Water Resources: Hydraulics and Hydrology
At the very beginning, all of the Civil Works' engineering design branches were placed
in the new directorate and several other branches and the Planning Division remained in
Civil Works. Hydrology stayed in Civil Works, but hydraulic design was placed in the
[Engineering and Construction] Directorate. After a short time, all branches that worked
on civil works projects were placed back in the Civil Works Directorate. I think that's the
way it is now.
That was a major thing then. There was a lot of hassle about that. A lot of them,
especially the Civil Works hydraulic design people, didn't want to go over to the
[Engineering and Construction] Directorate because when they reviewed a Civil Works
project they frequently had to discuss their review comments with the Hydrology Branch
under Civil Works. Their comments would need to be sent to the Engineering Division
of the [Engineering and Construction] Directorate, to the Engineering Division in the Civil
Works Directorate, and then to Hydrology Branch in the Civil Works Directorate, instead
of stepping across the hall to talk to the Hydrology people.
So the time that you were in Civil Works, basically, the functions changed very little.
A:
That's right. There were no major changes. No major changes.
Hydraulics and Hydrology Branch, OCE
Hathaway was ASCE president in 195 1, I believe.
A:
Yes, it was about then. But what I'm trying to come to now is that when Hathaway moved
out of the Engineering Division, I was still with the Structural Branch. Al
got
Hathaway's old job, as Chief of the Hydrology Branch, and Al was there for quite awhile.
Then, when Al retired in 1975, [they] decided to combine hydraulic design and hydrology
and make it the Hydraulics and Hydrology Branch. [They] wanted to combine hydraulic
design and hydrology because many of the Districts had already done that. John Harold
had retired, and I was made chief of the new branch. I stayed as Chief of that Branch until
I retired in `79.
So instead of having a Hydraulic Design Branch and a Hydrology Branch, they were
combined and named the Hydraulic Design and Hydrology Branch. Many of the divisions
and districts had already combined hydraulic design and hydrology in one branch.
Cochran had retired about then, and Vern
was Acting Chief of the Hydrology
Branch at that time. He hadn't been appointed, but was in line to take
place.
When the decision was made to combine the two branches, I was the senior man and was
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