David W. Eckhoff, P.E., has forty years of experience in engineering. His focus has been on government projects, consulting engineering practice, teaching, and research. His early experience involved both geotechnical and structural aspects of highway and pavement systems for Caltrans. Subsequently, he focused on environmental issues, working on research associated with water quality and wastewater reclamation. One of the highlights of Eckhoff's career was his selection as Project Director of the Salt Lake County 208 Water Quality Management Project by the Salt Lake County Council of Governments. This $1-million project resulted in the regionalization of wastewater treatment plants for the Salt Lake Valley, proposed ultimately to involve nearly $300-million worth of construction.
In 1971, Eckhoff joined the faculty of the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Utah where he served as the head of the Environmental Engineering Division until 1973 when he was appointed Chairman of the Department. His independent research and work with graduate students expanded to include a wide spectrum of engineering projects, such as the Utah Lake-Jordan River Water Quality Study and the Wasatch Canyons Land Use Impacts on Water Quality Studies.
Eckhoff was appointed by the Governor in 1980 to serve on the Utah Drinking Water Board, setting policies and standards for public water supply systems throughout the State. He served on this Board for fifteen years. Eckhoff's engineering firm, Eckhoff, Watson, and Preator Engineering, was awarded design responsiblity for the Salt Lake Olympics Winter Sports Park. Eckhoff joined PSOMAS in 1997 as Vice President and Regional Manager and was responsible for developing the Utah Office. Eckhoff provided valuable engineering insight to the Envision Utah program that was assembled by Utah's Governor. He served on the Quality Growth Efficiency Team (QGET) which made valuable recommendations to the development of growth for the State. He was recognized for his efforts on the QGET team and, in 1999, he received a Common Good Award from Governor Leavitt for this work. An outgrowth of this process was his development of the Municipal Infrastructure Planning and Cost Model (MIPCOM), which facilitates the inclusion of infrastructure costs in community planning efforts.
Eckhoff received his Bachelor of Science Degree with Honors from California State University at Sacramento in Civil Engineering (1964), and his Master of Science (1964) and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees (1969) from the University of California at Berkeley in Hydraulic and Sanitary Engineering. He is affiliated with the American Society of Civil Engineers, is the Past President of the Utah Section of the American Water Resources Association. Eckhoff serves as a member of the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Trustees and Chairman of the University of Utah's Civil Engineering Department Advisory Board. In 1991, he was named Engineer of the Year by the Utah Engineers Council. Since 2018, he has been Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Utah. (Source: 2002 Marriott Library Gould Lecture Series)
The David W. Eckhoff photograph collection consists of 2 boxes containing 1,945 color photographs, slides, and negatives documenting Eckhoff's career as a civil engineer. Box 1 contains 857 images of various Utah water projects, mainly the West Desert Pumping Project. The West Desert Pumping Project was created to control flooding on the Great Salt Lake and enhance the lake's natural evaporation project; it began in 1987 and ended in 1989.
Box 2 contains 1,097 items and continues the documentation of the West Desert Pumping Project. It also contains images related to Eckhoff, Watson, and Preator Engineering firm's work on constructing the Winter Sports Park for the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics, particularly the bobsled/luge track. This project entailed conducting environmental studies on the proposed site for the sports park and traveling to various cities that had previously hosted Winter Olympics to study their facilities, work that is documented in this collection.
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Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the David W. Eckhoff photograph collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator.
Donated by Dr. David Eckhoff in 2006.
Processed by Special Collections staff.
See also the
This collection forms part of the Utah Ski and Snowboard Archive, which is part of the S.J. Quinney Outdoor Recreation Archive