ABSTRACT
CARTER 25.07. 1916 Union County LA/USA 07.11. 2011 Fairfax VA/USA Rolland William Carter was employed from 1941 by the Surface Water Branch of the US Geological Survey at Alabama GA. In the mid 1950s, he was there the chief of the research station. Later, Carter was a staff member of the US Department of Interior, Washington DC. Around 1970 he was the vice-president of the Commission of Surface Water, of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences IAHS. He was awarded the 1956 and the 1960 Norman Medals from the American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE for papers written with his colleague Carl E. Kindsvater (1913-2002). Carter authored a number of papers in hydraulics and hydrology. His researches in collaboration with Kindsvater became important. The 1955 paper describes bridge hydraulics for subcritical approach flow. Various parameters were considered, namely the contraction rate, channel shape, pier corner rounding, Froude number, angularity and guide walls, among others. The approach is currently outdated but guided engineers in questions relating to flood defence for decades. Another paper relates to discharge measurement using thin-plate weirs. After detailed experimentation from the 1890’s, Kindsvater and Carter’s approach accounts for additional parameters including scale effects due to viscosity and surface tension. Following Theodor Rehbock (1864-1950), these were expressed with substitute lengths adjusting both weir width and overflow height. The resulting discharge equation was also used for decades. Anonymous (1956). Rolland W. Carter. Civil Engineering 26(10): 687. P Anonymous (1960). Rolland W. Carter. Civil Engineering 30(10): 88. P Anonymous (1972). Rolland Carter. Eos 53(12): 1152. P Benson, M.A., Carter, R.W. (1973). A national study of the streamflow data-collection program. US Government Printing Office: Washington DC. Carter, R.W. (1973). Accuracy of current meter measurement. IAHS Publication 99. IAHS Press: Wallingford UK. Kindsvater, C.E., Carter, R.W., Tracy, H.J. (1953). Computation of peak discharge at contractions. Circular 284. US Geological Survey: Washington DC. Kindsvater, C.E., Carter, R.W. (1955). Tranquil flow through open-channel constrictions. Trans. ASCE 120: 955-980; 120: 991-992. Kindsvater, C.E., Carter, R.W. (1959). Discharge characteristics of rectangular thin-plate weirs. Trans. ASCE 124: 772-801; 124: 818-822.
