A LONG TIME PUMPING

In 1913, Albert Baldwin Wood, A Sewerage and Water Board engineer, developed the screw pump that gave New Orleans a fighting chance in the war against the water that surrounds it. Staying dry is quite a battle for a city below sea level, surrounded by the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain and other bayous and swamps, and with one of the highest rainfall rates in the country. In 1928, Wood designed a 14-foot version of his pump. Almost 50 of Wood's originals are still in use in New Orleans today.