Currently Available: A Limited Number of Copies of 'The Geology and Engineering Structures of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal', by William E. Davies

The National Capital Section and the Baltimore Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers have designated the C & O Canal an Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. Now available is a book on the geology and engineering structures of the Canal, by William E. Davies, a long-time engineering geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Davies' extensive professional work included: mapping caves for the Army Map Service during World War II; site selection for: the first underground defense installations in the U.S., research stations in Antarctica, air force bases in Greenland, Alaska and Norway, missile silos in the U.S.; studying coal refuse banks and tailings dams; producing 1549 maps showing landslide susceptibility; and serving on the commission to study the coal waste tailings dam failure on Buffalo Creek in West Virginia.

Through all of these assignments and other professional work, Davies' first interest was the C & O Canal, an interest intensified by the memorable hike of the Canal in March 1954, led by Justice William O. Douglas. For forty years beginning in the late 1940s, Davies investigated every foot of the Canal and the structures on it, making detailed notes, drawing diagrams of the structures, and including interesting historical observations. These were the raw materials for a book "to be" on the geology and engineering structures of the Canal.

Unfortunately, Davies died suddenly, before he was able to complete his "labor of love." Now available is a 622-page book which contains Davies' complete field notes, drawings, and descriptions of the Canal. No attempt has been made to update the information. The book as it stands is an exemplary example of the work of a consummate engineering geologist. The book can be characterized by the words Davies applied to the Canal itself: "The Canal is a display of early engineering. Its 182 culverts, 11 aqueducts, six dams, and 74 locks are fine examples of 19th Century's engineering practice." The Canal could not have had a more competent and enthusiastic chronicler.

Note: 36 linear feet of Davies' C & O Canal files are in the Western Maryland Room of the Washington County Free Library, 100 S. Potomac St., Hagerstown, MD 21740. For information contact Ms. Mary Baykan, Director of the Library, or John Frye, curator of the files, both at (301) 739-3250.

Images taken from the book: title page, diagram, notes

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