John L. Savage

John Lucian Savage (December 25, 1879 – December 28, 1967) was an American civil engineer. Among the 60 major dams he supervised the designs for, he is best known for Hoover Dam, Shasta Dam, Parker Dam and Grand Coulee Dam in the United States along with surveying for the future Three Gorges Dam in China. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the recipient of numerous awards including the John Fritz Medal.

Biography

Early life

John L. Savage was born on December 25, 1879, in Cooksville, Wisconsin, to Edwin Parker and Mary Therese (Stebbins) Savage. Raised on a farm, Savage was involved in numerous chores and labor while attending grade school. Interestingly, the Savage House was not far from the historic sawmill that village founder John Cook built in 1842 on the Badfish Creek outside of Cooksville. His mother's father also built a nearby watermill. Savage later attended the Hillside Home School near Spring Green, Wisconsin (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1887) after he earned tuition and board for two years. Savage graduated from Madison High School, then attended the University of Wisconsin. During the summer of his freshmen year he helped work on the Geological Survey of Wisconsin. During the summers of his sophomore and junior years, he conducted surveying with the United States Geological Survey. Savage graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1903 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering.

Official overseas consulting

While with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Savage became a renowned expert on dams and civil engineering; he consulted in 19 countries on hundreds of projects. In 1938, the Government of New South Wales asked Savage to consult on the Burrinjuck Dam in Australia after fears that the dam wall was unstable. Initially, Savage was not allowed to go because of a U.S. law forbidding federal employees from accepting money from foreign powers. Savage refused any payments and offered his services anyway, writing his superiors: "Any assistance will be gratis and I shall not accept any reimbursement for expenses. An overdue vacation will be sufficient gratuity." and Warragamba Dams. Savage consulted on several dams in Afghanistan for the purpose of irrigation.

In 1944, the Chairman of the Nationalist Government of China, Chiang Kai-shek invited Savage to China, where he surveyed and designed his "dream dam". At the time, the project was known as the Yangtze Gorge Project and would help irrigate of land and control the Yangtze River, which was prone to deadly floods. When Savage returned, he published his report titled "Yangtze Gorge and Tributary Project" in which he stated in the preface: "The Yangtze Gorge Project is a 'CLASSIC'." He also stated that it would bring employment and a higher standard of living in China. On June 3, 1946, the first of the dams he suggested, the Upper Tsing Yuan Tung, began but was halted on August 15, 1947, because of the Chinese Civil War. His dream, would be a reality almost 60 years later; standing as the Three Gorges Dam, one of the largest dams and supplying the largest power plant in the world. National Academy of Sciences Election, 1949 Washington Award, 1949 U.S. Department of Interior Gold Medal Award, 1950 Reclamation Hall of Fame, May 1950 Popular Mechanics Hall of Fame, 1952 "Order of Ching Hsin" (China), 1952