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| “For
some time I have pondered on the role that the photograph plays in architecture.
For an engineer this is particularly significant. Much of what we do, and the
special quality that thoughtful engineering can bring to a project, is not photographable.” Civil engineer Peter Rice, 1994 |  Nine views of Catskill pressure tunnel under construction, 1910-1914, from New York City, Water Supply Board, Photographs of the Catskill Water Supply System Courtesy The New York Public Library, Science, Industry and Business Library Chicken&Egg Public Projects | Infrastructure
is a work in progress. A picture of a bridge or skyscraper hardly conveys the
nature of the work of civil engineers. Peter Rice noted that a photograph cannot
capture the thinking behind design. Nor can it adequately represent the three-dimensionality
of a structure, its texture, or the way it functions. Between 1907 and 1917, the construction of a new water system linked New York to the Catskill watershed 100 miles to the north. Photographs of laborers and civil engineers remind us of the effort and sacrifice. We cannot depend on these images, however, to explain the processes behind the creation of infrastructure or its meaning in the life of the city. |
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