Cornelia F. Hugel Professor of History Lafayette College
In 1908-09, California engineer John S. Eastwood built the world’s first reinforced concrete multiple arch dam at Hume Lake in the High Sierra southeast of Fresno. Over the next 16 years until his death in August 1924, sixteen other Eastwood designs were built, including Big Bear Dam in southern California, Salt Lake City’s Mt. Dell Dam, Lake Hodges Dam in San Diego County, Littlerock Dam in northern Los Angeles County, Cave Creek Dam north of Phoenix, and Anyox Dam in British Columbia. With these designs he created structures that dramatically reduced both concrete quantities and construction costs, and also eliminated threats posed by the destabilizing effect of uplift. This paper discusses Eastwood’s design methodology and his use of mathematical theory in creating multiple arch designs. It also discusses resistance he encountered from proponents of more traditional concrete gravity designs. In particular, the objections raised by John R. Freeman—a world famous engineer based in New England who played a key role in developing municipal water supply systems for New York City, Boston, and San Francisco, as well as numerous privately financed hydroelectric power projects—are used to illustrate how innovation in large-scale hydraulic design can engender opposition within the professional engineering community. Innovation entails risk. So how to insure that concerns for safety do not stifle the advancement of new ideas? The history of Eastwood’s work as a dam design entrepreneur offers a valuable way to explore the complex relationship between innovation and regulation in the realm of hydraulic design.
