dgillette
Geotechnical
- May 5, 2005
- 1,027
Don't know whether any of you knew him, but the following was emailed to me by his grandson.
In Memoriam
William L. Shannon (1913-2006)
The geotechnical engineering profession has lost one of its great leaders and innovators in the recent passing of William L. Shannon on September 26.
Bill, who was the son of a civil engineer having a local company in Seattle, graduated from the University of Washington in 1938 and was immediately accepted to the Harvard School of Engineering under a full scholarship where he studied under Professor Arthur Casagrande. After receiving his MS at Harvard he was selected to teach in the Engineering School at Harvard. Later he worked for the Army Corps of Engineers in Boston and Oregon. Upon leaving the Corps of Engineers, he teamed with Stan Wilson, also a Harvard graduate, and formed the firm of Shannon & Wilson in Seattle Washington in 1954.
Bill Shannon designed many high-profile projects in Alaska, the Pacific, Canada, Borneo, Korea, and Southeast Asia. He provided an extensive investigation of the 1964 Alaska earthquake for the Army Corps of Engineers, and foundation studies and design for Seattle's Tolt River water reservoir dam. He also served as a consultant to contractors on cofferdams, excavations and dewatering.
In 1969, Bill's innovative design of a 70-foot-deep, tied-back shoring system for the 50-story Sea-First Bank Building was the deepest at that time. He monitored the system using instruments that he and Stan Wilson had developed as co-founders of the Slope Indicator Company.
In the late 1960's, Bill helped form the now renamed Associated Soil and Foundation Engineers (ASFE) and became its first president, seeking to reduce claims through loss prevention techniques. Bill then became a founding member of Terra Insurance, formed to insure engineers when professional liability insurance for the engineering community was either nonexistent or too expensive.
The Consulting Engineers Council of Washington honored Bill with Engineer of the Year in 1975. In 1987, he became an Honorary Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for his professional accomplishments in geotechnical engineering as well as for his effective management principals and procedures.
Bill and his wife Ellen endowed a graduate engineering fellowship at the University of Washington, Department of Civil Engineering. This generous gift honors a pioneer whose seemingly inexhaustible energy, engineering skills, and business foresight have contributed so much to the entire engineering community.
He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Ellen Northrop Shannon, three sons, Bill, Al, and Dave and their respective wives, Debbie, Marylin and Diane; 10 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. One of Bill's grandsons, Del Shannon, leads the geotechnical engineering group for the consulting engineering firm of TCB in Denver, Colorado.
Memorial services will be held on Saturday, October 7th at 2:00 pm at the Acacia Funeral Home on Bothell Way in Shoreline . (14951 Bothell Way NE, 206-364-7100). In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the Alzheimer's Association or the William L. Shannon Endowed Fellowship Fund (Checks can be made out to "University of Washington" with "Shannon Endowment " in the memo and mailed attn: Gene Hutchinson, More Hall 201, Box 352700, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195).
In Memoriam
William L. Shannon (1913-2006)
The geotechnical engineering profession has lost one of its great leaders and innovators in the recent passing of William L. Shannon on September 26.
Bill, who was the son of a civil engineer having a local company in Seattle, graduated from the University of Washington in 1938 and was immediately accepted to the Harvard School of Engineering under a full scholarship where he studied under Professor Arthur Casagrande. After receiving his MS at Harvard he was selected to teach in the Engineering School at Harvard. Later he worked for the Army Corps of Engineers in Boston and Oregon. Upon leaving the Corps of Engineers, he teamed with Stan Wilson, also a Harvard graduate, and formed the firm of Shannon & Wilson in Seattle Washington in 1954.
Bill Shannon designed many high-profile projects in Alaska, the Pacific, Canada, Borneo, Korea, and Southeast Asia. He provided an extensive investigation of the 1964 Alaska earthquake for the Army Corps of Engineers, and foundation studies and design for Seattle's Tolt River water reservoir dam. He also served as a consultant to contractors on cofferdams, excavations and dewatering.
In 1969, Bill's innovative design of a 70-foot-deep, tied-back shoring system for the 50-story Sea-First Bank Building was the deepest at that time. He monitored the system using instruments that he and Stan Wilson had developed as co-founders of the Slope Indicator Company.
In the late 1960's, Bill helped form the now renamed Associated Soil and Foundation Engineers (ASFE) and became its first president, seeking to reduce claims through loss prevention techniques. Bill then became a founding member of Terra Insurance, formed to insure engineers when professional liability insurance for the engineering community was either nonexistent or too expensive.
The Consulting Engineers Council of Washington honored Bill with Engineer of the Year in 1975. In 1987, he became an Honorary Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for his professional accomplishments in geotechnical engineering as well as for his effective management principals and procedures.
Bill and his wife Ellen endowed a graduate engineering fellowship at the University of Washington, Department of Civil Engineering. This generous gift honors a pioneer whose seemingly inexhaustible energy, engineering skills, and business foresight have contributed so much to the entire engineering community.
He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Ellen Northrop Shannon, three sons, Bill, Al, and Dave and their respective wives, Debbie, Marylin and Diane; 10 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. One of Bill's grandsons, Del Shannon, leads the geotechnical engineering group for the consulting engineering firm of TCB in Denver, Colorado.
Memorial services will be held on Saturday, October 7th at 2:00 pm at the Acacia Funeral Home on Bothell Way in Shoreline . (14951 Bothell Way NE, 206-364-7100). In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the Alzheimer's Association or the William L. Shannon Endowed Fellowship Fund (Checks can be made out to "University of Washington" with "Shannon Endowment " in the memo and mailed attn: Gene Hutchinson, More Hall 201, Box 352700, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195).