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Bibliographic Record Display

• Title:Building Washington : engineering and construction of the new Federal City, 1790-1840 / Robert J. Kapsch.
  
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• Author/Creator:Kapsch, Robert James, 1942- author.
  
• Published/Created:Baltimore, Maryland : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018.
  

• Holdings

  Holdings Record Display

  • Location:MAA LIBRARY (IKB) stacksWhere is this?
    
  • Call Number: HT168.W3 K37 2018
    
  • Number of Items:1
    
  • Status:Available
    

   
• Library of Congress Subjects:City planning--Washington (D.C.)
  Public works--Washington (D.C.)
  Washington (D.C.)--History.
  Washington (D.C.)--Social conditions.
  
• Description:xiv, 333 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 29 cm
  
• Summary:"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"--provided by publisher.
  
• Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-322) and index.
  
• ISBN:9781421424873 hardcover
  1421424878 hardcover
  9781421424880 electronic book
  1421424886 electronic book
  
• Contents:Machine generated contents note: pt. I PROJECT PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION EFFORTS
  1. Pierre L'Enfant's Two Plans for Executing the President's Vision
  2. Financing the Federal City: The Difficulty of Collecting Adequate Funds
  3. Constructing the Federal City: Gathering Materials and Workers
  4. Developing a Commercial Center: Harbor Navigation and River Improvements
  5. Early Infrastructure and Transport Improvements
  6. Building Military Defenses for the Capital
  pt. II BUILDING CAMPAIGNS: THE CITY'S FIRST FIFTY YEARS
  7. First Public Building Campaign (1791
  1802): The Commissioners Clash with Their Architects and Workers
  8. Second Public Building Campaign (1803
  1811): The President and the Architect
  9. Third Public Building Campaign (1815
  1824): Rebuilding the Federal City
  10. Later Transportation Improvements: Canals and Aqueducts.