Background
Wegmann, Edward was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the son of Ludwig Edward and Mary W. (Sand) Wegmann, both of Swiss origin. His father emigrated from Switzerland to New York in 1831 and entered the employ of an import-export firm.
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The Design and Construction of Dams: Including Masonry, Earth, Rock-Fill, Timber, and Steel the Principal Types of Movable Dams (Classic Reprint)
(The great advantages to be derived from large storage res...)
The great advantages to be derived from large storage reservoirs, built for regulating the flow of a river, for irrigation purposes, or for domestic water supply, have led within recent years to the construction of a large number of such works in various parts of the world. Where water having great depth is to be retained, it would be extremely hazardous to rely on earthen dams, as numerous failures of such works have been recorded, and walls of masonry are, therefore, employed. The successful completion of the Furens Dam (164 feet high) in 1866 was soon followed by that of many similar structures in France, A lgiers, and I taly. In the United States a concrete dam (170 feet high) is being built nearS an Francisco; theS odom Dam (70 feet high) has been commenced on theE ast Branch of the Croton River; and the Quaker Bridge Dam, which will surpass all existing dams in height, has been designed to form an immense storage reservoir for the city of New York. While the practical importance of the subject of masonry dams seems to be steadily growing, the engineer who may be entrusted with the design of such works will find the theoretical study of the best form of profile for a masonry dam very disheartening. How widely the types proposed by eminent engineers differ from each other is shown on Plate A, page 43. The theory of masonry dams is based upon a few simple principles and conditions; the mathematics, however, to which they give rise, when applied to the design of an economical profile, are rather appalling. Thus, if we follow the methods of the French engineers Sazilly and Delocre, we have to solve lengthy equations, some of them of the sixth degree. Moreover, there is always an uncertainty which equation is to be used, and the only way of determining this is by trial. If we wish to employ the method of Prof. Rankine, but change the data assumed by him, we (Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)
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The Water-Supply of the City of New York. 1658-1895
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The design and construction of dams, including masonry, earth, rock-fill, timber, and steel structures, also the principal types of movable dams
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The Design and Construction of Dams: Including Masonry, Earth, Rock-Fill, Timber, and Steel Structures, Also the Principal Types of Movable Dams (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from The Design and Construction of Dams: Includi...)
Excerpt from The Design and Construction of Dams: Including Masonry, Earth, Rock-Fill, Timber, and Steel Structures, Also the Principal Types of Movable Dams The remains of ancient works still existing in India and Ceylon bear evidence that the construction of reservoirs for storing water dates from a very remote period of his tory. The ordinary manner of forming these basins, some of which were of vast extent, consisted in closing a valley by dams of earth; and it was not until comparatively recent times that walls of masonry were employed for such purposes. This method of con' struction seems to have been first adopted in the southern part of Spain, where, about the sixteenth century, large reservoirs for irrigation were constructed. Much as these early masonry dams excite our admiration by their great dimensions and massiveness, their pro. Portions demonstrate that their designers had no correct conception of the forces to be resisted. By a faulty distribution the great mass of material in some of these walls pro. Duces undue strains in the masonry or on the foundation, becoming thus a source of weakness rather than of strength. Prior to the middle of the last century most ma sonry dams were built according to defective plans. It has been shown, indeed, that some of these walls would have been stronger had their positions been reversed, the down-stream face being turned up-stream. The French engineers advanced the first rational theory of masonry dams, and proved its correctness by applying it in the construction of some of the highest and boldest reservoir walls of the present time. By means of the great storage basins thus obtained, they control the flow of rivers, retaining the excess of water during the period of flood for the time of drought. The havoc due to inundations may thus be largely prevented, and replaced by all the benefits resulting from irrigation, domestic water supply, and the furnishing of a cheap motive power. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Conveyance and distribution of water for water supply, aqueducts, pipe-lines and distributing systems: A practical treatise for water-works engineers and superintendents
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FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION: 1918Conveyance and distribution of water for water supply, aqueducts, pipe-lines and distributing systems, a practical treatise for water-works engineers and superintendents FACSIMILE Originally published by New York, Van Nostrand in 1918. Book will be printed in black and white, with grayscale images. Book will be 6 inches wide by 9 inches tall and soft cover bound. Any foldouts will be scaled to page size. If the book is larger than 1000 pages, it will be printed and bound in two parts. Due to the age of the original titles, we cannot be held responsible for missing pages, faded, or cut off text. 714 pages.
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Catalogue of the illustrations of the water-supply of the city of New York: Written for the Board of general managers of the exhibit of the state of New York at the World's Columbian exposition
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Edward Wegmann
Edit ProfileEducation
Edward's early education was obtained in the public schools of Brooklyn, N. Y. , in Zurich, Switzerland, and at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. In 1871 he received the degree of civil engineer from New York University.
Career
Immediately after graduation he engaged in railway construction work for the New Haven, Middletown & Willimantic Railroad, first as rodman, then as assistant engineer, in the latter capacity having charge of the construction of a large bridge across the Connecticut River at Middletown. He was with the Wyandotte Rolling Mills in Michigan in 1874 and the following year formed a partnership with Robert Creuzbar of Brooklyn, N. Y. to build and promote a steam-driven streetcar under patents held by Creuzbar. Although tests were successful, objections made to the use of steam cars on city streets led the partners to dispose of their patent rights. Returning to the civil engineering field in 1877, Wegmann worked for several years on the construction of portions of the Sixth Avenue, Ninth Avenue, and Second Avenue elevated railway lines in New York City, and then engaged in location and construction work for railroads in New England, New York, and Ohio. He began thirty years of service with the water-supply system of New York City in 1884, when he was appointed assistant construction engineer by the New York Aqueduct Commission. The first duty to which he was assigned was to make studies for the designing of the profiles for the proposed Quaker Bridge Dam, which was to be built across Croton River. This structure was to have a height of 297 feet above the lowest foundation, which was more than 100 feet greater than the height of any masonry dam built up to that time. After a thorough study of the subject, in memoirs of French engineers, practically the only available sources, he arrived at a simple formula. This was used in designing the Quaker Bridge Dam, later called the Croton Dam, and some other high dams in America. In 1885 he was made engineer of the Manhattan division of the new Croton Aqueduct, serving in this capacity for eight years. The work included a tunnel under the Harlem River and an aqueduct tunnel from 179th to 135th Streets, a pipeline from 135th Street to Central Park, and the 135th Street and Central Park gate houses. From 1893 to 1904 he was engineer in charge of the Croton River division and supervised the construction of the Muscoot Dam and extensive railroad, bridge, and highway relocation work made necessary by the new Croton Reservoir. In 1904 he was appointed engineer and, in 1907, consulting engineer for the Aqueduct Commission, continuing in this relationship until June 1910, when the work was completed and the commission abolished. The maintenance of the Croton water system having been transferred to the department of water supply, gas, and electricity, Wegmann was made consulting engineer - a connection he retained until 1914, when he resigned to engage in private practice. In collaboration with Albert N. Aeryns, he devised a new formula for determining the flow of water in clean and old cast-iron pipes. Based on about one thousand tests, it was an improvement upon formulas previously used. From July 1918 to January 1920, he was engaged by the New York and New Jersey Harbor Development Commission, predecessor of the Port of New York Authority, in the preparation of cost estimates on the construction of subways, elevated roads, and freight terminals. For that commission he also wrote a report on the water supply of the Metropolitan District of New York, including part of New Jersey, in which he estimated the probable consumption and the available resources of water up to 1975. In 1920, he reëntered the service of the city of New York as consulting engineer, and, in 1925, was retired on pension. He died at Yonkers, N. Y.
Achievements
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In collaboration with Albert N. Aeryns, he devised a new formula for determining the flow of water in clean and old cast-iron pipes. Wegmann was the author of the authoritative volume The Design and Construction of Masonry Dams, which was originally published in 1888 and went through eight editions, the title being changed meanwhile to The Design and Construction of Dams. It was widely used as a textbook in engineering schools in the United States and abroad. Other works of his include The Water Works of the City of New York (1658 - 1895), published in 1896, and The Conveyance and Distribution of Water for Water Supply (1918). He was also the author of many scientific papers and technical articles.
Works
book
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The Design and Construction of Dams: Including Masonry, Earth, Rock-Fill, Timber, and Steel Structures, Also the Principal Types of Movable Dams (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from The Design and Construction of Dams: Includi...)
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The Design and Construction of Dams: Including Masonry, Earth, Rock-Fill, Timber, and Steel the Principal Types of Movable Dams (Classic Reprint)
(The great advantages to be derived from large storage res...)
-
Conveyance and distribution of water for water supply, aqueducts, pipe-lines and distributing systems: A practical treatise for water-works engineers and superintendents
(FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION: 1918Conveyance and distribution o...)
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The Water-Supply of the City of New York. 1658-1895
( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
- The design and construction of dams, including masonry, earth, rock-fill, timber, and steel structures, also the principal types of movable dams
- Catalogue of the illustrations of the water-supply of the city of New York: Written for the Board of general managers of the exhibit of the state of New York at the World's Columbian exposition
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The Design and Construction of Dams: Including Masonry, Earth, Rock-Fill, Timber, and Steel Structures, Also the Principal Types of Movable Dams (Classic Reprint)
Interests
Connections
On May 6, 1901, he married Charlotte H. Drummond. They had a daughter, Cecile Drummond, and a son, Charles Edward.
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Born
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Died
January 3, 1935 (aged 84) -
Nationality
American