JACKSON

JACKSON 18.01. 1874 Westmeath ON/CA 08.04. 1937 San Francisco CA/USA Thomas Herbert Jackson was born in Canada. His family moved to the USA in 1880 and settled in Montague MI. He was appointed to the US Military Academy at West Point in 1895. After graduation in 1899, he was commissioned a second lieutenant of engineers. His first assignments were at Portland ME, and on the Philippine Islands. Upon returning to the USA in 1905, he served at Fort Leavenworth KA and then as captain at San Francisco CA. There he headed the planning effort for the innovative Sacramento River Flood Control Project. Following devastating floods in 1907, the Congress was asked for the authority to have the Corps of Engineers prepare a comprehensive plan for river rehabilitation. The Jackson Plan was submitted to the Congress in 1910, proposing the construction and enlargement of riverbank levees and bypasses to carry excess flood water. After acceptance at the national level, California added its endorsement and created the Reclamation Board to manage the involvement of the state in the joint federal-state effort. By utilizing this flood control system, the Jackson Plan served as a forerunner for the monumental plan to control the floods of Mississippi River. From 1911 to 1917 Jackson was assigned district engineer, then he served as colonel in France. Upon return to his country, he took various positions in the Corps of Engineers. In 1928 he was appointed president of the Mississippi River Commission MRC in the rank of brigadier general. His tenure until 1932 marked a turning point in the Corps’ involvement in the Lower Mississippi Valley. From its creation in 1879 the MRC had undertaken an improvement program in the alluvial valley, including both navigation and flood control. The large 1927 flood called for revision of the activities. The 1928 Flood Control Act consisted of improved levees to contain flood flows, floodways to bypass critical areas, bank and channel stabilization, and tributary basin improvements. Jackson was given the task of implementing this plan. The officer-engineer faced formidable challenges. The MRC headquarters were moved from St. Louis to Vicksburg MI, where he created a forerunner of the well-known Waterways Experiment Station. Anonymous (1931). Jackson, Thomas H. Who’s who in engineering 2: 667. Lewis: New York. Jackson, T.H. (1935). Bank protection on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. US Army Corps of Engineers: Vicksburg. Reuss, M. (2004). T.H. Jackson. Designing the bayous: 122. Texas A&M University Press. P Robinson, M.C. (1983). Thomas H. Jackson. APWA Reporter (5): 6-7. P

JACOB C.E. 03.09. 1914 Mesa AZ/USA 30.01. 1970 Los Angeles CA/USA Charles Edward Jacob received education in civil engineering at Utah University, Salt Lake City UT, obtaining the MS degree from Columbia University, New York, in 1936. Until 1947 he was associated with the US Geological Survey becoming chief of its Groundwater Hydraulics Section. He held various academic positions at University of Utah, Brigham Young University, and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro NM. Since 1947 he served as a groundwater consultant mainly in the USA, South America and the Middle East. His most notable student was Mahdi Hantush (1921-1984). Jacob was awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in 1952. The untimely death of Jacob at age of 56 was a shock to his friends, colleagues and groundwater hydrologists. During the past three decades he had stimulated basic research. The pioneering efforts of Oscar E. Meinzer (1876-1948), Charles V. Theis (1900-1987), and Jacob formed the sound basis of the advances made in groundwater hydraulics. Jacob was one of the rare scientists who combined theoretical physics and mathematics with a real aptitude for practical engineering. He participated actively in the two main groundwater conferences, namely the Symposium on Transient Ground Water Hydraulics at Fort Collins CO in 1963, and the National Symposium on Ground Water Hydrology at San Francisco in 1967. He was an outstanding speaker, attracting attention and usually leaving the greatest impression with the participants. His analyses were outstanding on such controversial subjects as research versus engineering, pitfalls in routine investigations, or overlapping of disciplines at universities. Chapter 5 of the Engineering Hydraulics book was even in 1970 the best introduction for groundwater studies; it is clear and simple, yet rich and comprehensive. Jacob, C.E. (1939). Fluctuations in artesian pressure by passing trains. Trans. AGU 20:666-674. Jacob, C.E. (1940). On the flow of water in an elastic artesian aquifer. Trans. AGU 21: 574-586. Jacob, C.E. (1945). The water table in the western and central parts of Long Island NY. US Dept. of the Interior: Washington DC. Jacob, C.E. (1946). Slope-area measurements and the proper velocity-head coefficient. Water Resources Bulletin (Feb.10): 34-46; (May10): 124-125; (Aug.10): 172-181. Jacob, C.E. (1947). Drawdown test to determine effective radius of artesian well. Trans. ASCE 112: 1047-1064; 112: 1068-1070. Kashef, A.I. (1970). Charles E. Jacob. J. American Water Resources Assoc. 6(5): 841-843. P