San Francisco water . Department, had several times beenswept away. The order for the removal of BlossomRock was issued by the Engineer Depart-ment of the United States Army in July of1866, but the contract for its removal wasnot awarded to A. \Y. Von Schmidt untilJune of 1869, his compensation being fixedat $75,000. The work has been described as followsby Glenn B. Ashcroft, writing in the YearBook of the Society of Engineers for 1928 : The originality of the plan and itsmethod of execution attracted nation-wideattention at the time. Briefly summarizedthey were as follows: A survey having dis
San Francisco water . Department, had several times beenswept away. The order for the removal of BlossomRock was issued by the Engineer Depart-ment of the United States Army in July of1866, but the contract for its removal wasnot awarded to A. \Y. Von Schmidt untilJune of 1869, his compensation being fixedat $75,000. The work has been described as followsby Glenn B. Ashcroft, writing in the YearBook of the Society of Engineers for 1928 : The originality of the plan and itsmethod of execution attracted nation-wideattention at the time. Briefly summarizedthey were as follows: A survey having dis-closed that the surface of the rock (about180 feet by 90 feet) was fairly level and ofsoft material, he constructed a large scowand upon it a double walled coffer dam abouteight feet by eight feet, the bottom of whichwas armed with long iron spikes; this hetowed over the spot and sunk to a bearingby piling in loose rock; a hole was then cutthrough the bottom and an Tron Turretcemented into the rock; through this well. Hermann Schussler hole the excavation proceeded until an ir-regular cavern some 140 feet by 50 feet hadbeen cut to a depth of 37 feet below lowwater; this cavity was then charged with43,000 pounds of black powder placed insealed casks and connected by insulatedwires arranged for discharge by electric bat-tery. However familiar all this sound> to theengineer of today, it was at that time the firstcase of submarine blasting conducted in thatway; hence the progress of the work waseagerly watched by the townspeople andman}- eminent engineers came to inspect the time approached for firing the blast,interest rose to a high pitch; much specula-tion as to the final result was indulged in:and at last on the appointed day, the wholetown turned out en masse to witness the spec-tacle. The local press of that dav devotedman}- columns to the new event; from thesewe can here record but the briefest extract-: Probably 50,000 people witnessed thegrand spectacle, such a s
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectwatersupply, bookyear
