Boston Underfoot
Engineering Tour
Many manhole covers in the United States are manufactured at the Neenah Foundry in Neenah, Wisconsin.
Follow Boston's great engineering feats from the filling of the Back Bay to the Big Dig, now America's largest public works project. Walk through the new Rose Kennedy Greenway and some of Boston's oldest alleys. Ride the nation's first subway and learn about such taken-for-granted utilities as water, sewage, gas, steam, and electricity.
Boston established the first underground subway in the U.S. in 1897. The original route went all the way from Park Street to Boylston Street.
Join us for this unique look at Boston where most of the sightseeing takes place around your feet! Learn the origin of manholes, the different ways to engineer a tunnel, the secret identities of some of Boston's newest buildings, and what was so big about a recent dig.
The cleaning of the Charles River and Boston Harbor is improving water quality resulting in the return of seals, porpoises and other wildlife to the harbor.
Over the past ten years, the Charles River EPA rating has increased from a D to a B+ and now meets swimming standards many days of the year.
Why is the Orange line orange and why does the Green line screech at Park & Boylston? What is the real reason Boston's streets are the way they are? If the Big Dig was called the Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel Project, why does Boston now have 5 tunnels under its harbor? What's holding up the Custom House tower and who is buried in Dawes' grave?
Get the answers to these questions and many more. You will never look at a fire hydrant the same way again.
