It’s National Public Works Week

National Public Works Week was first proclaimed in 1962 by President John F Kennedy. “. . . I urge all our people to join with representatives of governmental agencies in activities and ceremonies designed to pay tribute to our public works engineers and administrators and to recognize the substantial contributions they have made to our national health and welfare”.

Highsmith, C. M., photographer. (2019) The Old Cape Henry Lighthouse, one of two light stations at Fort Story in Virginia Beach, one of the Virginia communities in what's called the "Tidewater" area. Virginia Virginia Beach United States, 2019. -11-13. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

Public works encompasses far more than municipal projects and its history is nearly as long as the history of the United States.

It all began with a lighthouse

The Old Cape Henry Lighthouse was the first construction project authorized by the First Congress of the United States in 1789, specifically called out in legislation because of the critical need for a navigation guide at the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay.

The backstory

The Chesapeake Bay is a key strategic area, and during the Revolutionary War, the British had the advantage of a highly accurate map created in 1670. Augustine Herman, a Bohemian aristocrat, painstakingly surveyed Virginia and Maryland (including the Chesapeake), producing a masterpiece of surveying and cartography. As payment, he was granted 4,000 acres of land in Maryland by Lord Baltimore.[1]  The Crown relied on this map for navigation and development for the next 100 years of British colonial occupation.

Augustine Herman was a Bohemian cartographer who lived in New Amsterdam and Maryland. He produced a remarkably accurate map of the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay regions of North America in exchange for a land grant in Maryland. 1673. Public domain.

A great map wasn’t enough

Despite having the advantage of this accurate map, the British lost this territory in 1781 in a key battle during the Revolutionary War. America’s French ally, François Joseph Paul, the Comte de Grasse, engaged the British in a naval battle at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. The battle was strategically decisive, because it prevented the Royal Navy from reinforcing or evacuating the besieged forces of Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. The French were able to achieve control of the sea lanes against the British and provided the Franco-American army with siege artillery and French reinforcements.

The French relied on key American colonists to make the most of their naval victory. Colonel Thomas Newton Jr. was a local landowner and an early supporter of the American cause. He was a member of the Committee of Safety of Norfolk Borough in 1775-1776, commanded the militia of Norfolk County, and was especially valuable in supplying the French fleet and army during the siege of Yorktown. Newton was also very interested in building a lighthouse at Cape Henry and while serving in the Virginia Legislature, had appropriated money to build the lighthouse – a project that was shelved during the war.

Newton’s signature from the exterior of the Cape Henry Lighthouse. Image by Virginia Preservation Historic Interpreter Billy Simmons.

The Lighthouse Act

After the passage of the Lighthouse Act, Colonel Newton wrote President Washington describing what had already been done to collect materials to build a lighthouse at Cape Henry. Washington assigned Newton the duty of assessing and selecting the site for the lighthouse. Newton then chose John McComb, Jr. of New York City, to build the lighthouse. The Cape Henry Lighthouse proved to be a vital navigation aid and enhanced international and coastal trade with the Mid-Atlantic States. 

With this project, the Washington administration established the role of the United States Government in "internal improvements" to promote the national interest. From this event came all civil engineering projects using federal funds, including the dams and canals of the U.S. Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, as well as the Interstate Highway program of 1956 and the Federal Water Pollution Control Program of 1972.[2]

Public works are essential

Public works are foundational to the growth and success of the American way of life. Berntsen is proud to have supported public works for more than a half-century by providing durable infrastructure marking products and software that help public works professionals better manage their assets.  InfraMarker leverages GIS and RFID to provide accurate location and tracking of any asset – from lighthouses to fiber junction boxes to gas valves.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_Herman

[2] https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks/old-cape-henry-lighthouse