Chicago’s Historic Public Works Projects Continue to Support the City’s Residents

Chicago is a magnificent city and exciting to explore from a public works perspective.  I recently attended and participated in the 2013 American Public Works Association International Public Works Congress and Exposition at McCormick Place in Chicago.

In addition to learning more about public works trends, new products, and innovative approaches, Congress is a great opportunity to see how the environment, politics, and history of the host cities support infrastructure development.  Lake Michigan dominates Chicago’s history.  In addition to supporting shipping, tourism, fishing, and other economic drivers, the lake is the source of Chicago’s drinking water supply and the receiving water for the discharge of the region’s treated wastewater. 

I learned on my boat tour on the Chicago River how one of the city’s earliest public works initiatives was to change the flow direction of the river.  APWA considers it one of the top ten public works projects of the century.   Originally the river flowed into Lake Michigan.  Historically rivers were viewed as disposal sites for untreated wastes.  And in some cases, they still are.  As the industrial activities grew along the river and the population increased, pollutants and wastes in the river also increased.  Remember, the river was flowing into Lake Michigan, Chicago’s source of drinking water.  Cholera and typhoid cases increased dramatically in the mid-1800s and public health officials recognized that the drinking water from Lake Michigan was a cause.  The City, using dredging, canals, and locks, reversed the flow of the Chicago River so that now Lake Michigan flowed into the river as opposed to the river flowing into the lake.  This reversal in flows sent Chicago’s wastes down the river to St. Louis, Missouri and on into the Mississippi.  St Louis filed suit but before the court case could begin, the newly created Metropolitan Sanitary District finished the project, reversed the river flow, and sent Chicago’s waste into the Mississippi by way of St. Louis.

And in a look back on how Chicago and all cities and towns took pride in their public works projects, this blog includes photos of the exterior and interior of the Chicago Avenue Pumping Station located on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile.  The Gothic exterior is made of limestone and it was designed by W.W. Boyington.  The pumping station and water tower were one of the few structures left standing after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871.  It still serves as a pumping station as well as a visitor’s center and small theater.