Water Resources: Hydraulics and Hydrology
The Harza man had to leave early, but I stayed another day to talk some more with those
people about what should be done to repair the spillway chute. I planned to leave the dam
site and return to Teheran in time to catch the
PM flight to the U.S. I talked with the
man in charge of transportation at the dam site and said I'd have to leave by car in time
to catch the
o'clock, one-hour short flight back to Teheran to be sure I would catch
my overseas flight. This man impressed upon the driver that he had to get me to the small
airport in time to catch the flight to Teheran.
Coming down the mountain, the roadway was steep, and the curves were sharp. The
driver was going too fast, and frequently had to put his foot on the brake as hard as he
could. After about ten minutes, smoke came up from underneath the car.
I told him, "Stop. Stop. Smoke's coming out of here." So he pulled over to the side, and
I went over to look, and the wheels were burning. He made the brakes so hot that it
caused the grease around them to catch fire. About that time, a bus came up the road.
This driver knew that he couldn't get me to the small airport in time to catch the flight to
Teheran, so he stopped the bus and talked with the bus driver in their language there, and
the bus driver motioned me to get on the bus.
So in about minutes, I was back at the dam site again. I told the transportation man
what happened, and he called another driver. I said, "Tell him, `Go slow. Don't burn
up the car. I've got enough time.
The other driver was very careful, and I got down
to the small airfield when the airplane was at the end of the runway, ready to take off.
I went to the main terminal and was told that the next flight to Teheran would be two
hours later. I was advised to check with the private and rental airplanes office.
Fortunately, I was able to get passage on a private plane about to leave for Teheran.
When I got to Teheran, I found that my overseas flight was three hours late.
All that, and you were still on time. [Laughter]
A:
Yes, still on time. Holy Moses. What a day!.
That was an interesting job and trip to Teheran. Americans for a long time wouldn't dare
go there. I went to Teheran just a few months before the Ayatollah took over. If it had
been a year later, I would not have gone. Harza people still went there for several more
years. The Iranian government owed Harza about a million-and-a-half dollars. After the
Ayatollah took over, they didn't pay any of their debts for a number of years.
All the people who were owed money got together and got some kind of judgment against
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