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, aqua ...

s, famous for designing the

Crystal Springs Dam Crystal Springs Dam is a concrete gravity dam constructed across the San Mateo Creek (San Francisco Bay Area), San Mateo Creek in San Mateo County, California. It impounds water in a rift valley created by the San Andreas Fault to form the Crysta ...

and the Comstock water system.

Early years

Hermann F.A. 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 ...

, Germany. From 1859 to 1862 he enrolled in the Prussian Military Academy of

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places * Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony * Ol ...

. After his graduation he studied civil engineering in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

Engineer in USA

In 1864 Hermann Schussler immigrated to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and started working for the Spring Valley Water Works of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. He worked on several projects in the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

. Remarkable projects are the dams at

Crystal Springs Reservoir Crystal Springs Reservoir is a pair of artificial lakes located in the northern Santa Cruz Mountains of San Mateo County, California operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for water supply to the San Francisco peninsula. Th ...

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 Aft ...

which survived the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...

. Schussler also was the

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

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 ac ...

, and

Virginia City Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, United States, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City dev ...

. In Virginia City, Schussler worked for Virginia and Gold Hill Water Company and designed the Comstock water system. He also worked on the design for the Sutro Tunnel Company and designed the water system for

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **'' Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

and Pioche. In 1878 Schussler worked on several water projects in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. Schussler taught engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He retired from Spring Valley Water Company 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 Immigrants to the United States Concrete pioneers