A. Baldwin Wood
Albert Baldwin Wood (
December 1 1879 -
May 10 1956) was an
inventor and
engineer from
New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated from
Tulane University with a
Bachelor of Science in
Mechanical Engineering in
1899.
Wood was hired by the
Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans in
1899 to try to improve the flood-prone city's drainage, Wood invented "flapgates" and other hydraulic devices, most notably efficient low maintenance high volume
pumps, including
The Wood Screw Pump (
1913) and
The Wood Trash Pump (
1915). Wood spearheaded the reclamation from swamp and the efforts to make developable much of the land now occupied by the city of New Orleans.
While he spent most of his career in New Orleans, Wood also consulted and designed the drainage, pumping, and
sewage systems for other locations including
Chicago,
Milwaukee,
Baltimore,
San Francisco,
Ontario,
Canada, as well as projects in
Egypt,
China, and
India. His work was especially helpful in the
Zuiderzee Works, which reclaimed large areas of land from the
Zuider Zee in the
Netherlands.
Some of Wood's pumps have been in almost continuous use in New Orleans for over 80 years without need of repairs, and new ones continue to be built from his designs.
*
Drainage in New Orleans*
1974 article on the Wood Screw Pump by the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
