Ellis S. Chesbrough
Ellis S. Chesbrough | |
---|---|
Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Engineer |
Spouse | Elizabeth A. Freyer |
Parent(s) | Isaac M. Chesbrough, Phrania Jones |
Engineering career | |
Institutions | American Society of Civil Engineers |
Projects | Chicago sewer system |
Signature | |
Ellis Sylvester Chesbrough (1813–1886) was an engineer credited with the design of the Chicago
Early life and career
Chesbrough was born in 1813 in Baltimore, Maryland to Isaac M. Chesbrough and Phrania Jones.
Work in Chicago
In the late 1840s, Chicago was growing rapidly and was plagued with health issues: the majority of the city sat at water level, which meant water was unable to drain out of the city. The problem was fully realized in the summer of 1849, when a cholera epidemic struck Chicago. In response, the public held meetings and demanded that the City Council rid the city of filth. The legislature of Illinois created the Board of Sewerage Commissioners on February 14, 1855, leading to the appointment of Assistant health officers to aid the cleanup, and by August the Council resolved to build a sewage system.
Chesbrough was appointed engineer of the Board of Sewerage Commissioners because of his work on Boston’s water distribution system. From an engineering standpoint, the main problems were moving waste water out of the city and keeping it from polluting the city's drinking water supply, drawn from Lake Michigan. His plan was twofold: first, to build the sewer system above ground, and then raise all of the city buildings (see Raising of Chicago) as much as ten feet using an elaborate system of jacks.[8] The new sewer system featured innovations such as manhole covers, which eased access to and cleaning of the sewers.
However, sewage still flowed into the lake and polluted the city's drinking water. In 1863, work began on a two-mile
Plans were made to reverse the flow of the Chicago River, leading water away from Lake Michigan and carrying Chicago's sewage into the Mississippi River. In the late 1860s, the Illinois and Michigan Canal was dredged and deepened to expand its ability to handle the city's sewage and move it away from the lake, but continued population growth quickly outstripped the canal's waste management capacity.[9][10]
The project of reversing the river was completed after Chesbrough's death by the Sanitary District of Chicago (now The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District), created in 1889, which undertook the construction of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.
Chesbrough died in Chicago on August 18, 1886, and was buried at Graceland Cemetery.[5]
References
- ^ "Ellis Chesbrough 1813–1886: Engineer". Chicago Tribute: Markers of Distinction. n.d. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
- ^ Hansen, Brett (November 2007). "Quenching Chicago's Thirst: The Waterworks of Ellis S. Chesbrough". Civil Engineering. 77 (11): 32–33 – via EBSCOhost.
- ^ "Chesbrough's Chicago Water Supply System". ASCE. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- ^ "Obituary -- E.S. Chesbrough, C.E." Engineering News and American Contract Journal. XVI: 123–124. August 21, 1886.
- ^ a b The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. IX. James T. White & Company. 1907. pp. 35–36. Retrieved November 23, 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men of Chicago. Wilson & St. Clair. 1868. p. 191.
ellis chesbrough.
- ^ "Ellis Sylvester Chesbrough, Past President Am. Soc. C. E." Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers. 15: 160–163. November–December 1889. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
- ^ Mars, Roman (August 8, 2013). "Reversal of Fortune (Podcast)". 99% Invisible.
- ^ a b Cain, Louis P. (2005). "Sanitation in Chicago: A Strategy for a Lakefront Metropolis". Encyclopedia of Chicago.
- ^ a b "People & Events: The Illinois and Michigan Canal". American Experience: Chicago, City of the Century. Archived from the original on January 21, 2012.