BODFISH

BODFISH 16.08. 1844 Chicopee MA/USA 17.05. 1894 Washington DC/USA Sumner Homer Bodfish graduated in 1871 from the US Military Academy, West Point NY, after having served during the Civil War. After graduation, he started his professional career with his father in hydraulic engineering at Langley GA, constructing a dam for the Langley Cotton Mills. In 1872 he went to Washington DC, where he was appointed first assistant engineer of the Board of Public Works. He there had charge of underground works until 1878, when engaged with a large dredging contract on Patapsco River at Baltimore MD. In 1878 he was appointed topographer in the Powell Survey, and from then until 1890 remained in the employ of the US Geological Survey USGS as topographer, and later as irrigation engineer. His first work for the Powell Survey in 1878 was to measure angles in a scheme of triangulation of Grove K. Gilbert (18431918). From 1878 to 1880, Bodfish mapped the country around the Grand Canyon. In 1880, upon the organization of the US Geological Survey, Bodfish was appointed topographer, spending the seasons 1880 to 1881 in topographic work in southern Utah. In 1882 he was engaged on topographic work in the quicksilver mining region of California. Until 1888 he was then on similar work in the neighborhood of Washington DC, and in Massachusetts. Shortly after the creation of the Irrigation Survey, he was appointed irrigation engineer in 1889, and spent the next year in charge of the Colorado Division. He thereby made surveys on optimum reservoir sites, and the modes by which water could be conducted from them to the surrounding arid lands. In 1889 he computed the cost of the dams proposed and the capacities of the reservoirs. In 1890, Bodfish founded a private practice, engaged in numerous works on railways projects. His last project was a survey of the Great Falls of Potomac River for a Boston company, and a determination of the quantity and value of the water power which could be derived from these falls. Ill health forced him in 1893 to leave work, from when he remained an invalid until his death. Bodfish was a careful, painstaking and conscientious worker, an excellent engineer, and a notable surveyor of the 19th century. Anonymous (1894). Sumner Homer Bodfish. Proc. ASCE 20: 96-98. Evans, R.T., Frye, H.M. (2009). History of the Topographic Branch. Circular 1341. US Department of the Interior: Washington DC. Menkes, D. (2007). A man goes west: The 1879 letters of Leonard Herbert Swett. Utah Historical Quarterly 75(3): 204-219. P

BOGART 08.02. 1836 Albany NY/USA 25.04. 1920 New York NY/USA John Bogart was educated at Rutgers College, New Brunswick NJ, graduating in 1853 with a BA degree; the DSc degree was conferred on him in 1912. After service for the US Corps of Engineers, he became assistant of the Engineering Department, New York State, employed on works of canal reconstructions. He was then engaged until the outbreak of the Civil War with the construction of the Central Park, New York, including water supply and drainage projects. After War, he was appointed Deputy State Engineer, New York NY, staying in office until 1888, thereby being involved in the construction of Washington Bridge over Harlem River, New York, and in tunnels under Hudson River. In 1890 Bogart became interested in the hydro-electric development. He was appointed consulting engineer of the Cataract Construction Company, of the Niagara Falls Power Company. At this time few knowledge was available on power transmission, so that he visited Europe to study the latest developments. In 1899 he investigated the possibilities of utilizing the power of the St. Lawrence River at Massena NY, designing then the plant of the St. Lawrence Power Company there. His reputation became established as hydraulic engineer, so that he served for instance as engineer of the Cascade Power Company in British Columbia, the Lake Superior Power Company, or the Sault Ste. Marie Power Company. His greatest contribution was the hydro-electric development of the Chattanooga and Tennessee River Power Company, now as chief engineer, a 60,000 HP installation on Tennessee River. This project was particularly difficult on account of the great head variation on the turbines, and in terms of dam foundation. In 1913 Bogart formed a partnership until his death. He was US delegate to the Permanent International Navigation Congresses PIANC held at Düsseldorf in 1902, at Milan in 1905, at St. Petersburg in Russia in 1908, and served as chairman of the Inland Section in the 1912 Philadelphia Congress. He was member of the American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE, serving as director from 1873 to 1875, and as treasurer and secretary. Anonymous (1920). John Bogart dead. Engineering News-Record 84(18): 887. P Anonymous (1925). John Bogart. Trans ASCE 88: 1346-1350. King, M. (1899). John Bogart: Civil engineer, consulting engineer Cataract Construction Co. Notable New Yorkers of 1896-1899: A companion volume to King’s Handbook of New York City: 412. Orr: New York. www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov P