Lopez, Manuel (Manny), Oral History Interview
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ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS Manuel (Manny) Lopez Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë STATUS OF INTERVIEWS: OPEN FOR RESEARCH Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Interviews Conducted and Edited by: Brit Allan Storey Senior Historian Bureau of Reclamation Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Interviews conducted–1995 and 1996 Edited and published–2006-2008 Oral History Program Bureau of Reclamation Denver, Colorado SUGGESTED CITATION: LOPEZ, MANUEL (MANNY), ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW. Transcript of tape- recorded Bureau of Reclamation Oral History Interviews conducted by Brit Allan Story, Senior Historian, Bureau of Reclamation, in 1995 and 1996, in Jefferson County, Colorado. Edited by Brit Allan Storey. Repository for the record copy of the interview transcript is the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland. Record copies of this transcript are printed on 20 lb., 100% cotton, archival quality paper. All other copies are printed on normal duplicating paper. i Table of Contents Table of Contents............................ i Statement of Donation ...................... xix Brief Chronology .......................... xxi Introduction ............................. xxiii Oral History Transcripts.......................1 Born in Tampa, Florida..................1 Master's Degree in Civil Engineering.......2 Worked in the Mechanical Branch at Reclamation ....................2 I "gravitated towards structural analysis just simply because for me it was more interesting. ." ..................2 "But, you know, what your degree is in isn't quite as important as what you are interested in and what your capabilities are. ."........................3 Born January 6, 1923 ...................3 Left U.S. Army in 1944 Due to Asthma .....3 Became a Clerk at the Bureau of Reclamation's Mechanical Branch in Denver ......3 "I would ask questions, what they were doing, and eventually they began giving me little jobs to do that required a small amount of knowledge in mathematics . So that's when I started going into engineering. ." .................4 Started to Train as an Accountant ..........4 Working at the Office of Price Administration ..............................5 Oral history of Manuel (Manny) Lopez III ii In Colorado His Asthma Didn't Bother Him . 5 Sent to Spain for Two Years to Try to Get Over Asthma........................ 6 Researched Areas Where Asthma Would Not Bother Him.....................6 Worked for Harold Sheda, Assistant Chief of the Mechanical Branch .............. 7 ". an excellent writer, which is unusual in engineers. .".................. 7 Became an Engineering Aide after about Three Years ......................... 8 Graduated June of 1951 in Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado ........ 8 How the Degree Program Worked at Cu in Those Days..................... 8 Took Night Classes from 1944 to 1950 ..... 9 Worked Part Time at the Blue Parrot Restaurant in Denver While Taking 20 Hours in Engineering at CU.............. 10 Duties as a Clerk in the Mechanical Branch 11 "Skip" Noonan Was Appointed Project Production Control Officer ....... 11 "One reason I never had any problem in seeing how important school was was because frequently I would learn something one night, and the next day I could apply it. ."........................... 13 "Once I started engineering, I knew that was my field. ."..................... 13 Graduated as the Top Boy in His High School Class......................... 14 ". nobody in my particular circumstance was going to college. ."............ 14 ". I never knew that I was able to, you know, translate the abilities I had into something like engineering. ." . 14 Bureau of Reclamation History Program iii ". there's a great deal of satisfaction in designing something that performs a useful function and performs it well. ." .............................15 Did a Tour of Duty at Hungry Horse During Construction...................15 High School Population in Tampa ........15 Went to Work in Miami for the Office of War Censorship ....................16 Censored Mail Going to and from South America.......................17 Simón Ituri Patiño Was Trying to Get Tin to the Axis..........................18 Served in the Infantry in the U.S. Army....22 Asthma Attacks in the Army ............22 Took the Train to Colorado .............23 Took the Trolley to Work in Denver ......26 Reclamation Moves into the Golden Eagle Dry Goods Store Building and Then to the Federal Center..................26 Carpooled to the Federal Center ..........28 Effects on Reclamation at the End of the War .............................29 Two Very Serious Reductions in Force (RIFs) .............................29 "It was a very, very bad time for the Bureau. ." .............................30 "I went over to Coors and got a job as an engineer . ."...................30 Recruited Back by Reclamation to Work on the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge ........31 ". morale just went to rock bottom. ." . 32 Grades and Pay at Reclamation ..........33 Working as an Engineering Aide at Reclamation .............................35 Chose to Work in Large Gate Design......36 Oral history of Manuel (Manny) Lopez III iv Issues related to Downpull on Gates...... 37 How the Mechanical Branch Was Set Up . 39 "Everybody in a section really was a specialist. That's a strength and that's also a weakness. ."................. 39 Issues about Design of Projects .......... 39 "I think it was one of the reasons why we had a failure on Teton Dam, because each of these specialists were cutting the margin for error, or the safety factor, very, very thin in their own particular specialty. ." ............................. 40 "It makes them into very, very narrow specialists. It was one of the reasons why I ultimately left the Mechanical Branch. ."................... 41 Warren Kohler....................... 44 Becomes a Draftsman ................. 47 Spillway Gate Issues Were Different than High Head Gate Issues............... 51 Changes in Gates While Working for the Mechanical Branch ............. 52 Became Lead Gate Designer ............ 53 Twin Buttes Dam..................... 53 Supervised Installation of a Gate......... 54 Inspection of Fabrication of Gates........ 56 Rebuilding a Gate .................... 58 How the Design Process Developed ...... 59 How the Drawings Developed........... 60 Specifications Branch ................. 62 Checking Specifications ............... 62 Specifications Branch Initial Evaluation of Bids ............................. 63 Evaluating the Technical Competence of Bidders ............................. 64 Rebuilding a Gate in the Field........... 65 Bureau of Reclamation History Program v Gates Were Accepted by the Chief Engineer on the Recommendation of the Mechanical Branch........................66 Construction Field Engineering and Inspection at Hungry Horse ..................68 It Was an Experiment to Send Design Engineers to Hungry Horse for Field Work ...69 Looking at a Gate in the Construction Yard . 70 Reclamation's Engineering Attitude .......72 Work at Hungry Horse in 1952 ..........73 Surveying the Side of the Canyon to Determine the Quantity of Rock Removed ....73 "All construction contracts then, and I suppose even today, are slanted. The contractor actually attempts to outguess the designer. ." ..................75 ". its kind of a big guessing game between the contractors and the designers as to how much work there is to be done in any one area . ." ......................75 Checks and Balances in Surveying for Materials Removed......................76 ". the government, I think more than any other owner, is in a position where he has to be scrupulously honest. The government is in a peculiar position in that it wants to get its full value for the dollar. ." . 76 Inspecting Ring Gate Forms.............77 "The thing that I have always enjoyed doing is designing indeterminate structures . ." .............................83 Enjoyed Working on the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge........................85 Bill Nalder Recruited Him to Return and Work on the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge ...85 Work at Coors........................86 Oral history of Manuel (Manny) Lopez III vi Coors Mixed Spent Grains with Molasses to Create Cattle Food .............. 86 Didn't Have Much Design Freedom at Coors ............................. 87 "At the Bureau I felt that I had more interesting design, and it was more difficult design, and I've always enjoyed that. ." . 88 Issues in Design of Glen Canyon Dam Bridge ............................. 88 Issues with the Spillway Tunnels ......... 88 Issues with Finishing Outlet Tunnels and Cavitation at Glen Canyon Dam . 89 Designed the Radial Gates for the Spillway at Glen Canyon Dam .............. 89 Glen Canyon Dam Bridge Was Unique as the Highest Arch Bridge Ever Built.... 90 Dealing with Vibration in the Completed Bridge ............................. 90 Bob Sailer, Chief, Bridge Section........ 92 Harvey Olander was "the best practical mathematician I have ever known. ." ............................. 92 Moved to the Mechanical Branch to Design the Radial Gates for Glen Canyon Dam 95 ". as far as the radial gates were concerned, you designed a radial gate and then you put in three of them . ." ......... 97 Why You Couldn't Take a Gate from Another Job and Drop It into a New Dam . 98 Stayed in the Mechanical Branch until 1966 Working on Various Designs...... 99 In 1966 Given a One Year Assignment to the Office of Saline Water in Washington, D.C. ........................ 100 "The Office of Saline Water was a spinoff from the Bureau of Reclamation . ." . 100 Bureau of Reclamation