colonizers from the United States. When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, Mexican Texas was part of the new nation. To encourage settlement, Mexican authorities allowed organized immigration from the United States, Santa Annas invasion of the territory after putting down the rebellion in Zacatecas provoked the conflict of 1836. The Texian forces fought and won the Texas Revolution in 1835–36, although not recognized as such by Mexico, Texas declared itself an independent nation, the Republic of Texas. Attracted by the lands for cotton plantations and ranching, tens of thousands of immigrants arrived from the U. S. In 1845, Texas joined the United States, becoming the 28th state, only after the conclusion of the Mexican-American War, with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, did Mexico recognize Texan independence. Texas declared its secession from the United States in 1861 to join the Confederate States of America, only a few battles of the American Civil War were fought in Texas, most Texas regiments served in the east. When the war ended, the enslaved African Americans were freed, Texas was subject to Reconstruction, a process that left a residue of bitterness among whites. Blacks were excluded from the political system until after passage of federal civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s. Cotton, ranching, and farming dominated the economy, with construction after 1870 a major factor in the development of new cities away from rivers. Toward the end of the 19th century, timber became an important industry in Texas as well, in 1901 a petroleum discovery at Spindletop Hill, near Beaumont, was developed as the most productive oil well the world had ever seen. The wave of oil speculation and discovery that followed came to be known as the Oil Boom, agriculture and ranching gave way to a service-oriented society after the boom years of World War II. Segregation ended in the 1960s due to federal legislation, politically, Texas changed from the virtually one-party Democratic state achieved following disenfranchisement, to a highly contested political scene, until 2000 when it was solidly Republican. The economy of Texas has continued to rapidly, becoming the second-largest state in population in 1994
History of Texas
–
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle founded the French colony in Texas.
History of Texas
–
The French flag of the
Bourbons
History of Texas
–
Texas in 1718,
Guillaume de L'Isle map, approximate state area highlighted, northern boundary was indefinite.
History of Texas
–
Spanish missions within the boundaries of what is now the state of Texas.
43.
Dreadnought
–
The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. Dreadnoughts design had two features, an all-big-gun armament scheme, with more heavy-calibre guns than previous ships. As dreadnoughts became a symbol of power, the arrival of these new warships was a crucial catalyst in the intensifying naval arms race between the United Kingdom and Germany. With the launch of a ship, Dreadnought, the scales of naval power were reset overnight. As a result, dreadnought races sprang up around the world, including in South America, successive designs increased rapidly in size and made use of improvements in armament, armour, and propulsion throughout the dreadnought era. Within five years, new battleships had outclassed Dreadnought and these more powerful vessels were known as super-dreadnoughts. The only surviving dreadnought is USS Texas, located near the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, dreadnought-building consumed vast resources in the early 20th century, but there was only one battle between large dreadnought fleets. In the 1916 Battle of Jutland, the British and German navies clashed with no decisive result, some designs had an intermediate battery of 8-inch guns. Serious proposals for an all-big-gun armament were circulated in several countries by 1903, all-big-gun designs commenced almost simultaneously in three navies. In 1904, the Imperial Japanese Navy authorized construction of Satsuma, work began on her construction in May 1905. The Royal Navy began the design of HMS Dreadnought in January 1905, finally, the US Navy gained authorization for USS Michigan, carrying eight 12-inch guns, in March 1905, with construction commencing in December 1906. The newest 12-inch guns had longer range and fired heavier shells than a gun of 10-inch or 9. 2-inch calibre, there is still debate as to whether this feature was important. At these ranges, lighter guns had good accuracy, and their rate of fire delivered high volumes of ordnance on the target. Naval gunnery was too inaccurate to hit targets at a longer range, by the early 20th century, British and American admirals expected future battleships would engage at longer distances. Newer models of torpedo had longer ranges, for instance, in 1903, the US Navy ordered a design of torpedo effective to 4,000 yards. Both British and American admirals concluded that they needed to engage the enemy at longer ranges, in 1900, Admiral Sir John Jackie Fisher, commanding the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet, ordered gunnery practice with 6-inch guns at 6,000 yards. By 1904 the US Naval War College was considering the effects on battleship tactics of torpedoes with a range of 7,000 yards to 8,000 yards, the range of light and medium-calibre guns was limited, and accuracy declined badly at longer range. At longer ranges the advantage of a rate of fire decreased, accurate shooting depended on spotting the shell-splashes of the previous salvo
Dreadnought
–
The
Royal Navy 's
HMS Dreadnought, the world's first dreadnought
Dreadnought
–
The only remaining dreadnought still afloat,
USS Texas, was launched in 1912 and is now a museum ship.
Dreadnought
–
A plan of
Bellerophon (1907) showing the armament distribution of early British dreadnoughts. The
main battery is in twin turrets, with two on the "wings"; the light secondary battery is clustered around the superstructure.
Dreadnought
–
12-pounder anti-torpedo boat guns mounted on the roof of a turret on
Dreadnought (1906)
44.
Battle of San Jacinto
–
The Battle of San Jacinto, fought on April 21,1836, in present-day Harris County, Texas, was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Sam Houston, the Texian Army engaged and defeated General Antonio López de Santa Annas Mexican army in a fight that lasted just 18 minutes, Santa Anna, the President of Mexico, was captured and surrendered the following day and held as a prisoner of war. Three weeks later, he signed the treaty that dictated that the Mexican army leave the region. These treaties did not specifically recognize Texas as a sovereign nation, Sam Houston became a national celebrity, and the Texans rallying cries from events of the war, Remember the Alamo. and Remember Goliad. became etched into Texan history and legend. General Antonio López de Santa Anna was a proponent of governmental federalism when he helped oust Mexican president Anastasio Bustamante in December 1832. Upon his election as president in April 1833, Santa Anna switched his political ideology, while in Mexico City awaiting a meeting with Santa Anna, Texian empresario Stephen F. Austin wrote to the Béxar ayuntamiento urging a break-away state. In response, the Mexican government kept him imprisoned for most of 1834, Colonel Juan Almonte was appointed Director of Colonization in Texas, ostensibly to ease relations with the colonists and mitigate their anxieties about Austins imprisonment. He delivered promises of self-governance, and conveyed regrets that the Mexican congress deemed it impossible for Texas to be a separate state. In consolidating his power base, Santa Anna installed General Martín Perfecto de Cos as the military authority over Texas in 1835. Cos established headquarters in San Antonio on October 9, triggering what became known as the Siege of Béxar, after two months of trying to repel the Texian forces, Cos raised a white flag on December 9, and signed surrender terms two days later. The surrender of Cos effectively removed the occupying Mexican army from Texas, many believed the war was over, and volunteers began returning home. In compliance with orders from Santa Anna, Mexicos Minister of War José María Tornel issued his December 30 Circular No,5, often referred to as the Tornel Decree, aimed at dealing with United States intervention in the uprising in Texas. It declared that foreigners who entered Mexico for the purpose of joining the rebellion were to be treated as pirates, to be put to death if captured. In adding since they are not subjects of any nation at war with the republic nor do they militate under any recognized flag, the Mexican Army of Operations numbered 6,019 soldiers and was spread out over 300 miles on its march to Béxar. General Joaquín Ramírez y Sesma was put in command of the Vanguard of the Advance that crossed into Texas. Santa Anna and his aide-de-camp Almonte forded the Rio Grande at Guerrero, Coahuila on February 16,1836, Béxar was captured on February 23 and when the assault commenced, attempts at negotiation for surrender were initiated from inside the fortress. Travis sent Albert Martin to request a meeting with Almonte, who replied that he did not have the authority to speak for Santa Anna. Bowie dispatched Green B. Jameson with a letter, translated into Spanish by Juan Seguín, requesting a meeting with Santa Anna, Santa Anna did, however, extend an offer of amnesty to Tejanos inside the fortress
Battle of San Jacinto
–
The Battle of San Jacinto-1895 painting by
Henry Arthur McArdle (1836–1908)
Battle of San Jacinto
–
Sam Houston
Battle of San Jacinto
–
San Jacinto battlefield with troop movements
Battle of San Jacinto
–
"Surrender of Santa Anna" by
William Henry Huddle shows the Mexican president and general surrendering to a wounded Sam Houston, battle of San Jacinto
45.
List of historic civil engineering landmarks
–
The following is a list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks as designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers since it began the program in 1964. The designation is granted to projects, structures, and sites in the United States, as of 2013, there are over 260 landmarks included on the list. Sections or chapters of the American Society of Civil Engineers may also designate state or local landmarks within their areas, list of Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks American Society of Civil Engineers - Search by landmark name, project type, city, year of designation
List of historic civil engineering landmarks
List of historic civil engineering landmarks
List of historic civil engineering landmarks
List of historic civil engineering landmarks
46.
American Society of Civil Engineers
–
The American Society of Civil Engineers is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering society in the United States and it was the first national engineering society created in the United States. In 1999, the ASCE elected the top-ten civil engineering achievements that had the greatest positive impact on life in the 20th century in broad categories. Monuments of the Millennium were a combination of technical engineering achievement, courage and inspiration, and it also publishes conference proceedings, standards, manuals of practice, technical reports, and monographs. The ASCE corporate website hosts the society’s bookstore, the access to all journal articles published since 1983, all conference proceedings since 2000. Each year, more than 55,000 engineers earn continuing education units and/or professional development hours by participating in ASCE’s continuing education programs, ASCE hosts more than 15 annual and specialty conferences, over 200 continuing education seminars and more than 300 live Web seminars. The Societys Committee on Technical Advancement has 10 divisions, each year, more than 6,000 civil engineering professionals contribute volunteer technical expertise through participation on ASCE technical committees. These committees are housed in the divisions of the Committee on Technical Activities or in the Society’s institutes, the efforts of these volunteers advance the profession in many ways including the numerous conferences held each year, manuals of practice, journals and standards. Certification is the recognition of attaining advanced knowledge and skills in a specialty area of civil engineering, ASCE offers certifications for engineers who demonstrate advanced knowledge and skills in their area of engineering. American Academy of Water Resources Engineers Academy of Geo-Professionals Academy of Coastal, Ocean, michel Award for Industry Advancement of Research and the Charles Pankow Award for innovation,11 scholarships and fellowships for student members. Special consideration is given to private practice engineering work that is recognized as a contribution to the field of environmental engineering. The Lifetime Achievement Award has been presented annually since 1999 and recognizes five different individual leaders, one award is present in each category of design, construction, government, education, and management. ASCE designates national and international Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks, on February 12,2007 Lt. Gen Strock gave all expert review panel members an Outstanding Civilian Service Medals. On June 1,2007, the ASCE issued its expert review panel report, the report stated that had levees and pump stations not failed, far less property loss would have occurred and nearly two-thirds of deaths could have been avoided. The ASCE administration was criticized by the Times-Picayune for an attempt to minimize, the Corps acknowledged receiving a copy of the letter and refused to comment until the ASCEs Committee on Professional Conduct had commented on the complaint. It took over a year for the ASCE to announce the results of the CPC, the ASCE self-study panel did not file charges of ethical misconduct and blamed errors on staff and not review panel members having created the June press release. On November 14,2007, ASCE announced that U. S, congressman Sherwood Boehlert, R‑N. Y. would lead an independent task force of outside experts to review how ASCE participated in engineering studies of national significance. ASCE President David Mongan said the review was to address criticism of ASCE´s role in assisting the Army Corps of Engineers-sponsored investigation of Katrina failures
American Society of Civil Engineers
–
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
American Society of Civil Engineers
–
ASCE Historical Marker at
Philadelphia City Hall.
47.
Starboard
–
Port and starboard are nautical and aeronautical terms for left and right, respectively. Port is the side of a vessel or aircraft, facing forward. Starboard is the side, facing forward. Since port and starboard never change, they are references that are not relative to the observer. These terms are also being used as aeronautic terms, the term starboard derives from the Old English steorbord, meaning the side on which the ship is steered. Before ships had rudders on their centrelines, they were steered with an oar at the stern of the ship and, because more people are right-handed. The term is cognate with the Old Norse stýri and borð, since the steering oar was on the right side of the boat, it would tie up at wharf on the other side. Hence the left side was called port, formerly, larboard was used instead of port. This is from Middle-English ladebord and the lade is related to the modern load. Larboard sounds similar to starboard and in 1844 the Royal Navy ordered that port be used instead, the United States Navy followed suit in 1846. Larboard continued to be used well into the 1850s by whalers, in Old English the word was bæcbord, of which cognates are used in other European languages, for example as the present Dutch bakboord, the German backbord and the French term bâbord. Aircraft are lit in the same way
Starboard
–
Image from the
Bayeux Tapestry showing a
longship with a
steering oar on the starboard side.
Starboard
–
An exhibit at the
Saint Helier Maritime Museum (the terms appear in the inverse sense to the camera).
48.
Mosaic
–
A mosaic is a piece of art or image made from the assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It is often used in art or as interior decoration. Most mosaics are made of small, flat, roughly square, pieces of stone or glass of different colors, some, especially floor mosaics, are made of small rounded pieces of stone, and called pebble mosaics. Others are made of other materials, mosaics have a long history, starting in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC. Pebble mosaics were made in Tiryns in Mycenean Greece, mosaics with patterns and pictures became widespread in classical times, Early Christian basilicas from the 4th century onwards were decorated with wall and ceiling mosaics. Mosaic fell out of fashion in the Renaissance, though artists like Raphael continued to practise the old technique, Roman and Byzantine influence led Jews to decorate 5th and 6th century synagogues in the Middle East with floor mosaics. Mosaic was widely used on buildings and palaces in early Islamic art, including Islams first great religious building, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Mosaic went out of fashion in the Islamic world after the 8th century, modern mosaics are made by professional artists, street artists, and as a popular craft. Many materials other than stone and ceramic tesserae may be employed, including shells, glass. The earliest known examples of made of different materials were found at a temple building in Abra, Mesopotamia. They consist of pieces of colored stones, shells and ivory, excavations at Susa and Chogha Zanbil show evidence of the first glazed tiles, dating from around 1500 BC. However, mosaic patterns were not used until the times of Sassanid Empire, mythological subjects, or scenes of hunting or other pursuits of the wealthy, were popular as the centrepieces of a larger geometric design, with strongly emphasized borders. Pliny the Elder mentions the artist Sosus of Pergamon by name, describing his mosaics of the left on a floor after a feast. Both of these themes were widely copied, most recorded names of Roman mosaic workers are Greek, suggesting they dominated high quality work across the empire, no doubt most ordinary craftsmen were slaves. Splendid mosaic floors are found in Roman villas across North Africa, in such as Carthage. The tiny tesserae allowed very fine detail, and an approach to the illusionism of painting, often small panels called emblemata were inserted into walls or as the highlights of larger floor-mosaics in coarser work. The normal technique was opus tessellatum, using larger tesserae, which was laid on site, there was a distinct native Italian style using black on a white background, which was no doubt cheaper than fully coloured work. In Rome, Nero and his architects used mosaics to cover surfaces of walls and ceilings in the Domus Aurea, built 64 AD
Mosaic
–
Irano-Roman floor mosaic detail from the palace of
Shapur I at
Bishapur.
Mosaic
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Cone mosaic courtyard from
Uruk in
Mesopotamia 3000 BC
Mosaic
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Ancient Greek mosaic of a deer hunt, in the House of the Abduction of Helen at
Pella, late 4th century BC
Mosaic
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Roman mosaic of
Ulysses, from Carthage. Now in the
Bardo Museum,
Tunisia
49.
Phillips Disaster
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The Phillips disaster was a devastating series of explosions and fire on October 23,1989, near the Houston Ship Channel in Pasadena, Texas, United States. The initial blast registered 3.5 on the Richter scale, the explosions killed 23 employees and injured 314. The facility produced approximately 15,000,000,000 pounds per year of high-density polyethylene, the accident resulted from a release of extremely flammable process gases that occurred during regular maintenance operations on one of the plants polyethylene reactors. More than 85,000 pounds of highly flammable gases were released through a valve almost instantaneously. During routine maintenance, isolation valves were closed and compressed air hoses that actuated them physically disconnected as a safety measure, the air connections for opening and closing this valve were identical, and had been improperly reversed when last re-connected. As a result, the valve would have been open when the switch in the room was in the valve closed position. After that, the valve was opened when it was expected to stay closed, a vapor cloud formed and traveled rapidly through the polyethylene plant. Within 90 to 120 seconds, the vapor cloud came into contact with an ignition source, the incident started at approximately 1,05 PM local time on October 23,1989, at 1400 Jefferson Road, Pasadena, Texas. A massive and devastating explosion and fire ripped through the Phillips 66 Companys Houston Chemical Complex, the two polyethylene production plants nearest the source of the blast were destroyed, and in the HCC administration building nearly 0.5 mile away, windows were shattered and bricks ripped out. The initial explosion was equivalent to an earthquake registering 3.5 on the Richter scale, the initial response was provided by the Phillips 66 Company fire brigade which was soon joined by members of the Channel Industries Mutual Aid association. The fire-fighting water system at the HCC was part of the water system. When the first explosion occurred, some fire hydrants were sheared off at ground level by the blast, the result was inadequate water pressure for fire fighting. The shut-off valves which could have used to prevent the loss of water from ruptured lines in the plant were out of reach in the burning wreckage. No remotely operated fail-safe isolation valves existed in the combined plant/fire-fighting water system, in addition, the regular-service fire-water pumps were disabled by the fire which destroyed their electrical power cables. Of the three backup diesel-operated fire pumps, one had taken out of service, and one ran out of fuel in about an hour. Fire-fighting water was brought in by hoses laid to remote sources, settling ponds, a tower, a water main at a neighboring plant. Search and rescue efforts were delayed until the fire and heat subsided and these operations were difficult because of the extensive devastation in the HCC and the danger of structural collapse. The U. S. Coast Guard and Port of Houston fire boats evacuated to safety over 100 trapped people across the Houston Ship Channel, a maintenance contractor on the site
Phillips Disaster
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Aerial view of the Phillips plant prior to the explosion, looking from the southwest to the northeast
Phillips Disaster
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Map of area affected by the explosion
Phillips Disaster
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Site plan
Phillips Disaster
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Aerial photo of complex as seen from north to south.
50.
USACE
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The United States Army Corps of Engineers, also sometimes shortened to CoE is a U. S. Although generally associated with dams, canals and flood protection in the United States, the Corps of Engineers provides outdoor recreation opportunities to the public, and provides 24% of U. S. hydropower capacity. The corps mission is to Deliver vital public and military engineering services, partnering in peace and war to strengthen our Nations security, energize the economy and their most visible missions include, Planning, designing, building, and operating locks and dams. Other civil engineering projects include flood control, beach nourishment, design and construction of flood protection systems through various federal mandates. Design and construction management of military facilities for the Army, Air Force, Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve and other Defense and Federal agencies. The history of United States Army Corps of Engineers can be traced back to 16 June 1775, colonel Richard Gridley became General George Washingtons first chief engineer, however, it was not until 1779 that Congress created a separate Corps of Engineers. One of its first tasks was to build fortifications near Boston at Bunker Hill, the first Corps of Engineers was mostly composed of French subjects who had been hired by General Washington from the service of Louis XVI. that the said Corps. Shall be stationed at West Point in the State of New York, until 1866, the superintendent of the United States Military Academy was always an officer of engineer. During the first half of the 19th century, West Point was the major and, for a while, the General Survey Act of 1824 authorized the use of Army engineers to survey road and canal routes. Separately authorized on 4 July 1838, the U. S and it was merged with the Corps of Engineers on 31 March 1863, at which point the Corps of Engineers also assumed the Lakes Survey District mission for the Great Lakes. In 1841, Congress created the Lake Survey, the survey, based in Detroit, Mich. was charged with conducting a hydrographical survey of the Northern and Northwestern Lakes and preparing and publishing nautical charts and other navigation aids. The Lake Survey published its first charts in 1852, in the mid-19th century, Corps of Engineers officers ran Lighthouse Districts in tandem with U. S. Naval officers. The Army Corps of Engineers played a significant role in the American Civil War, many of the men who would serve in the top leadership in this institution were West Point graduates who rose to military fame and power during the Civil War. Some of these men were Union Generals George McClellan, Henry Halleck, George Meade, and Confederate generals Robert E. Lee, Joseph Johnston, the versatility of officers in the Army Corps of Engineers contributed to the success of numerous missions throughout the Civil War. They were responsible for building pontoon and railroad bridges, forts and batteries, the destruction of supply lines. The Army Corps of Engineers served as a function in making the war effort logistically feasible. This method of building trenches was known as the zigzag pattern, from the beginning, many politicians wanted the Corps of Engineers to contribute to both military construction and works of a civil nature. During World War II the mission grew to more than 27,000 military, included were aircraft, tank assembly, and ammunition plants, camps for 5.3 million soldiers, depots, ports, and hospitals, as well as the Manhattan Project, and the Pentagon
USACE
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Colonel Debra Lewis, the Gulf Region Division Central District commander with Sheik O'rhaman Hama Raheem, an Iraqi councilman, celebrate the opening of a new women's center in Assriya Village that the Corps helped construct in 2006.
USACE
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USACE Logo
USACE
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Dredge Tauracavor 3 in New York Harbor.
USACE
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Mississippi River Improvement, 1890.
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