The fire hydrant that we know today traces its origins back to fire
plugs. Water mains that transported fresh water in a city or town used
to be made of hollowed out logs buried beneath the streets. Whenever
there was a fire and firefighters needed water, they dug up the
cobblestone street and drilled a hole into the wooden pipe.
The invention of a post- or pillar-type
fire hydrant
is generally credited to Frederick Graff Sr., Chief Engineer of the
Philadelphia Water Works around the year 1801. It had a combination
hose/faucet outlet and was of 'wet barrel' design with the valve in the
top.
No comments:
Post a Comment