Collection Summary
Mermel, T. W.
T. W. Mermel papers
1926-1994 (bulk 1955-1980)
10525
18.45 cubic ft. (19 boxes)
University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.
English
Contains materials relating to the career of T.W. Mermel,
former civil engineer and Assistant to the Commissioner - Research for the Bureau of
Reclamation.
Biography of T. W. Mermel
Thaddeus "Ted" Walter Mermel (1907-2000) was a civil engineer for the Bureau of
Reclamation. He was born in Chicago and studied electrical engineering at the
University of Illinois, where he graduated in 1930. He began his career with the
Interstate Commerce Commission but transferred to the Bureau of Reclamation in 1933.
There he worked on major water projects in the United States from 1933 until 1973,
when he retired as Assistant to the Commissioner for Scientific Affairs. He was also
a consulting engineer for the Bureau and the World Bank during the 1970s and 1980s,
inspecting foreign governments' electric power projects. Some of these countries
included Syria, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. He was also active in professional
organizations such as the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the American
Society of Civil Engineers, CIGRE (International Council on Large Electric Systems),
the U.S. Committee on Large Dams (Executive Committee member), and the International
Committee on Large Dams (ICOLD) where he served as Chairman of the Committee on the
World Register on Dams and Dam Terminology. He was given the Distinguished Service
Award by Secretary Stewart Udall in 1965, the highest honor given by the Department
of the Interior.
Scope and Content
The T.W. Mermel papers contain subject files, studies, reports, research files,
photographs, and slides concerning dams and hydroelectric power in the United States
and abroad.
Access Restrictions
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the
collection is open to the public.
Copyright Information
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and
libel laws as they apply.
Related Materials
There is another archival collection created by T. W. Mermel at the University of
Illinois Archives.
Acquisition Information
This material was received from T. W. Mermel in 1997.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by Kathryn Brooks in March 2011.
Preferred Citation
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number,
American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Access Terms
Dams -- Design and construction.
Water-supply engineering.
Water-supply engineers.
Grand Coulee Dam (Wash.)
Hoover Dam (Ariz. and Nev.)
Photographs.
Engineers.
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Water and Water Rights
Politics, Government, and Law
Science, Technology and Health
Technology
Container List
Series I. Domestic work
Contains items created during the course of Mermel's work in the Bureau of
Reclamation, especially in regard to the Boulder Canyon Project and Grand
Coulee Dam Third Power Plant.
3
Annual Report of City of Los Angeles Department of Water &
Power & Light to the Federal Power Commission
1938 June 30
4
Annual Reports of Operations Under the Boulder Canyon Project
Adjustment Act
1949-1951
4
Annual Reports of Operations Under the Boulder Canyon Project
Adjustment Act
1944-1947
6
Arch dam information
1964-1965
1
Basic Magnesium and DPC
1942-1945
2
Boulder Canyon Annual Report
1946
2
Boulder Canyon Power Plant - Cost of Machinery and Equipment to
May 31, 1940 (binder)
1937-1941
2
Boulder Canyon Project - Adjustment Act - Findings
1940-1944
1
Boulder Canyon Project - Adjustment Act
1982
2
Boulder Canyon Project - Allocation of Cost of Machinery &
Equipment
1938-1939
4
Boulder Canyon Project - Allocation of Costs
1937-1975
2
Boulder Canyon Project - Allottees except City and Edison
Company
1939-1944
3
Boulder Canyon Project - City of Los Angeles
1936-1944
2
Boulder Canyon Project - Cost Estimate
1936-1939
1
Boulder Canyon Project - Energy Uses and Allocation of
Energy
1937-1945
4
Boulder Canyon Project - Estimates of Cost of Entire
Project
1936 June 4
1
Boulder Canyon Project - Financial Studies
1936-1949
1
Boulder Canyon Project - Generators
1933-1983
2
Boulder Canyon Project - operating costs (binder)
1940-1941
2
Boulder Canyon Project - Replacement Reserve Studies
1941
2
Boulder Canyon Project - technical drawings for
residences
1931
3
Boulder Canyon Project Annual Reports
1951-1953
1
Boulder Canyon Project correspondence
1981-1982
4
Boulder Canyon Project notes
1939-1940
1
Boulder Canyon Project studies & notes
1938-1943
1
Boulder Canyon Project
1938-1940
2
Boulder Power Plant - Summary: Power Contractors' Liability
Account
1938-1939
1
Brief of the California Hoover Dam Power Allottees Re: Rights of
Renewal of Hoover Dam Power Contracts
1981 September 10
6
Bureau of Reclamation misc.
1969-1973
4
Bureau of Reclamation suggestions, employee misc.
1958-1971
9
Bureau of Reclamation
1953-1977
3
Columbia Basin Project - Bonneville Bureau Relations
1940-1945
3
Columbia Basin Project - Financial Studies
1941-1946
3
Considerations Affecting Steam Power Plant Site
Selection
1968 December
13
Coulee - turbines
1965-1973
7
Criticism of Sacramento office of Bureau of
Reclamation
1953
7
Current Assignment - Objectives by Ellis Armstrong
1972 December 15
8
Dam failures
1963-1978
6
Dam manuscripts
1962, 1966
7
Dams - articles
1959-1969
6
Dams - interested agencies
1954-1967
7
Department of the Interior/Bureau of Reclamation orders &
memoranda
1941-1968
1
Depreciation Studies
1931-1944
2
Determination of Estimated Useful Life of Replaceable Items,
Boulder Canyon Project
1940
7
Early Planning Report
undated
1
Eighth Annual Report of Operations under the Boulder Canyon
Project Adjustment Act
1930 January
7
Electric Power Research & Development Center at Grand
Coulee
1968-1972
3
Financial Operation of Grand Coulee Power Plant & Irrigation
System
1937 April 6
3
Financial Studies Columbia Basin Project
1943 December 8
7
Floyd E. Dominy retirement
1969
2
General
1931-1943
9
General
1966-1971
7
Grand Coulee dam and safety
1966-1972
13
Grand Coulee Dam purchases
1956-1969
6
Grand Coulee Dam Third Power Plant - turbines &
generators/Bureau of Reclamation employee info.
1966-1970
5
Grand Coulee Dam Third Power Plant
1966-1973
3
Grand Coulee Dam/Columbia Basin Project plans
1942-1944
6
Grand Coulee Power Plant Third - turbine generators
1967-1973
7
H.V. - magnetic effects
1974-1984
13
High voltage - safety
1966-1977
1
Hoover Dam/hydropower misc. printed materials
1981-1982
4
Hoover
1937-1985
1
Hoover Dam news
1975-1983
7
Hydro-
1974-1978
6
Ideagram - pumper storage & hydroelectric power
1960-1961
3
Joint Report on Allocation & Payment of the Costs of the
Columbia Basin Project
1945 January 31
1
Memoranda & correspondence - Boulder Canyon Project, Boulder
Canyon Adjustment Act
1939-1941
7
National Program for Inspection of Dams
1972 August 31
13
Power plants - esthetic treatment
1968
9
Press releases
1965-1972
1
Pumped storage at Hoover
1966 August
7
Sharing rights-of-way
1968-1969
7
Small Hydro - Ellis Armstrong
1977-1978
6
Specific speed
1965-1968
3
Stability Studies - Slide Area - Grand Coulee Dam, Columbia Basin
Project
1943 August
7
State supervision of dams
1966
3
Statement of the Method of Integrating Operation of the Boulder
Power Plant Generators Leased by Bureau of Power &
Light
1940 August 15
1
States of Arizona and Nevada lawsuits
1982
3
Summary of Preliminary Economic Information - Columbia Basin
Project - Washington
1945 June
1
Summary Report to directors of the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation on Self-Liquidating Project
1933 January 26
2
Supplementary Data with Bid for 23,000 V. Bus Structures
Specification No. 703, Schedule No.1, Submitted by I-T-E Circuit Breaker
Company
1936 November 29
3
Supporting Details to Accompany Application to War Production
Board on Form WPB 2447 Covering Installation…at Grand Coulee
Dam…
1943 July
1
The Legal Position of the State of Nevada with Respect to the
Next Allotment of Power from Hoover Dam
1981 January 7
5
Turbines-Generators
1945-1969
4
Value of Boulder Energy vs. Steam - Third Circuit
Studies
1937-1938
1
Value of Falling Water
1939-1940
7
Washington Report
1966-1973
7
Water rheostat
1937
7
Water rheostats
1926-1937
4
Weinberg
1941-1986
2
Westinghouse Switchgear Data Book Vol. I:
Switchboards
1931-1936
6
Work for other agencies
1963-1965
Series II. International work
Contains materials pertaining to Mermel's work abroad, particularly in regard
to delegations between the U.S.S.R. and other Asian countries.
9
1949 trip to Egypt
1948-1949
9
1963 Cairo trip
1964-1972
9
Aswan High Dam misc.
1963-1972
9
Aswan High Dam
1963-1972
9
Aswan High Dam
1961-1972
9
Bucharest
1947-1963
10
China power materials
1944-1979
11
Correspondence - Poland
1962-1973
6
Correspondence - Sweden
1962-1967
14
Durance River Valley Hydroelectric Project
1959
9
Egypt - general information (tourist)
1964-1971
6
Foreign correspondence misc.
1971-1972
10
India's Large Dam Projects - synopsis
circa 1963
10
International correspondence, photos, technical
drawings
1951-1954, undated
10
Pakistan - Assessment of Kalabagh Dam Project (Mission
Report)
circa 1981
13
Program & Itinerary Economic Commission for Asia & the
Far East
1956 August 14
8
Review of Design and Construction of the SADD-EL-AALI (Aswan High
Dam) - United Arab Republic (Egypt)
1966
9
Switzerland - correspondence
1964-1967
10
Technical drawings - Canada
undated
9
Thailand Electric power meeting & correspondence
1966-1972
8
The Dam on the River Lučina at Žermanice
1950
10
Tokyo
1984 May-June
12
U.S.S.R.-U.S. collaborative engineering materials
1955-1974
10
USBR-Spain engineering cooperation
1971-1972
10
Visit of American dam experts to Czech republic
1965
Series III. Professional activities
The items in this series correspond to Mermel's professional work as a member
and chairman of various organizations and committees, as well as scholarly
writing and publications pertinent to his field.
9
Articles & editorials written by Mermel
1966-1976
8
Book: Pumped Storage - Engineering Foundation Conference (chaired
by Mermel and Ellis Armstrong)
1975
8
Book: Register of Dams in the United States (prepared by
Mermel)
1958
8
Catalog of Dam Disasters, Failures, and Accidents (compiled by
A.O. Babb & Mermel)
1968
11
Chicago - Nov. 16-19 - Small Hydro - 1980
1978-1980
9
Compendium of the world's most imp. dams
1971-1973
14
Correspondence - Committee on the World Register of
Dams
1975-1984
14
Correspondence - ICOLD - Technical Committee on the Dictionary,
the Glossary, and the World Register of Dams
1974-1980
14
Correspondence - ICOLD/USCOLD general
1967-1990
14
Correspondence - USCOLD - Committee on Maintenance, Operation,
& Public Safety
1977-1980
13
Dam studies
1976
11
Dams - safety
1965-1975
13
Dams inventory 1974-
1983
11
DAMS Other than Bureau 1967 -
1963-1972
13
"Development of Large Power Generating Machinery" by
Mermel
1971
13
Electrical Energy, Total Energy, & National Income: Their
Growth & Interrelationship throughout the world from 1955-1960 by
Fremont Felix
1963
7
Escalator clauses & competitive bidding article &
correspondence
1953-1954
10
ICOLD - Athens
1973-1974
8
ICOLD - Dam Terminology
1970
8
ICOLD - Dam Terminology, Supplement to World Register of
Dams
1968
10
ICOLD - Madrid, Spain
1973 June 6-16
11
ICOLD - Poland
1968-1970
11
ICOLD - Salzburg - WEC - Istanbul
1977
14
ICOLD - Stockholm
1981
14
ICOLD Glossary on Dams, Final Draft
1977 March
14
ICOLD India Nov. '79 Trip Finance Records
1979
14
ICOLD Metric Practice Guide - T.W. Mermel, Chairman
1971
13
ICOLD World Register of Dams, First Updating
1974 December 31
13
ICOLD World Register of Dams, Second Updating
1977 December 31
6
Index of dams
1947-1972
11
India - 1979
1979
8
International Water Power & Dam Construction (with article by
Mermel)
1989 July
11
Iran - 1975 - Oct. - ICOLD
1975
13
Letter by Mermel in Electric Light & Power
1983 June
13
"Major dams of the world - 1984" by Mermel in International Power
& Dam Construction
1984 June
14
"Major dams of the world" by Mermel in International Water Power
& Dam Construction
1981 May
10
Mexico - Congress - ICOLD - 1976
1975-1976
7
N.S.F. (National Science Foundation)
1975
13
"New World Register of Dams Reveals Trends" by
Mermel
circa 1971
13
Nomination of B.P. Bellport for membership in the Academy of
Engineering
1965-1967
13
Paper presented before the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers - Hydraulic Oldtimers Dinner
1966 November 30
3
Pump Storage Conference
1969-1974
8
Rapid Exc. Conference
1974 June 24-27,
9
Register of Dams
1958
14
Register of Tailings Dams & Industrial Waste
Embankments
1981
11
Safety of Dams - Conference
1963-1973
10
So. Africa - USCOLD
1978
8
Summary of Supervision of Dams by State Authorities
(Mermel)
1966 May
8
Supervision of Dams by State Authorities (Mermel,
chairman)
1966 July
13
Symposium & workshop on the Effects of Low-Frequency Magnetic
& Electric Fields on Biological Communications Process & 6th
Annual Meeting of the Neuroelectric Society
1973
8
The Engineers' Bulletin (with article by Mermel)
1937 August
19
The Transactions of the Tenth International Congress on Large
Dams
1970 June 1-5
13
"Twenty-five of the World's Highest Dams, Largest Earth &
Rock Dams, Greatest Man-Made Lakes, Largest Hydroelectric Plants" by
Mermel
1964 October
8
U.S. National Committee/Tunneling Tech, Oslo, Norway
1973 May 29-30
7
University of Illinois presentation
1965
13
WEC
1972 November
14
"World's Highest and Largest Dams" by Mermel from Civil
Engineering - ASCE
1970 July
14
"World's Major Dams" by Mermel in International Water Power &
Dam Construction
1979 November
13
World Register of Dams - Final Report by Subcommittee with
Recommendations
1940-1968
13
World Register of Dams correspondence: Columbia, Portugal,
Rhodesia
1973
13
World Register of Dams correspondence: Iran, Turkey
1973
7
World Register of Dams
1968-1976
Series IV. Personal
Contains correspondence, notes, and other personal materials collected by
Mermel.
14
Address books
undated
14
Argentine dams postcards
1994 (received)
19
Artifact - Hoover Dam transmission line cable, Hoover to LA,
287.5Kv
1936
13
Artifact
undated
13
Correspondence - general
1951-1985
6
Correspondence
1967-1981
14
Dam reference correspondence
1963-1978
3
Engineering Foundation Certificate of Appreciation
1971 August
8
Maps foreign
1958-1969
14
Maps: U.S., world, U.S. dams
1989, undated
7
Misc. correspondence
1942-1978
7
Miscellaneous
1955-1962
7
Notebooks of travels abroad
1960-1972
9
Notes to outside
1971-1984
1
Notes
circa 1981-1983
7
Personal - biographical & awards
1963-1972
18
Visitor cards
undated
14
Youth book
1971-1979
Series V. Photographs and images
This series contains a variety of photographs, slides, negatives, and other
images used by Mermel in his research for various purposes.
18
ASCE - general - 1970
1970
17
Binder - National Geographic slides
circa 1970
17
Binder - slides of U.S.S.R. hydropower
circa 1969
15
Binder - slides
undated
8
Boulder Dam photos
1934-1936
15
Exit of H.V. lines from Kuroke #4 Japan underground
plant
undated
17
Extra copies of material December 1 meeting - slides
1972
18
Finland & Austria
1968
6
Grand Coulee Dam Third Power Plant photos
1971-1972
17
Harza Engineering Company photos - power plant
interiors
1968 May
14
Images - material studies
undated
18
Italy
1953-1968
18
Japanese
1968
18
Manual releases
1968 April
16
Misc. photos of domestic and international dams
circa 1968-1973, undated
17
Misc. slides
1961-1968
15
Misc. U.S.S. R. photos
undated
15
Photo album - Economic Commission for Asia & the Far East
(ECAFE) Electric Power Study Group
1956 September
17
Photo album - interior shots of USBR and international power
plants (3 binders, 1 folder)
circa 1968-1970
15
Photo album - U.S.S.R. engineers delegation to
California
1964 June
15
Photo album - U.S.S.R. High-Voltage Electric Power Transmission
Exchange Delegation
1972
15
Photo album - U.S.S.R. power plants (2)
undated
15
Photo album - USBR delegation to U.S.S.R.
1962
15
Photo album - USBR employees
circa 1969-1970
15
Photo album - USBR employees
circa 1953-1969
18
Photos of dams with correspondence
1968
18
Photos of international dams 1-50
undated
18
Photos, negatives, & slides (2)
undated
15
Power plant photos
undated
17
Power plant photos
1968
15
Roster of Regional & Project Engineers Attending Conference
for Construction Engineers
1950 February 6-10
17
Slides - ICOLD Edinburgh, U.S.S.R., Spain, USBR dams, WEC
Bucharest, Furnas Brazilia
1964-1972
17
Swiss dam photos
1968
18
Technical drawings - French dams
undated
13
Turbine photo & note
1968 July
18
Turkish dams
1955
15
U.S.S.R. engineers tour USBR Engineering and Research
Center
1970 April 1
17
U.S.S.R. turbine photos
1966
19
USBR personnel photos
1946-1976