Jacob
Douma
Structural Branch, Engineering Division, Civil Works, Office of the Chief of
Engineers
I reported to Hathaway. He said, "Well, unfortunately, we've got a new Chief of the
Engineering Division, and he wants to keep hydraulic design in the Structural
my expertise was hydraulic design, not hydrology. Hathaway was an expert in hydrology,
but he wanted to grab hydraulic design also and put it all in his branch. It turned out that
I didn't work for Hathaway after all. I had to go in the Structural Branch, and I worked
for
Steele, who was Chief of the Structural Branch then.
We got along fine, and I enjoyed it. John Harold was there. He was my senior. Just the
two of us did all the hydraulic design. We didn't actually do design. We reviewed the
District hydraulic design reports.
So you went to the Chief's Office in 1946 to work in hydraulic design?
A:
Yes. I previously mentioned that General Wheeler and Hathaway, Chief of the Hydrology
Branch in the Chief's office, were instrumental in getting me there. The hydraulic design
was in the Structural Branch then. There was only had one man doing hydraulic design,
but he was in the Structural Branch.
Steele, who was Chief of the Structural
Branch, wanted hydraulics under him.
Hathaway was arguing that it's better to have hydraulic design and hydrology together in
one branch. When I got there, I reported to Hathaway first. I thought I was going to be
working in his branch, but he said, "Since we talked to you about coming here, the new
Chief of the Engineering Division has changed his mind. He agrees with
Steele
that hydraulic design should be in the Structural Branch. So you've got your choice of
whether to stay here in hydrology or go to
Steele.
I said, "I promised you I'd come and work for you, so I'll work for you for awhile." I
was assigned in a job of writing manuals on hydrology, how to compute maximum floods,
etc. After about six months of doing that, during which time I wrote the draft of two
manuals, I said to Hath, "I'm really not interested in this very much. I like hydraulic
design of dams and flood channels much more. Do you mind if I talk to Mr. Steele
again? He had no objection.
I talked to Mr. Steele, and he said, "Yes, I'd like to have you over here." I asked him to
get the approval of the Chief of the Engineering Division. He did, and the next day I was
sitting in Steele's Structural Branch as a hydraulic design engineer.
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