7 Engineering Wonders ASCE List of 1952

Author: Melinda Luna, PE, CFM, F. ASCE

February 2025

As part of the centennial celebration (1952) of ASCE National, a committee was formed to review 200 landmarks submitted by ASCE Sections. The Texas Section formed a committee to select 7 engineering wonders and was headed by Joe Rady of Fort Worth. The Texas Section 7 Wonders committee decided that the list should be of practical engineering projects. The following landmarks were submitted to the National 7 Wonders Committee for the Texas Section:

1. Greater Fort Worth International Airport and Amon Carter Field

2. Lower Colorado River Authority Project (Highland Lakes) and Houston Ship Channel (tied for second)

3. Colorado Municipal Water District

4. Port Arthur-Orange Highway Bridge over Beaumont Ship Channel

5. Off shore drilling platforms and Wells

6. The 612 ft Smokestacks of the American Smelting and Refining Company, El Paso

7. The El Paso Bataan Memorial Trainway

None of the Texas section Nominations made it on the National list. The selected landmarks were:

1. Chicago Sewage Disposal System

2. Aqueduct system in Colorado River in Southern California

3. Empire State Building

4. Grand Coulee Dam and Columbia River Basin Project

5. Hoover Dam

6. Panama Canal

7. San Francisco- Bay Bridge

The projects submitted all were contributions to the areas they served and advances in civil Engineering. Newspapers around the United States carried stories on the effort. What would the lists of the 7 wonders of the Texas, or the United States would look like today some 73 years later? Many on the list are now ASCE Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks at the National or Section level. With many more engineering wonders have been built, this would make the 7 wonders list a great effort to compile such a list today.