Dams: A Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebook

Christine Macy

Overview

Dams are a monumental presence on the American landscape. This book in the Norton/Library of Congress series shows that the history of dam development is characterized by invention and innovation, and parallels that of the United States. It emphasizes the unique design and engineering complexities of these impressive structures.

There are over 2.5 million dams in the United States, from the massive federal projects built between the 1930s and the 1970s, such as Hoover Dam or the Grand Coulee, to small, privately owned structures. This wonderfully illustrated book presents a comprehensive picture—the structurally innovative, the politically contentious, the newsworthy, the exemplary—always emphasizing the unique design and engineering complexities of these impressive structures. It draws on the rich archives of the Library of Congress, presenting stereoscopic photographs, lithographs from travel brochures, picture postcards, illustrations from newspapers and illustrated journals, and government documentation, to underscore the structural diversity of dams, and their ever-changing role on the American landscape, and in American society.

About the Author

Christine Macy is associate professor in the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Dalhousie University.

ISBN 10: 0-393-73139-1
ISBN 13: 978-0-393-73139-2
August 2008 / 336 pages / 800 b/w illustrations / Cloth with CD-ROM