Hermann Schüssler or Schussler (August 4, 1842 – April 27, 1919) was a German civil engineer and designer of

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

s, famous for designing the Crystal Springs Dam and Comstock water system.

Early years

Hermann Schussler was born in what is today

Rastede Rastede (Low German: ''Raastäe/Raas'') is a municipality in the Ammerland district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 12 km north of Oldenburg. It is the site of the Schloss Rastede. The Rastede railway station is l ...

, Germany. From 1859 to 1862 he visited the Prussian Military Academy of Oldenburg. After his graduation he studied civil engineering in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

and

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants ...

Engineer in USA

In 1864 Hermann Schussler immigrated to California, and started working for the Spring Valley Water Works of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. He worked on several projects in the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gove ...

. Remarkable projects are the dams at Crystal Springs Reservoir and

San Andreas Lake San Andreas Lake is a reservoir adjacent to the San Francisco Peninsula cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in San Mateo County, California. It is situated directly on the San Andreas Fault, which is named after the valley it is in. History Afte ...

which survived the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sh ...

. Schussler became

chief engineer A chief engineer, commonly referred to as "ChEng" or "Chief", is the most senior engine officer of an engine department on a ship, typically a merchant ship, and holds overall leadership and the responsibility of that department..Chief engineer's ...

Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...

, and later of Virginia City. In Virginia City, Schussler worked for Virginia and Gold Hill Water Company and build the Comstock water system. He also worked for the Sutro Tunnel Company and designed the water system for Tuscarora and Pioche. In 1878 Schussler worked on several water projects in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is ...

. He retired in 1914.

External links

* Herman Schussler and the Comstock Water Syste

* Hermann Schussler: No Ordinary Ma

* * * The Daily Journal: A water-systems engineer and architect of dams, June 8, 2009

References

* John Debo Galloway: ''Early Engineering Works Contributory to the Comstock'', 1947. * Hermann Schussler: '' The Water Supply Of San Francisco, California Before, During And After The Earthquake of April 18, 1906 And The Subsequent Conflagration'', 1907. * Hugh Shamberger: ''The Story of the Water supply for the Comstock'', 1965. {{DEFAULTSORT:Schussler, Hermann 1842 births 1919 deaths Karlsruhe Institute of Technology alumni Water in California German emigrants to the United States Concrete pioneers