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OCR for page 317
J. GEORGE THON
1 908-1 988
BY E D GAR ~ . GARBARI N I
,} . GEORGE THON, designer and constructor of major wa-
ter, power, tunnel, and transit systems around the world,
died on September 6, 198S, at the age of seventy-nine.
Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in April
1975, George was a dedicated professional known for his
technical expertise and his willingness to contribute his
time and effort to the improvement of engineering prac-
tices, both in the companies he worked for and in the
larger technical community.
During his career, which stretched over five decades, George
worked on more than 20 hydroelectric power plants, 33
dams of many types, I] pumping plants, and Il0 miles of
tunnels. More than 8,000 megawatts of hydroelectric gen-
erating capacity plus the design and construction of mass
transit systems from London to San Francisco were influenced
by his design skills and management expertise.
George received his B.S. from the University of Lwow,
Poland, in 1932 and his diploma in civil engineering from
the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London,
in 1939. Two years later he earned his M.S. from the Uni-
versity of London.
By that time, the world was embroiled in the second of
its great wars, and George immediately set about contributing
to the allies' war effort. As a design engineer with Sir
317
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318
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
William Halcrow and Partners Consulting Engineers, Great
Britain, he served as a consulting engineer on the Mulberry
Artificial Harbor, used for the invasion of France. During
his years with Halcrow, he also worked on extensions of
the London subway and numerous hydroelectric projects.
In 1949 George moved to an area of the world with large,
untapped hydroelectric potential—America's Pacific Northwest.
As an hydraulic engineer with Pioneer Service and Engineering
Company, he was responsible for the design of hydroelectric
projects for the Northern State Power Company and the
Umpqua River Development in Oregon.
George joined Bechte! in 1951 as a chief civil engineer
of its Power Division. He was in charge of design for ther-
mal electric plants, nuclear power plants, and heavy indus-
trial plants such as Dresden Nuclear Plant, Riddle Nickel
Smelter in Oregon, and the Port Everglades Steam Electri-
cal Station. And as a Bechte! supervising structural engineer,
he was in charge of civil and structural design of the Pittsburg
and Gadsby Steam Electric Plants.
In 1959 George was a project civil engineer on the Morro
Bay Steam Electric Plant in California; his technical paper
on that project, coauthored with Pacific Gas & Electric's
Gordon L. Coltrin, received the distinguished Thomas Fitch
Rowland Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE) .
In the 1960s George's work expanded beyond U.S. borders
when he became the division manager of engineering and
vice-president of Overseas Bechtel, Inc. Fluent in German
and Polish, George also had a good grasp of Russian and
French, which served him well in his new position. He was
responsible for engineering hyciroelectric projects around
the world. Among his notable assignments was membership
on the design review committee for the 5,250-megawatt
Churchill Fall Hydroelectric Project, which at that time was
the largest hydra undertaking in the Western Hemisphere.
During the 1960s George also oversaw the development
and construction of several impressive transportation infra-
OCR for page 319
GEORGE THON
319
structure projects, as governments around the world sought
to create and improve facilities. George was responsible
for important phases of design on the Bay Area Rapid Transit
(BART) system in San Francisco; work on the Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's METRO in the District
of Columbia; and transit systems in Caracas, Venezuela,
and Sao Paulo, Brazil. He also worked on airports in Hilo
and Keahole, Hawaii, and in Amman, Jordan.
George's skills in hydroelectric and transportation projects
earned him the respect and admiration of his colleagues.
He was known for his extensive experience in the design
and construction of rock and soft-ground tunnels and the
underground construction of transit stations and hydroelectric
power plants.
With a temporary warming of relations between the United
States and the Soviet Union in the early 1970s, George with
his overseas experience and Russian-speaking abilities was
asked to coordinate Bechtel's activities in the Soviet Union.
He twice visited the USSR. touring many hydroelectric facilities
before further shifting of political tides preclucled continued
work in that country.
George became an executive consultant and member of
the senior technical staff of Bechtel's Hydro & Community
Facilities Division in the micI-1970s. As with all his duties,
he performed them with skill, dedication, and professionalism.
In 197S, after more than forty years of outstanding civil
engineering work, George retired, but could not leave the
engineering field far behind, occasionally offering his expertise
on selected consulting assignments. He was a registered
civil or structural engineer in twenty-two states and a char-
tered civil engineer in Great Britain.
Throughout his professional career, George garnered many
awards besides the Fitch Rowland prize. He received the
Tercer Lugar Prize in 1964 from the Pan-American Congress
of Engineers for his paper on rapid transit systems for ma-
jor cities. In 1971 ASCE again honored him with the Rickey
Medal for a paper on the Salt River Project. C. H. Whalin
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320
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
of the Salt River Project and John O'Hara of Bechte} were
his coauthors. He was elected as a fellow in the ASCE in
the United States and the Institution of Civil Engineers in
the United Kingdom. George also served as a consultant
to the National Science Foundation's Division of Advanced
Productivity Research and Development.
Of his many publications, George was especially proud
of papers he wrote for ASCE, Water Power, Tunnels ~ Tun-
neling, and the journal of the American Water Works Association.
George was also concerned with the improvement of civil
engineering and dedicated considerable time and attention
toward that goal. He served on many ASCE committees
including its Water Resources Coordinating Committee in
the early 1960s, and he twice chaired its Power Division's
Executive Committee, in 196~1965 and again in 1972-1973.
George's dedication and expertise helped not only in
the successful design and construction of projects around
the world but also in furthering the knowledge base for the
entire civil engineering discipline.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
salt river
