MERRILL

MERRILL 11.10. 1837 Fort Howard WI/USA 14.12. 1891 Shawneetown IL/USA William Emery Merrill graduated in 1859 from the US Military Academy and was then assigned to the Corps of Engineers. He was involved in the Civil War, in which he was particularly charged with constructions and fortifications for the protection of railways supplying the army. His military services closed in 1870 as lieutenant colonel, and as chief engineer. As a military engineer he was excelled by none. He published in 1870 a book on iron truss bridges. The second half of Merrill’s career was devoted mainly to river and harbour improvement works carried out by the Corps of Engineers. He originated one of the greatest projects for the development of the American inland waterways, namely the canalization of the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to its mouth. In 1870 he was charged with these improvements, and in 1878, he was sent to Europe on his own request to study similar improvements of non-tidal rivers by means of locks and movable dams. On his return he advocated the method to improve the Ohio and in 1879 succeeded in securing from the Congress an appropriation for the Davis Island lock and dam below Pittsburgh PA. These were completed in 1885 and led to the approval of his project, for the entire river. He lived long enough to build only the first lock and dam. The entire project was not completed until 1929, when the President of the United States took part in the celebration. Merrill published in 1881 on the improvement works of rivers and inland navigation in the United States and in France. He was the US representative in the 1889 Paris meeting of the Permanent International Association of Navigation Congress PIANC. Anonymous (1892). William Emery Merrill. Proc. ASCE 18: 90-93. Anonymous (1933). Merrill, William Emery. Dictionary of American biography 12: 568-569. Scribner’s: New York. Anonymous (1963). Merrill, W.E. Who was who in America 1607-1896: 355. Marquis: Chicago. Merrill, M.E. (1917). W.E. Merrill. Professional memoirs 9(48): 639-642. US Army Corps of Engineers: Washington DC. P Merrill, S. (1917). A Merrill memorial: An account of the descendants of Nathaniel Merrill, an early settler of Newbury MA. Cambridge MA. Merrill, W.E. (1870). Iron truss bridges for railroads. van Nostrand: New York. Merrill, W.E. (1881). Improvement of non-tidal rivers. Gov. Printing Office: Washington DC. USACE (1974). William E. Merrill. Origins of Ohio River canalization: 157. P

MERRIMAN M. 27.03. 1848 Southington CT/USA 07.06. 1925 New York NY/USA Mansfield Merriman graduated as an engineer from Sheffield Scientific School, Yale CT, in 1871, there obtaining the PhD degree in 1876. He was from 1872 to 1873 assistant engineer with the US Corps of Engineers, a civil engineering instructor at his Alma Mata until 1878, and then assistant of the US Coast and Geodetic Survey. He had been appointed in parallel professor of civil engineering at Lehigh University, Bethlehem PA, in 1878, a post he held until his retirement in 1907, becoming from then a consulting engineer in New York City. Merriman was a member ASCE and member of the New York Academy of Sciences. He was awarded honorary PhD titles in 1906 from University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA, and from Lehigh University, Bethlehem PA, in 1913. Merriman was one of the prominent hydraulic engineers during his era in the United States, mainly known for his books. After his first books on the Method of least squares, and Mechanics of materials, he presented his Treatise on hydraulics, which appeared in a number of editions. The book chapters include: 1. Introduction, 2. Hydrostatics, 3. Theoretical hydraulics, 4. Flow through orifices, 5. Flow over weirs, 6. Flow through tubes, 7. Flow in pipes, 8. Flow in conduits and channels, 9. Flow in rivers, 10. Measurement of water power, 11. Dynamic pressure of flowing water, 12). Hydraulic motors, and 13. Naval hydromechanics. Further works relate to Roofs and bridges, to Higher mathematics, Strength of materials, Precise surveying and geodesy, and finally to Elements of sanitary engineering. Merriman served as the editor in chief of the American civil engineers’ pocket book from 1911. Anonymous (1909). Merriman, Mansfield. Who’s who in America 6: 1288. Marquis: Chicago. Anonymous (1915). Prof. Merriman elected president of the ASTM. Engineering Record 71(26): 818. P Anonymous (1924). Mansfield Merriman. Engineering News-Record 92(16): 649-650. P Anonymous (1926). Mansfield Merriman. Trans. ASCE 89: 1658-1662. Merriman, M. (1884). Method of least squares. Wiley: New York. Merriman, M. (1885). Mechanics of materials. Wiley: New York. Merriman, M. (1889). Treatise on hydraulics. Wiley: New York. Merriman, M. (1898). Elements of sanitary engineering. Wiley: New York. Poggendorff, J.C. (1898). Merriman, Mansfield. Biographisch-Literarisches Handwörterbuch 3: 903-904; 4: 990-991; 5: 836; 6: 1707. Barth: Leipzig, with bibliography.