Articles

It’s our Centennial Year!

It’s our Centennial Year! We’re “Honoring our Past, Celebrating our Present and Engineering our Future”

 As part of our ongoing efforts to celebrate our Centennial Year, each month we’ve been sharing little tidbits about our Branch’s (and our profession's) history and heritage, focusing on one decade at a time. This month we’re focusing on 1934-1943.

In the early 1930's up to WWII, Texas was in the Great Depression.  Many civil engineers were assigned to WPA projects in rural areas as roads, parks, and dams were constructed with available labor.  The electrification of many parts of rural areas of Texas required civil engineers to design transmission towers, switching yards, and survey ROW for transmission lines.  The oil boom in north and east Texas attracted many civil engineers and surveyors as mineral rights, wells, pipelines, and storage facilities had to be surveyed and designed.   The Texas Centennial Celebration in 1936 led to the construction of permanent facilities in Fair Park for the Texas State Fair.  The Texas Engineer's Practice Act was passed in 1936 leading to the distinction of "Professional Engineer".  This monumental effort was led in part by a Dallas civil engineer Grayson Gill. Denison Dam was designed and completed during this period by the Corps of Engineers.  In 1993, Denison Dam was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.  The Denison Dam embankment, completed in 1943 was the largest roller compacted embankment ever attempted.  Also, during this period the Houston Street Viaduct was completed and put into service.