ABSTRACT
STEVENS J. ca. 1749 New York NY/USA 06.03. 1838 Hoboken NJ/USA John Stevens was the son of the ship owner John. Young John graduated in 1768 from King’s College (now Columbia University), New York NY. With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Stevens offered his services to General Washington commissioning him as captain. He was appointed treasurer of New Jersey advancing thereby finally to colonel. In 1788 he drew attention to the work of John Fitch to develop steamboats and from then until his death, Stevens made a large fortune with the advancement of mechanical transport both on water and on land. He concentrated on the steam and boiler design and received for his vertical steam boiler and an improved Savery-type steam engine the patent in 1791. The experimental boat Polacca was tried on Passaic River, but proved unsuccessful. In 1800 Stevens became consulting engineer for the water supply of New York City. He convinced the directors that steam pumping should be used, but Boulton & Watt engines were adopted. In 1803 Stevens had advanced sufficiently with his tests to secure a patent for a multitubular boiler. The following year, his small steamboat Little Juliana operated with a double screw was tested on Hudson River. His goal was to inaugurate a steam ferry across the Hudson between Hoboken and New York. In 1806 he began with the design of the 30 m long Phoenix. Before it was completed, however, Robert Fulton (17651815) made a successful voyage with his boat Clermont in 1807. The Phoenix was completed in 1808, made a sea trip and established itself the record of the first sea-going steamboat of the world. In 1810, Stevens began giving close attention to the adaption of the steam engine to the motive power for railways, leaving steam navigation in the hands of his sons. He argued the adoption of this transportation system rather than canals, and published a corresponding note in 1812. In his later years, he devoted his time to study. Anonymous (1935). Stevens, John. Dictionary of American biography 17: 614-616. Scribner’s: New York. Stevens, J. (1812). Documents tending to prove the superior advantages of rail-ways and stream-carriages over canal navigation. New York. Turnbull, A.D. (1928). John Stevens, an American record. The Century: New York. P Turnbull, A.D. (1928). John Stevens and his sons. Mechanical Engineering 50(5): 353-357. P https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stevens_(inventor) P
STEVENS J.C. 09.01. 1876 Moline KS/USA 29.03. 1970 Portland OR/USA John Cyprian Stevens graduated with a BS degree in 1905 from University of Nebraska, obtained the CE degree in 1928 and the Dr.Eng. degree in 1947. He was engineer of the US Geological Survey USGS until 1912 in charge of water supply investigations, and of the Columbia River Basin. He spent the next two years as an engineer with the Ebro Irrigation & Power Company, Barcelona Spain, and upon return to the USA became engineer of companies in New York and Washington State. He then had a private consulting office at Portland OR until 1920, from when being partner of Stevens & Koon, Consulting Engineers there until retirement in 1954. He was member of the American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE, and its president in 1945. He was elected ASCE Fellow in 1959. The J.C. Stevens Award is annually presented to the author of the best discussion of a paper published in the ASCE Journal of Hydraulic Engineering. Stevens was a distinguished hydraulic engineer and inventor of water-metering devices. He had patented in 1911 the first continuous water stage recorder and made a contract to manufacture it. As consultant, he was involved in hydrographic studies in the Pacific Northwest. Later he contributed to Bonneville Navigation and Power Development, Mud Mountain flood control dam, Willamette Valley project for flood control, the Columbia River dams including McNary, and The Dalles Dams. He authored papers in technical journals, and the chapter Hydroelectric plants in the Handbook of applied hydraulics. He was awarded the 1938 ASCE Norman Medal for a paper on the silt problem. Anonymous (1945). John Cyprian Stevens. Civil Engineering 15(2): 97-98. P Anonymous (1959). Stevens, J.C. Who’s who in engineering 8: 2359. Lewis: New York. Anonymous (1970). John Cyprian Stevens. Trans. ASCE 135: 1113-1114. Stevens, J.C. (1910). Experiments on small weirs and measuring modules. Engineering News 64(7): 171-177. Stevens, J.C. (1922). Winter overflow from ice gorging on shallow streams. Trans. ASCE 85: 677-698. Stevens, J.C. (1934). On the behaviour of siphons. Trans. ASCE 99: 986-1011. Stevens, J.C. (1937). Scour prevention below Bonneville Dam. Engineering News-Record 118(Jan.14): 61-65. Stevens, J.C. (1957). Flow through circular weirs. Journal of the Hydraulics Division ASCE 83(HY6, Paper 1455): 1-17.
