WILLIAMSON S.B.

WILLIAMSON S.B. 15.04. 1865 Lexington VA/USA 12.01. 1939 Lexington VA/USA Sydney Bacon Williamson graduated in 1884 from the Virginia Military Institute, Lexington VA. He then accepted for two years an offer as instructor at King’s Mountain Academy, York SC. From 1886 to 1887 he was staff member of the Engineering Depts. of the St. Paul and Duluth Railway, and then was in general engineering practice at Montgomery AL, in charge of sanitary engineering. From 1892 to 1898, Williamson became assistant engineer to George W. Goethals (1858-1928), in charge of improvements on the Tennessee River, including a canal lock at Riverton AL, and on Muscle Shoals Canal. After war service in Puerto Rico, he returned to Goethals in charge of fortifications at Newport RI, and from 1906 to 1914 was division engineer of the Panama Canal Pacific Division under Goethals, responsible for the excavation of two locks. Williamson also designed the Pacific terminal docks, the water supply, and sewers of Panama City. Once Panama Canal was inaugurated Williamson became chief engineer of construction of an engineering company in London UK. He worked on a power station in Brazil, the water supply of Genoa, Italy, and served as chief of construction of the US Reclamation Service at Denver CO. From 1916 to 1924, he was consulting engineer for a company in New York NY, working on a copper mine in Chile. After war service during World War I, he returned to the company in New York. In 1924 he founded a civil engineering practice at Birmingham AL, and Charlottesville VA, and was consulting engineer with Goethals on the port of Palm Beach FL, and various municipal water supplies. In 1928, he was employed by the US District Engineer, Philadelphia PA, with projects on dikes and control of Delaware River. In 1929 Williamson became principal engineer of the US Engineering Department, occupied with the investigations on the feasibility of the Nicaragua Canal. In 1931 he was appointed by President Hoover as a member of the Interoceanic Canal Board, serving until 1935. In 1933 Williamson was engaged by the US Army Corps of Engineers to determine damages due to the large Mississippi floods. Anonymous (1940). Sydney B. Williamson. Trans. ASCE 105: 1940-1954. Sultan, D.I., Williamson, S.B. (1932). Interoceanic Canal. US Govt. Printing: Washington DC. Williamson, S.B. (1948). Sydney B. Williamson papers. Archives of Virginia Military Institute: Lexington VA. https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=vmi/vilxv00006.xml https://picclick.com/Canal-Zone-113a-30-ct-380559305682.html P

WILSON E.K. 14.11. 1878 Southington CT/USA 31.03. 1943 Upper Montclair NJ/USA Edgar Kennard Wilson received education from the Worcester Academy, Worcester MA, and from the University of Maine, Orono ME. From 1898 to 1905 he was engaged in surveying and construction, and advanced through the grades from chainman to chief of party, becoming in 1905 an assistant engineer at Philadelphia PA. He worked from 1906 to 1909 as transitman with the engineering force of the Panama Canal on the Culebra Division, returned to the USA, becoming assistant engineer of the Water District at Portland ME. Wilson joined in 1912 the Pitometer Company, Chicago IL, founded by Edward S. Cole (1871-1950), continuing to serve this firm with skill and fidelity until his death. He there became eventually chief engineer and treasurer, and was actively engaged on hydraulic experiments to develop the Pitot tube, a standard device to measure velocity at a certain point of the flow field. He was also involved in the design of extensions for the water distribution systems of many American cities. In addition his work also included the flow analysis to improve the water supply mains in these cities, a service to which he contributed significantly in the conception of methods, and on the skill in organisation of these works. Wilson was widely known among water works men in the USA for his knowledge of water distribution problems. He authored a number of papers in this topic, which greatly added to his reputation. During his association with the Company he won the esteem of his associates for his sterling character and professional skill. He was later also vice-president and director of the Pitometer Log Corporation. He was member of the American Water Works Association AWWA, serving as chairman of the New York Section, of the New England Water Works Association, and of the American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE. Anonymous (1942). E.K. Wilson, consulting engineer. Journal AWWA 95(12): 740. P Anonymous (1944). Edgar K. Wilson. Trans. ASCE 109: 1551-1552. Cole, J.A., Cole, E.S. (1909). The portable test Pitometer: Tables and directions. Chicago IL. Wilson, E.K. (1930). Keeping water works maps and field records up to date. Water Works Engineering 30(16): 1143-1144; 30(17): 1177-1178. Wilson, E.K. (1932). Trunk main surveys. Journal AWWA 24(5): 669-702. Wilson, E.K. (1936). Conditions of mains in typical America cities. Journal of the American Water Works Association 28(9): 1304-1343. Wilson, E.K. (1937). Finding lost water. Engineering News-Record 118(22): 819.