ABSTRACT
DAVIS A.P. 09.02. 1861 Decatur IL/USA 07.08. 1933 Oakland CA/USA Arthur Powell Davis was a nephew of John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). In 1872 the family moved from Illinois to a farm in Kansas, where Arthur graduated from Kansas Normal School, Emporia. After moving to Washington in 1882, he graduated in 1888 with the BS degree from today’s George Washington University. He began his career in 1882 in the US Geological Survey USGS as assistant topographer. In 1884 he was appointed topographer of its Rocky Mountains Division. He was then for five years head of the topographic work in the USGS Southwest Section. Appointed hydrographer in 1896, he had charge of all stream measurements in the United States carried out by the USGS. Further, he was engaged as US hydrographer in charge of the examination of rainfall, stream flow, and flood control under the Isthmian Canal Commission, for both the proposed Nicaragua and Panama Canal routes. In 1909 Davis was named Member of the Board of Engineers to examine engineering problems pertaining to Panama Canal. In 1915 he was a member of a committee to study the Culebra slides into Panama Canal. In 1911 he was also engaged by the czarist government to investigate the irrigation of the Kara Kum Desert in Tajikistan, and in 1914 was sent to China to survey the Huai River Conservancy Project. Following the organization of the US Reclamation Service, Davis was appointed in 1903 supervising engineer, becoming in 1908 chief engineer and from 1914 to 1923 its director. During this period, the Shoshone and Arrowrock dams were built, each then the largest in the world. Davis described these and many other irrigation schemes in his 1917 book. He was also instrumental for the first design of the Boulder Dam. Under his direction, more than one hundred dams were placed. In his 1922 report on problems of the Imperial Valley he summarizes results made during his term. Anonymous (1933). Arthur P. Davis, Boulder Dam consultant, dies. ENR 111(6): 181. P Anonymous (1944). Davis, Arthur Powell. Dictionary of American biography 2.1: 224-226. Scribner’s: New York. Davis, A.P. (1899). Nicaragua and Isthmian routes. National Geographical Magazine: 247-266. Davis, A.P. (1899). Rainfall and temperature in Nicaragua. M. Weather Review 27(5): 211-212. Davis, A.P. (1917). Irrigation works constructed by United States Government. Wiley: New York. Davis, A.P., Wilson, H.M. (1919). Irrigation engineering. Wiley: New York. https://www.usbr.gov/history/CommissBios/davis.html P
DAVIS C.V. 01.07. 1897 Camden NJ/USA 15.09. 1981 Western Springs IL/USA Few biographical information is available on Calvin Victor Davis. After graduation to civil engineer, he joined the Ambursen Dam Co. as chief engineer in the late 1920s in New York. In 1947 he then joined Harza Company as vice-president until 1953, then taking over as president of this large engineering firm. From 1963 until retirement in 1968 he was chairman of the Board of Directors. Davis was on the one hand instrumental for one of the largest engineering companies of the world, and on the other the editor of one of the most significant books in hydropower engineering. His Handbook of applied hydraulics was published first in 1942, with the second edition dating of 1952. It includes 25 chapters on 1250 pages with a large number of then well known experts, including for example James S. Bowman (1889-1961) on Gates, Thomas R. Camp (1895-1971) on Water supplies and Water treatment, George H. Hickox (1903-1986) on Hydraulic models, Julian Hinds (1881-1977) on Canals and pipelines, Ivan E. Houk (1888-1972) on Arch dams and Irrigation, Phillip Z. Kirpich (1914-2008) on Hydrology, Emory W. Lane (1891-1963) on Spillways, John Lowe III (1916-2012) on Earth dams, Lewis F. Moody (1880-1953) on Hydraulic machinery, George R. Rich (1896-1977) on Water hammer and Surge tanks, I. Cleveland Steele (1886-1973) on Rock-fill dams, and John C. Stevens (18761970) on Hydroelectric plants. As president of the Harza Company, he widely travelled to assure the contacts to his clients. He for instance was involved in the Derbendi Khan Dam in Iran, or Harza was the general consultant of the entire Indus River scheme in Pakistan, where Harza coordinated the activities of the individual consulting firms, preparing a detailed design of the Mangla Dam scheme, or the overall project for the settlement of water usage between Pakistan and India. Anonymous (1958). Davis, Calvin. Engineering News-Record 161(Sep.11): 31. P Anonymous (1962). Calvin V. Davis. Engineering News-Record 168(May10): 64. P Anonymous (1982). Calvin V. Davis. Civil Engineering 52(3): 95. P Davis, C.V. (1932). Stability of dams increased by more economical use of materials. Engineering News-Record 107(6): 210-214. Davis, C.V., ed. (1952). Handbook of applied hydraulics, 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill: New York. Davis, C.V. (1958). Rockfill dams: The Derbendi Khan Dam. Journal of Power Division ASCE 84(PO4, 1741): 1-23; 85(PO2): 75-79; 85(PO3): 109. https://www.usbr.gov/history/CommissBios/davis.html P
