John S. Eastwood
Encyclopedia
John S. Eastwood was an American
engineer
who built the world's first reinforced concrete multiple-arch dam on bedrock
foundation
at Hume Lake
, California
, in 1908. Mr. Eastwood's papers are held at the Water Resources Center Archives
, University of California, Berkeley
.
Born to Dutch
ancestry in 1857, Eastwood attended the University of Minnesota
as a civil engineering
student; prior to graduation in 1880 he headed west to work on railroad construction projects in the Pacific Northwest
. In 1883, he moved to Fresno, California
and established an office as civil engineer and surveyor. He became Fresno's first City Engineer in 1885, but apparently was not well suited for office–bureaucratic life and soon resigned. For the remainder of his career he focused on work within the private sector or as a consulting engineer.
Early in 1895, he became chief engineer of the San Joaquin Electric Company
, and was responsible for the design and construction of one of California's early hydroelectric plants
. As described by George Low in the April 1896 Journal of Electricity, Eastwood employed the nascent technology of long-distance alternating current
power transmission
in creating a hydroelectric power system for the Fresno area. Unfortunately, the financial capabilities of the company proved insufficient to meet the great cost of constructing the dam in the remote reaches of the mountains, and, as a result, Eastwood was forced to rely on an undammed, natural supply of water to drive the turbine
s and generators. It was this inability to impound and store runoff that led to the demise of the San Joaquin Electric Company in 1899 after a long drought dried up the North Fork of the San Joaquin River
and brought the company's power production to a standstill.
Shortly thereafter, Eastwood became engaged with the Pacific Light and Power Company as engineer in charge of designing a large hydroelectric project on the South Fork of the San Joaquin River. This has since become known as the Big Creek
Complex, presently operated by the Southern California Edison Company. The Pacific Light and Power Company was controlled by the famous financier and electric railroad magnate Henry Huntington. Eastwood had great hopes for the Big Creek project, and he planned it to include storage dams to ensure that a drought could not stop its power production.
Although Big Creek was for the most part designed prior to 1907, financial difficulties associated with the Panic of 1907
delayed Huntington's ability to initiate construction for several years. While designing the Big Creek project, Eastwood had devised an inexpensive type of reinforced concrete dam design which minimized the amount of material required and, consequently, reduced construction costs. In 1908, while waiting for work on Big Creek to begin, he designed and built the Hume Lake
Dam for the Hume-Bennett Lumber Company. This structure is located in the Sierra Nevada about forty-five miles south of Big Creek, and its completion in 1909 demonstrated the practicality of the multiple-arch design. Shortly thereafter, Eastwood received the contract for the design of a multiple-arch dam to supersede the 1884 Big Bear Valley Arch Dam near San Bernardino
in Southern California.
Eastwood envisaged the use of multiple-arch dams in the construction of the Big Creek project, but these hopes were dashed when, in November 1910, he was dismissed from all association with the project. Although he was awarded 5,400 shares of stock in the newly formed Pacific Light and Power Corporation (which was legally distinct from the earlier PL&P Company), this financial interest soon disappeared when in the summer of 1912 Huntington, as majority stockholder, assessed all owners of Pacific Light and Power Corporation stock $5 per share to help pay for the construction of Big Creek. Unable to pay the assessment ($27,000) on his stock, Eastwood was forced to relinquish his stake in the PL&P Corporation. Following this abrupt separation from the Big Creek project at the age of 53, Eastwood was left with only modest financial holdings and, as a means of survival, he began actively pursuing a career devoted to the design of multiple arch dams.
In the early 20th century, Salt Lake City regularly experienced severe water shortages in mid-winter and late summer. To alleviate this, bonds
were floated in 1914 to finance the construction of three storage dams, the largest being Mountain Dell Dam
in Parley's Canyon
, ten miles east of the city, that was built in two stages from 1914 to 1925.
Earlier, Eastwood had built four dams in California and his reputation as dam designer was growing. He had written several articles in Western Engineering describing his Big Bear Valley Dam, Los Verjeles Dam (in Yuba County, California
) and Kennedy Dam (in Jackson, California
), and had also published a four-page promotional "supplement" distribution with copies of the March 1915 Western Engineering.
Following the initial construction of Mountain Dell Dam, Eastwood continued his career in water resource development and dam design, becoming involved in projects in California, Idaho
, Arizona
, Mexico
, and British Columbia
.
He was not an armchair engineer, and he spent much of his life in the field working on practical problems of water control. He worked as a practicing engineer until the end of his life, when, in August 1924, at the age of 67, he drowned while swimming in the Kings River
east of Fresno.
The Eastwood powerhouse at Shaver Lake, California
was named after him. Built in 1987, the 200 MW pumped storage hydroelectric plant is located underground and was carved out of solid granite.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
who built the world's first reinforced concrete multiple-arch dam on bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
at Hume Lake
Hume Lake
Hume Lake is an artificial lake in the Sequoia National Forest of Fresno County, California, adjacent to the unincorporated community of Hume. It is on Tenmile Creek, which flows into the Kings River. The surface elevation of the lake is...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, in 1908. Mr. Eastwood's papers are held at the Water Resources Center Archives
Water Resources Center Archives
The Water Resources Center Archives on the UC Berkeley campus is a multi-campus research unit administered by Agriculture and Natural Resources , a division of the University of California Office of the President...
, University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
Born to Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
ancestry in 1857, Eastwood attended the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
as a civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
student; prior to graduation in 1880 he headed west to work on railroad construction projects in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
. In 1883, he moved to Fresno, California
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
and established an office as civil engineer and surveyor. He became Fresno's first City Engineer in 1885, but apparently was not well suited for office–bureaucratic life and soon resigned. For the remainder of his career he focused on work within the private sector or as a consulting engineer.
Early in 1895, he became chief engineer of the San Joaquin Electric Company
San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation
The San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation was a utility company that provided electricity to seven counties in the San Joaquin Valley of California. The company initially opened as the San Joaquin Electric Company on April 1, 1895 with a powerhouse 37 miles from Fresno...
, and was responsible for the design and construction of one of California's early hydroelectric plants
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
. As described by George Low in the April 1896 Journal of Electricity, Eastwood employed the nascent technology of long-distance alternating current
Alternating current
In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
power transmission
Power transmission
Power transmission is the movement of energy from its place of generation to a location where it is applied to performing useful work.Power is defined formally as units of energy per unit time...
in creating a hydroelectric power system for the Fresno area. Unfortunately, the financial capabilities of the company proved insufficient to meet the great cost of constructing the dam in the remote reaches of the mountains, and, as a result, Eastwood was forced to rely on an undammed, natural supply of water to drive the turbine
Turbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
s and generators. It was this inability to impound and store runoff that led to the demise of the San Joaquin Electric Company in 1899 after a long drought dried up the North Fork of the San Joaquin River
San Joaquin River
The San Joaquin River is the largest river of Central California in the United States. At over long, the river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through a rich agricultural region known as the San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean...
and brought the company's power production to a standstill.
Shortly thereafter, Eastwood became engaged with the Pacific Light and Power Company as engineer in charge of designing a large hydroelectric project on the South Fork of the San Joaquin River. This has since become known as the Big Creek
Big Creek
-In Canada:* Big Creek , a tributary of the Chilcotin River* Big Creek Provincial Park, a British Columbia Provincial Park* Big Creek, British Columbia, a locality and former post office in the Chilcotin District of British Columbia...
Complex, presently operated by the Southern California Edison Company. The Pacific Light and Power Company was controlled by the famous financier and electric railroad magnate Henry Huntington. Eastwood had great hopes for the Big Creek project, and he planned it to include storage dams to ensure that a drought could not stop its power production.
Although Big Creek was for the most part designed prior to 1907, financial difficulties associated with the Panic of 1907
Panic of 1907
The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic, was a financial crisis that occurred in the United States when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from its peak the previous year. Panic occurred, as this was during a time of economic recession, and there were numerous runs on...
delayed Huntington's ability to initiate construction for several years. While designing the Big Creek project, Eastwood had devised an inexpensive type of reinforced concrete dam design which minimized the amount of material required and, consequently, reduced construction costs. In 1908, while waiting for work on Big Creek to begin, he designed and built the Hume Lake
Hume Lake
Hume Lake is an artificial lake in the Sequoia National Forest of Fresno County, California, adjacent to the unincorporated community of Hume. It is on Tenmile Creek, which flows into the Kings River. The surface elevation of the lake is...
Dam for the Hume-Bennett Lumber Company. This structure is located in the Sierra Nevada about forty-five miles south of Big Creek, and its completion in 1909 demonstrated the practicality of the multiple-arch design. Shortly thereafter, Eastwood received the contract for the design of a multiple-arch dam to supersede the 1884 Big Bear Valley Arch Dam near San Bernardino
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...
in Southern California.
Eastwood envisaged the use of multiple-arch dams in the construction of the Big Creek project, but these hopes were dashed when, in November 1910, he was dismissed from all association with the project. Although he was awarded 5,400 shares of stock in the newly formed Pacific Light and Power Corporation (which was legally distinct from the earlier PL&P Company), this financial interest soon disappeared when in the summer of 1912 Huntington, as majority stockholder, assessed all owners of Pacific Light and Power Corporation stock $5 per share to help pay for the construction of Big Creek. Unable to pay the assessment ($27,000) on his stock, Eastwood was forced to relinquish his stake in the PL&P Corporation. Following this abrupt separation from the Big Creek project at the age of 53, Eastwood was left with only modest financial holdings and, as a means of survival, he began actively pursuing a career devoted to the design of multiple arch dams.
In the early 20th century, Salt Lake City regularly experienced severe water shortages in mid-winter and late summer. To alleviate this, bonds
Bond (finance)
In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...
were floated in 1914 to finance the construction of three storage dams, the largest being Mountain Dell Dam
Mountain Dell Dam
The Mountain Dell Dam provides a water equalizing and storage reservoir for Salt Lake City, Utah located east of the city in northeastern Salt Lake County, near Interstate 80 in Parley's Canyon....
in Parley's Canyon
Parley's Canyon
Parley's Canyon is a canyon located in the U.S. state of Utah. The canyon provides the route of Interstate 80 up the western slope of the Wasatch Mountains and is a relatively wide, straight canyon. The lower part of the canyon, however, is relatively twisty and had to be dynamited to make way for...
, ten miles east of the city, that was built in two stages from 1914 to 1925.
Earlier, Eastwood had built four dams in California and his reputation as dam designer was growing. He had written several articles in Western Engineering describing his Big Bear Valley Dam, Los Verjeles Dam (in Yuba County, California
Yuba County, California
Yuba County is a county located in the U.S. state of California's Central Valley, north of Sacramento, along the Feather River. As of the 2010 census, its population was 72,155. The county seat is Marysville. Yuba County is part of the Greater Sacramento area.-History:Yuba County was one of the...
) and Kennedy Dam (in Jackson, California
Jackson, California
Jackson is the county seat of Amador County, California. The population was 4,651 at the 2010 census, up from 3,989 at the 2000 census...
), and had also published a four-page promotional "supplement" distribution with copies of the March 1915 Western Engineering.
Following the initial construction of Mountain Dell Dam, Eastwood continued his career in water resource development and dam design, becoming involved in projects in California, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
He was not an armchair engineer, and he spent much of his life in the field working on practical problems of water control. He worked as a practicing engineer until the end of his life, when, in August 1924, at the age of 67, he drowned while swimming in the Kings River
Kings River (California)
The Kings River is a major river of south-central California. About long, it drains an area of the high western Sierra Nevada and the Central Valley. A large alluvial fan has formed where the river's gradient decreases in the Central Valley so the river divides into distributaries...
east of Fresno.
The Eastwood powerhouse at Shaver Lake, California
Shaver Lake, California
Shaver Lake is a census-designated place in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 634 at the 2010 census, down from 705 at the 2000 census. Shaver Lake is on the southeast end of the lake of the same name, northeast of New Auberry, at an elevation of 5627 feet . The name...
was named after him. Built in 1987, the 200 MW pumped storage hydroelectric plant is located underground and was carved out of solid granite.
External links
- Biography from the Water Resources Center Archives, University of California, Berkeley
- Historical Accounts of the Central Sierra
- Building the Ultimate Dam: John S. Eastwood and the Control of Water in the West, Donald C. Jackson, University Press of Kansas, 1996 ISBN 0-7006-0716-1