Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 5.2
Seattle city engineer R. H. Thomson, circa 1931.
Source
: MOHAI 1986.5.43455.
Seattle voters approved a $1 million bond to build twenty-two miles of
pipe that would create the Cedar River water system, and it was opened
in January 1901 (see fi gure 5.3).
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The municipality subsequently used the
consistent, clean water supply to annex neighboring cities such as West
Seattle and Ballard; today, Seattle acts as a wholesaler of Cedar River
water to several neighboring municipalities, including Bellevue, Kirkland,
and Redmond.
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The new water supply would expand the “ecological
frontier” of the city while cementing Seattle's status as the dominant city
in the region.
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Thomson was undoubtedly one of the most important individuals in
the growth of Seattle. He served as city engineer under seven mayors from
1892 to 1911, and the Cedar River water supply system would be only
the fi rst of many major projects he undertook to transform Seattle into a
contemporary city. Thomson was a proponent of big civic improvement
projects, and—like other Progressive urban reformers—he believed that
social problems could be solved by more and better engineering.
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In this
way, he was the quintessential technocrat, using his engineering vision to
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