Ernest Graves
That was a huge workload. The civil works program in Los Angeles consisted primarily
of the Los Angeles flood control plan which had started back in the '30s as a force
account. They had been building a magnificent system of drainage for Los Angeles
County--an open rectangular channel, lining all the channels.
There were a certain number of ponding areas, or reservoirs, which were used for
recreation and golf courses. In the event of a major flood, these areas would serve as
catchments so as not to overload the drainage system.
Q:
Kind of a nonstructural aspect?
A:
Yes. The project started in the mid-'30s and it continued. It was finished finally in the
'70s. It was built on an incremental basis. That was the main civil works effort that was
going on.
As the thing evolved, [Colonel William S.] Bill Crumlish, who was senior to me, came
in. Although I'd been assigned to be the deputy district engineer, I was still a major, and
he was a lieutenant colonel. When he arrived, he became deputy district engineer. But
then almost immediately, I left. So I had a very short tour as the deputy district engineer
in Los Angeles.
Q:
And it wasn't going to be civil works anyway?
A:
Once they decided to appoint Crumlish, I was going to go into the ballistic missile
work.
The main thing I did during that summer was to troubleshoot the construction for the
NikeHercules installation around Los Angeles. They were having incredible difficulty
with the electric power system. The radars were not working well. The argument was
over whether it was the standby power that was causing the problem or the radar.
There was a shootout between the radar contractor and the construction contractor
over whose fault it was. We set up an elaborate test to try to determine this, but it was
inconclusive.
Q:
Then you went back to this study commission on Panama?
A:
Then I went back to the study group, which lasted all winter. As I recall, the
memorandum for President Kennedy's signature was called a NSAM, or national
security action memorandum. I wrote in it that the nuclear excavation research and
development program would be conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission and the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
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