Dean F. Peterson and Alvin A. Bishop Engineering Papers, (1915—1965)
COLL MSS 45
Biographical Note:
Dean F. Peterson was born June 3, 1913 in Delta, Utah. In 1930 Peterson enrolled in the ROTC program at the Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) and studied structural and irrigation engineering, and graduated in 1934 with his B.S. In 1935 Peterson enrolled in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and received his M.C.E. that year. By 1939 he had earned his D.C.E from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In the fall of 1939 Peterson found work as a Civil Engineering instructor at the University of Washington, Seattle. In 1940 Peterson took a job in Maryland to work on constructing a dam on the upper Potomac River. When World War II began Peterson sought involvement with the war effort. From 1943 to 1946 he worked for the US Navy on various engineering projects within the US. In 1946 Peterson was accepted by the Utah State Agricultural College to work as an instructor in the Irrigation and Drainage Department, were he worked until his retirement. Peterson was involved in many state and government projects during the course of his career with the Utah State Agricultural College, such as his advisory irrigation assignments in the Middle East. Peterson died in 1989.
Source: Peterson, Bessie C., “Dean F. Peterson; His Life and Work”, Vol. 1, 1993. (USU SC&A 920 P442-Pet).
Alvin A. Bishop was born in 1913 in Delta, Utah. Bishop attended the Utah State Agricultural College (USAC) to study civil engineering, from which he received his B.S. in 1934 and his M.S. in 1939. In 1939 he enrolled in Colorado State University from where he later received his Ph.D. in 1961. After World War II Bishop took a position at the USAC as a professor of civil engineering. In 1965 he was named first head of the Agricultural and Irrigation Engineering Department upon its creation in 1965. “His projects and teaching assignments in forty-three international countries earned him accolades from his peers” (1982, p. 7).
Source: The Outlook, November/December 1982.
Provenance:
The material in this collection was donated to Utah State University Special Collections & Archives by Dean F. Peterson in 1977.
Scope & Content Note:
This four-box collection contains correspondence, reports, project bids, water rights issues, and papers concerning Dean F. Peterson and Alvin A. Bishop’s irrigation and engineering work within Cache Valley during the 1950s and 1960s. Specifically, their work entailed constructing a system that furnished Logan City with a new source for culinary water and building a new city sewer system. This project entailed building canals and pipelines, drilling wells, and organizing a pumping-system to move the city’s water. Some of this work took place at the mouth of Logan Canyon, where water was diverted from the Logan River for use in the city’s culinary water system.
For further research on Dean F. Peterson see USU Special Collections & Archives: University Archives 22:17; The Dean F. Peterson Papers.
Inventory:
Box 1: Papers concerning Logan Water Works; correspondence, agreements, estimates, and well reports.
Fd 1: Correspondence, 1961.
Fd 2: Correspondence, 1962.
Fd 3: Correspondence, 1963.
Fd 4: Correspondence, 1964.
Fd 5: Agreements.
Fd 6: Proposals.
Fd 7: Contract for water system improvements, 1949.
Fd 8: Computations.
Fd 9: Estimates, bids quotes.
Fd 10: Reports, Logan city culinary water system 1949, Logan city water development required 1962, Logan River drainage notes, 1961-1962.
Fd 11: Specifications.
Fd 12: Wells, logs, 1962.
Fd 13: Well reports, 1962-1964.
Box 2: Papers concerning Logan water supply, wells, and a water rights investigation.
Fd 1: Well # 1, correspondence, 1963-1964.
Fd 2: Specifications for reduced voltage starters, wells # 1 and 4.
Fd 3: Resubmittal data on pumping plants for wells # 1 and 4.
Fd 4: Pump plants for wells # 1 and 4, correspondence.
Fd 5: Pump plants for wells # 1 and 4, miscellaneous information.
Fd 6: Well # 2, correspondence, 1962-1972.
Fd 7: Well # 2, specification.
Fd 8: Well # 2, computations.
Fd 9: Well # 2, bids, quotes.
Fd 10: Well # 2, water test reports, 1963.
Fd 11: Well # 3, correspondence, 1961-1962.
Fd 12: Well # 3, specifications/contract documents.
Fd 13: Well # 3, bids, quotes.
Fd 14: Well # 4, correspondence, 1962-1963.
Fd 15: Well # 4, estimates.
Fd 16: Payment data for Logan wells, 1961 and 1964.
Fd 17: Logan water rights investigation correspondence, 1960-1963.
Fd 18: Logan water rights investigation, memorandum, 1955-1958.
Fd 19: Logan water rights investigation, agreements and miscellaneous.
Fd 20: Logan water rights investigation, applications ad appropriate water.
Box 3: Papers concerning the Logan hydro line and sewer, the North Logan well, and the Hyrum well.
For more information: 435/797-2663; Manuscript Librarian.
Special Collections & Archives, Merrill Library, Utah State University Libraries, Utah State University 84322-3000
