Nils F. Ambursen (February 6, 1876 – January 17, 1953) was a Norwegian-American civil engineer and inventor. He was the founder of Ambursen Hydraulic Construction Company and was known for his influential dam designs in the early 20th century.[1]
Working for the B. F. Sturtevant Company in Hyde Park, Boston, Massachusetts, in 1903, Ambursen developed an innovative concrete slab and buttress dam for an industrial client in Theresa, New York.[3][4] Ambursen's design was for a buttress dam requiring minimal buttress thickness in which the upstream part is a relatively thin flat slab typically made of reinforced concrete. Ambursen's concrete-slab-and-buttress design used far less material than a traditional gravity dam making it both a significant engineering advance and cost effective for clients.[5]
Ambursen promptly filed a patent on his own behalf and organized the Ambursen Hydraulic Construction Company, based in Boston. From 1903 through 1917, the company used the technique to construct more than one hundred dams in North America, most in New England. The record-breaking 41-meter-tall (135-foot) La Prele Dam in Converse County, Wyoming used 43 percent less concrete than an equivalent concrete gravity dam. [6] The structure allowed an interior hollow under the spillway; the 1907 Bloede's Dam on the Patapsco River in Maryland housed its hydroelectric power plant inside that hollow and therefore "under water". The company sued to preserve its patents fairly aggressively but with mixed success.[7] In some cases, the Ambursen dam became a more generic "Ambursen type", for instance at the 1911 Lock and Dam No. 1 on the Upper Mississippi River between Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. Civil engineer George Freeman received his own November 1912 patent on a modified version of the concrete buttress dam used there.[8]
In 1917, Ambursen left his company, which has continued to bear his name for over a hundred years.[9] Today perhaps fifty Ambursen-type dams from the post-World War II era stand outside the United States. The tallest example, 83 meters (272 ft), is the 1948 Escaba Dam (Dique Escaba) in Tucumán, Argentina.[10]
Lyon, William K.; George W Petersen (1921) Comparative designs of Gravity and Ambursen dams (Armour Institute of Technology) ISBN978-1175660305
Hager, Willi H. (2015) Hydraulicians in the USA 1800-2000: A biographical dictionary of leaders in hydraulic engineering and fluid mechanics (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press) ISBN9781315680125
January 01, 1970
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Nils F Ambursen February 6 1876 January 17 1953 was a Norwegian American civil engineer and inventor He was the founder of Ambursen Hydraulic Construction Company and was known for his influential dam designs in the early 20th century 1 River Mill Dam Estacada Oregon constructed in 1911 Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career 3 Work 4 See also 5 References 6 External links 7 Related readingEarly life and education editAmbursen was born at Fredrikstad in Ostfold Norway and was educated at the Telemark Civil Engineering College Telemark ingeniorhogskolein in Skien Telemark Ambursen came to the United States by the age of 21 2 Career editWorking for the B F Sturtevant Company in Hyde Park Boston Massachusetts in 1903 Ambursen developed an innovative concrete slab and buttress dam for an industrial client in Theresa New York 3 4 Ambursen s design was for a buttress dam requiring minimal buttress thickness in which the upstream part is a relatively thin flat slab typically made of reinforced concrete Ambursen s concrete slab and buttress design used far less material than a traditional gravity dam making it both a significant engineering advance and cost effective for clients 5 Ambursen promptly filed a patent on his own behalf and organized the Ambursen Hydraulic Construction Company based in Boston From 1903 through 1917 the company used the technique to construct more than one hundred dams in North America most in New England The record breaking 41 meter tall 135 foot La Prele Dam in Converse County Wyoming used 43 percent less concrete than an equivalent concrete gravity dam 6 The structure allowed an interior hollow under the spillway the 1907 Bloede s Dam on the Patapsco River in Maryland housed its hydroelectric power plant inside that hollow and therefore under water The company sued to preserve its patents fairly aggressively but with mixed success 7 In some cases the Ambursen dam became a more generic Ambursen type for instance at the 1911 Lock and Dam No 1 on the Upper Mississippi River between Minneapolis and Saint Paul Minnesota Civil engineer George Freeman received his own November 1912 patent on a modified version of the concrete buttress dam used there 8 In 1917 Ambursen left his company which has continued to bear his name for over a hundred years 9 Today perhaps fifty Ambursen type dams from the post World War II era stand outside the United States The tallest example 83 meters 272 ft is the 1948 Escaba Dam Dique Escaba in Tucuman Argentina 10 Work edit nbsp Warrior Ridge Dam Huntingdon County Pennsylvania constructed in 1906 Ambursen s designs include all dams listed located in the United States Warrior Ridge Dam 1906 in Huntingdon County Pennsylvania the focus of widespread attention in the engineering press 11 Ellsworth Dam 1907 in Ellsworth Maine 12 Bloede s Dam 1907 in Ilchester Maryland 13 Ashley Dam 1907 1908 undermined 1909 on the Housatonic River near Pittsfield Massachusetts 14 La Prele Dam 1908 1909 refurbished in 1977 near Douglas Wyoming Rapidan Dam 1908 1910 on the Blue Earth River Rapidan Township Minnesota 15 River Mill Dam 1911 in Estacada Oregon on the National Register of Historic Places 16 Powersite Dam 1911 1913 in Forsyth Missouri 17 Overholser Dam 1917 1918 in Oklahoma City Oklahoma on the National Register of Historic Places 18 Remmel Dam 1924 impounding Lake Catherine Jones Mill Arkansas on the National Register of Historic Places 19 Stony Gorge Dam 1926 1928 in Glenn County California 20 See also edit nbsp Biography portal nbsp Engineering portal List of civil engineers List of inventors List of Norwegians List of people from BostonReferences edit Key Developments in the History of Buttress Dams Flat Slab Buttress simscience org Archived from the original on June 3 2008 Retrieved March 1 2016 Telemark ingeniorhogskole Norsk samfunnsvitenskapelig datatjeneste AS Retrieved March 1 2016 B F Sturtevant History Sturtevant Division of Westinghouse Retrieved August 1 2017 River Mill Dam National Register of Historic Places Ambursen buttress dam United States Society on Dams Retrieved March 1 2016 La Prele Dam La Prele Dam Reinforced Concrete Construction Jackson Donald Conrad Building the Ultimate Dam John S Eastwood and the Control of Water in the West p 295 Mississippi River 9 Foot Channel Library of Congress Ambursen Company nycompaniesindex Escaba Archived May 10 2019 at the Wayback Machine Organismo Regulador de Seguridad de Presas Ridge Dam Spanning Frankstown Branch of Juniata River Petersburg Huntingdon County PA Historic American Buildings Survey Jackson Donald C Great American Bridges and Dams p 88 Bloede Dam Archived September 6 2012 at the Wayback Machine State of Maryland Fisheries Engineering News Record Volume 62 April 1 1909 p 345 Blue Earth County Minnesota Blue Earth County Historical Society p 86 River Mill Hydroelectric Project PDF National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Retrieved August 1 2017 Kathleen VanBuskirk June 10 1984 Powersite Dam White River Valley Historical Quarterly Retrieved August 1 2017 Lake Qverholser Dam National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Remmel Dam on the Ouachita River at Jones Mills Hot Spring County AR National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Stony Gorge Dam structurae net Retrieved August 1 2017 External links editIntroduction to Buttress Dams Nils F Ambursen at Find a GraveRelated reading editLyon William K George W Petersen 1921 Comparative designs of Gravity and Ambursen dams Armour Institute of Technology ISBN 978 1175660305 Hager Willi H 2015 Hydraulicians in the USA 1800 2000 A biographical dictionary of leaders in hydraulic engineering and fluid mechanics Boca Raton FL CRC Press ISBN 9781315680125 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Nils F Ambursen amp oldid 1196528824, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
