FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE05-12
April
11, 2005
Contact:
Charles G. Sturcken
(718) 595-6600
Press
Advisory: New York's Water Supply System: A Study in the Monumental
In celebration of the 100 th anniversary of the creation of the
Board of Water Supply Commissioner Emily Lloyd of the New York
City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will deliver
welcoming remarks at a panel discussion, entitled NEW YORK
CITY’S WATER SUPPLYSYSTEM: A
STUDY IN THE MONUMENTAL. The discussion will take place
on April 12 at 6:30 pm in the Concourse Auditorium of CUNY Graduate
Center, 365 Fifth Avenue (between 34 th and 35 th Streets). In
addition to DEP, the Highbridge Coalition and the Gotham Center
for New York City are sponsoring the panel discussion.
Conference presenters include :
Moderator: Gerard Koeppel,
author of Water for Gotham: A History;
writer, journalist, and historian
A System Overview . . . Joel A. Miele,
Sr., P.E ., Commissioner, NYC Board of Standards & Appeals;
formerly Commissioner, NYC Department of Environmental Protection
Watershed Perspective . . . Diane Galusha ,
author of Liquid Assets: A History of New York City’sWater
System; Communications Director and Education Coordinator,
Catskill Watershed Corp
An Historical View of the High Bridge . . . Robert Kornfeld,
Jr. , AIA, Vice President, Friends of the Old Croton
Aqueduct; architect, LZA Technology; preservationist and Croton
waterworks historian
The Current Engineering Inspection of the High Bridge
. . . Michael Soliman , P.E , Director, Roadway Bridges – Manhattan
and Brooklyn, NYC Department of Transportation
A Sandhog’s Work: Significant Changes in the Last
30 Years . . . Dale Estus , Local 147,
Tunnel Workers Union; Third Water Tunnel Superintendent (Manhattan
leg) for Schiavone/Shea/Frontier Kemper, at Shaft 26B.
Background:
Prior to the creation of the Board of Water Supply, the City
had developed the Croton River to bring water from Westchester
to New York. When created in 1905, the Board of Water Supply was
authorized to oversee plans to further expand water supply development
for a burgeoning population. The New York City water supply system
is a study in the monumental. Physical structures like the High
Bridge that carried water from the Old Croton Aqueduct, across
the Harlem River survive as reminders of the visionaries who conceived
and constructed this lifeline to the City’s ever expanding
population. The modern day equivalent and outgrowth of early water
supply engineering is the current construction of a modern “monumental” feat
of technology and engineering -- the Third Water Tunnel, -- largely
unseen by the general public as it burrows beneath the City anywhere
from 400 to 800 feet below ground.
The April 12 panel, the first of the two planned programs, is
co-sponsored by the Gotham Center and the Highbridge Coalition,
which is spearheading a campaign to restore and reopen the High
Bridge as well as the parks at both the Bronx and Manhattan ends
of the Bridge. The discussion will cover the history of the water
supply system and topics such as the Old Croton Aqueduct, the High
Bridge, the creation of the Catskill and Delaware water supply
systems as well as the system today, its need for the Third Water
Tunnel and the innovative technologies being used in its construction.
Members of the Highbridge Coalition include New York City Departments
of Environmental Protection, Parks and Recreation, and Transportation,
Friends of Highbridge Park, Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct,
New York Restoration Project, National Park Service and Partnership
for Parks.
A second program, planned for the fall of 2005 will be an all
day conference that will take place in New York City. It will highlight
the New York City water supply system but also explore the future
of water delivery systems nationwide with emphasis on new technologies
and challenges that confront water supply professionals and engineers
given the needs of consumers and demands on modern water supply
systems.