A richly illustrated behind-the-scenes tour of how the nation's capital was built. In 1790, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson set out to build a new capital for the United States of America in just ten years. The area they selected on the banks of the Potomac River, a spot halfway between the northern and southern states, had few resources or inhabitants. Almost everything needed to build the federal city would have to be brought in, including materials, skilled workers, architects, and engineers. It was a daunting task, and these American Founding Fathers intended to do it without congressional appropriation. Robert J. Kapsch's beautifully illustrated book chronicles the early planning and construction of our nation's capital. It shows how Washington, DC, was meant to be not only a government center but a great commercial hub for the receipt and transshipment of goods arriving through the Potomac Canal, then under construction. Picturesque plans would not be enough; the endeavor would require extensive engineering and the work of skilled builders. By studying an extensive library of original documents-from cost estimates to worker time logs to layout plans-Kapsch has assembled a detailed account of the hurdles that complicated this massive project. While there have been many books on the architecture and planning of this iconic city, Building Washington explains the engineering and construction behind it.

Emory Kemp is the founder and director of the Institute for the History of Technology and Industrial Archaeology at West Virginia University, where he also served as a chair and professor of civil engineering and a professor of history. This collection of essays encompasses over fifty years of his research in the field of the history of technology. Within these twelve essays, Kemp describes and analyzes nineteenth century improvements in building materials such as iron, steel, and cement; roads and bridges, especially the evolution of the suspension bridge; canals and navigable rivers, including the Ohio River and its tributaries; and water supply systems. As one of the few practicing American engineers who also researches and writes as an academic, Kemp adds an important historical context to his work by focusing not only on the construction of a structure but also on the analytical science that heralds a structure's design and development.

Between 1826 and 1858 the state of Pennsylvania built and operated the largest and most technologically advanced system of canals and railroads in North America - almost one thousand miles of transport that stretched from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and beyond. The construction of this ambitious transportation system was accompanied by great euphoria. It was widely believed that the revenue created from these canals and railroads would eliminate the need for all taxes on state citizens. Yet with the Panic of 1837, a financial crisis much like boom and bust cycle that ended in 2008, a deep recession fell across the country. By 1858, Pennsylvania had sold all canals and railroads to private companies, often for pennies-on-the-dollar. Over the Alleghenies: Early Canals and Railroads of Pennsylvania is the definitive history of the state of Pennsylvania's incredible canal and railroad system. Although often condemned as a colossal failure, this construction effort remains an innovative, magnificent feat that ushered in modern transportation to Pennsylvania and the entire country. With extensive primary research, over one hundred illustrations, newspapers clippings, and charts and graphs, Over the Alleghenies examines and dissects the infrastructure project that bankrupted the wealthiest state in the Union.

The Potomac Canal: George Washington and the Waterway West by Robert J. Kapsch is a history of the new nation's first effort to link the rich western agricultural lands with the coastal port cities of the east. The Potomac Canal Company was founded in 1785, and was active until it was overtaken by the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company in 1828. During its operation, the canal system was used to ship flour from mills in the foothills of Appalachia to the tidewater of the Chesapeake, where the flour was transshipped to the Caribbean as trade for sugar and other goods. This trade soon became the basis of agricultural wealth in West Virginia's eastern panhandle and throughout the Appalachian Piedmont. Coal was also shipped via the canal system from the upper reaches of the Potomac River to workshops at Harpers Ferry and beyond. This industrial trade route laid the foundation for what would eventually become the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The Potomac Canal: George Washington and the Waterway West presents a chronological narrative that covers the following topics: early proposals (1755-1775); George Washington and the canal system's early development (1785-1790); Little Falls and Great Falls (1790-1802); the Shenandoah and other lateral canals (1802-1812); operation (1802-1828); and demise of the canal (1819-1828). Also included is information on people of interest, such as Captain George Pointer (a slave who bought his freedom and became a company engineer), George Washington (the first president of the company), and the workmen drawn from various countries. Despite the Potomac Canal's instrumental role in the development of our nation, no book hasdetailed its history or fully illustrated its routes. The Potomac Canal brings to light the rich history of this important transportation system and its impact on the region and the country. Kapsch discusses not only the canal's economic impacts but its significance in the lives of the men and women who contributed to the canal's construction and operation. This is an essential book for scholars of history, architecture, and engineering.