Pat Shingleton for April 23, 2008
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On Tuesday, we recounted how engineer James Francis recommended to Lowell, Mass., the construction of a gate to deflect flood waters. The gate would drop to close off feeder canals to the Merrimack River. The project was similar to gates used to defend castles in medieval Europe. Contemporaries ridiculed the idea, but in 1852, the Merrimack was rising and Francis decided to lower the gate for the first time. On April 22, 1852, the river crested higher than the flood of 1785 and the gate, snug in granite, held fast. The massive gate worked and 24 hours later, a second, 28-foot wall of water bombarded the gate and again it held. For more than 140 years, “Francis’ Folly” is still used.
Fastcast: Muggy.
