TORPEN

TORPEN 27.08. 1886 Osseo WI/USA 29.01. 1970 Portland OR/USA Bernhardt Enoch Torpen obtained the BSc degree from Washington State College, Pullman WA, and there obtained in 1924 a CE degree. From 1911 to 1913 he had been assistant engineer for the Calgary Power Company in Canada, and from 1914 locating engineer for the Cascade Irrigation District, Thorpe WA. From 1915 to 1917 he acted as field engineer for the municipal water supply, Aberdeen WA, and superintendent of construction of a copper mine in Peru. From 1921 to 1922 he was field engineer for the port of Aberdeen WA, and from 1923 hydraulic engineer of Cushman Power Project, Tacoma WA. From 1926 to 1929 he was then superintendent of design and construction of the Bull Run Dam, Portland OR, and then acted until 1930 as assistant hydraulic engineer on hydro properties at Guadalajara MX. In this period he was further engaged with layouts and estimates for the Ariel Hydro Project on Lewis River WA, the Z-Cannon Project at Clark’s Fork on the Columbia River, and the Upper Salmon Falls on the Snake River. Torpen was from 1930 to 1932 consulting engineer for the Soviet Government, Moscow, as member of the Board of Foreign Consulting Engineers. Upon completion of his work in Russia, he returned to the USA, visiting outstanding dams by then under construction or just having been completed. In 1933 he became engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers, Portland OR, acting finally in 1939 as principal engineer. He was appointed in 1939 head engineer of the Corps at Portland OR, acting from 1946 to 1948 there as Assistant Chief of the North Pacific Division, and taking over in 1949 as its chief engineer. He was from 1951 to 1956 consulting engineer to this Division, and also a consultant to the governments of India and Pakistan on flood control of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, and rivers in the Punjab. After retirement from the Corps he joined in 1956 a company at Portland for seven years, retiring from active service in 1969. He was both a member and Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE, and president of its Oregon Section, receiving its Engineer of the Year Award in 1969. Anonymous (1956). B.E. Torpen. Engineering News-Record 156(May3): 79-80. P Anonymous (1970). Bernhardt E. Torpen. Trans. ASCE 135: 1147-1149. Torpen, B.E. (1924). Cushman Power Project. State College of Washington: Pullman. Torpen, B.E. (1929). Bull Run Storage Dam for Portland OR. ENR 103(6): 204-208. Torpen, B.E. (1951). Power and Columbia River Storage: Projects in region’s potential. Seattle. https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=mediaphotopublic&rank=1&sbo=t&gsbco=Sweden&gsln=Torpen P

TOTTEN 23.08. 1788 New Haven CT/USA 22.04. 1864 Washington DC/USA Joseph Gilbert Totten graduated in 1805 from the US Military Academy and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. He in 1806 resigned already, to assist in public land survey. He re-entered the Corps in 1808 and during the War of 1812 was chief engineer of the Niagara frontier. From 1825 to 1838 he oversaw the construction of Fort Adams, Newport RI, the second largest project of the Army in the 19th century exceeded only by Fort Monroe VA. Totten was appointed Army chief engineer in 1838, serving in this position until his death. One of Totten’s most significant achievements was the design and the construction of Minot’s Ledge Light near Cohasset MA. Many ships had approached the Massachusetts coast but the location of Boston Harbour was misjudged. Cohasset Rock is a three km long geological formation similar to Eddystone Rocks off the Devon Coast in UK. The famous John Smeaton (1724-1792) built a notable lighthouse there which resisted all storms until today. A first lighthouse erected in 1849 failed in 1851 during a tremendous storm. In 1852 Totten designed an improved structure in collaboration with a colleague. The best site for the new lighthouse was determined based on a survey of the reef. It was decided that the location of the former lighthouse suited best for the purpose, but work could only proceed when wind and waves were low. The lighthouse rested on 7 interlocking foundation stones all below the water surface. By the fall 1856, 6 m tall permanent iron rods had been drilled , and wrought-iron frames connected the shafts. The iron framework would later reinforce the stone tower. Despite the rough working conditions no life was lost during construction. The work proceeded upward, layer by layer, until the stonework was finished in 1860. More than 1,000 granite blocks were required with a total weight of more than 2,000 tons. The lighthouse went in service late in that year. Today, it looks much like it did when erected, remaining an outstanding engineering feat. It was named a Heraldic Place in 1987. Anonymous (1896). Joseph G. Totten. Trans. ASCE 36: 525-527. Bernard, S., Totten, J.G., Humphreys, A.A. (1866). Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Washington DC. Brown, J.L. (2012). Braving the storm: Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse. Civil Engineering 82(11): 46-49. P Totten, J.G., Bache, A.D., Davis, C.H. (1862). Surveys of Boston Harbour. Farwell: Boston. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Gilbert_Totten P