Reversal of Fortune
In the mid-1800s, Chicago was growing like crazy, but it was also built on a swamp and struggling with a basic problem: sewage. Engineers raised the city’s streets, jacked up buildings, and dug tunnels beneath Lake Michigan, but the city kept outgrowing each solution. So Chicago took on its biggest, baddest, craziest idea yet: digging a gigantic canal that would reverse the (0:41) Chicago River entirely, one of the massive, ridiculous achievements that changed people’s ideas of how far you could go to make a city work.
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More description
In the mid-1800s, Chicago was growing like crazy, but it was also built on a swamp and struggling with a basic problem: sewage. Engineers raised the city’s streets, jacked up buildings, and dug tunnels beneath Lake Michigan, but the city kept outgrowing each solution. So Chicago took on its biggest, baddest, craziest idea yet: digging a gigantic canal that would reverse the (0:41) Chicago River entirely, one of the massive, ridiculous achievements that changed people’s ideas of how far you could go to make a city work.
Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early.
Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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