Finding Aid to the Tudor Engineering Company Records 1933-2006

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000

Phone: (510) 642-6481

Fax: (510) 642-7589

Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu

2017

Finding Aid to the Tudor Engineering Company Records 1933-2006

Collection number: BANC MSS 2007/134

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000

Phone: (510) 642-6481

Fax: (510) 642-7589

Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu

Finding Aid Encoded By:: GenX

Collection Summary

Collection Title: Tudor Engineering Company records

Date (inclusive): 1933-2006

Collection Number: BANC MSS 2007/134

Creator: Tudor Engineering Company

Extent: 29 digital objects (newsletters); 6 cartons 7.5 linear feet

Repository: The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000

Phone: (510) 642-6481

Fax: (510) 642-7589

Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu

Abstract: Contains records of the major engineering projects of the Tudor Engineering Company, including work on the Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, Tagus River Bridge and others.

Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English

Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Information for Researchers

Access Information

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Tudor Engineering Company Records, BANC MSS 2007/134, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Related Collections

Tudor Engineering Company photograph archive, circa 1950-1993 (BANC PIC 2007.029--PIC).

Separated Material

Photographs have been transferred to the Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library, BANC PIC 2007.029--PIC.

Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft Library.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Tudor Engineering Company--Archives

San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (Calif.)

Merced Irrigation District (Calif.)

Bridges--California--San Francisco Bay--Design and construction

Bridges--Portugal--Tagus River--Design and construction

Dams--California--Merced River--Design and construction

Engineering firms--California

Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, Calif.)

New Exchequer Dam (Calif.)

San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (Oakland and San Francisco, Calif.)

Promotional materials

Newsletters

Pamphlets

Administrative Information

Acquistion Information

The Tudor Engineering Company Records were given to The Bancroft Library by Robert Janopaul on March 12, 2007.

Biography/Organization History

The Tudor Engineering Company was founded in San Francisco in 1950 by the late Ralph A. Tudor, a West Point graduate and retired Colonel in the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Tudor established a nationwide reputation for excellence following his involvement in the design and construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and other bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The firm's early assignments were the design and construction management of several long span bridges across the Colombia River between Washington and Oregon and across other major waterways in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to highway and bridge work, the firm developed expertise in the water resources field, including a major hydroelectric project in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California during the mid 1950s.

In the early 1960s, Tudor Engineering played a major role in the design and construction of the Tagus River Bridge project in Lisbon, Portugal. The firm also undertook a major hydroelectric project for the Merced Irrigation District in California. It designed and supervised construction of the Exchequer Dam. Located on the Merced River, it was the highest concrete-faced rock-filled dam in the United States at the time.

The early 1960s also saw the formation of the joint venture of Parsons-Brinkerhoff-Tudor-Bechtel (PBTB), which undertook the management of design and construction and activities for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system. Tudor Engineering's role in the joint venture involved civil engineering design and construction activities, including aerial structures, several underground and above-ground transit stations, tunnels, bridges, and several train maintenance yards. The PBTB joint venture also undertook the design of the Caracas Metro system in Caracas, Venezuela, the first phase of which was completed in the 1970s.

By the completion of the BART and the Caracas systems, Tudor Engineering had developed special expertise in the design of modern rapid transit systems. Its next major transit assignment, conducted as a joint venture with Parsons Brinkerhoff (PBT), involved serving as the general engineering consultant for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) in Georgia. The PBT team began work on this project in the early 1970s.

In the mid 1970s, Tudor Engineering was one of the first consulting engineering firms to respond to the national energy shortage with innovative technology for retrofitting existing water resource facilities with small hydroelectric power plants. It pioneered this technology with methodology manuals for the Corps of Engineers, the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the Electric Power Research Institute. Besides developing new innovative technology, the firm has had the lead role in the planning, design, and construction management of more than 30 of these hydroelectric installations through the western United States.

In 1989 the Los Angeles office moved to Oakland, CA and Tudor Engineering Company merged with Kaiser Engineering in Oakland.

Scope and Content Note

Contains records of the major engineering projects of the Tudor Engineering Company, including work on the Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, Tagus River Bridge and others. The Tudor Engineering Company records also include reports and statements documenting the history of the company's evolution through financial records, personnel records, and various promotional brochures. The papers are arranged as received.

carton 1, folder 1

San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge - West Bay Pier construction 1933-1935 BANC MSS 2007/134

carton 1, folder 2

Designing and Building the Bay Bridge 1934-1937 BANC MSS 2007/134

carton 1, folder 3

Golden Gate Bridge Rapid Transit Investigation, report #1 1960 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 4

Golden Gate Bridge Supplementary Report on Engineering Feasibility of Proposed Rapid Transit Facilities 1961 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 5-8

Seismic analysis of the main piers for the Tagus River Bridge 1961 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 9-10

Tagus River Bridge Piers 1965 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 11-14

Seismic Analysis of Suspension Bridge Piers 1963 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 15

Outline of talk on the planning, design, & construction, main piers of the Tagus River Bridge Dec. 2 1963 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 16

Tagus River Bridge Piers 3 and 4 1963 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 17

Messina Strait 1963-1965 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 18

Three Rivers Bridge - Yves Lacroix 1965 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 19

Preliminary study of engineering and economic phases of bridging Puget Sound 1948-1952 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 20

Computer program for pile driving analysis by wave equation 1960 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 21

Earthquake data, Viaduct Piers, Tagus River Bridge 1961 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 22-26

Merger of Tudor Engineering into American Capital and Research Corporation (ACR), Tudor Engineering Inc. 1989 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 27

Tudor Engineering stock/retirement plans 1964-1978 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 28

Tudor Engineering Co. by-laws 1977 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 29

Louis W. Riggs agreements 1986-1988 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 30

Personnel information 1965-1989 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 31

Personnel, administration 1986-1989 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 32

Resumes, key personnel BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 33

Tudor Engineering - Bendix Computer 1958-1959 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 34

Cancelled stock certificates 1967-1985 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 35

Statements of energy operations 1984-1986 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 1, folder 36

Letter to Board of Directors - Intergraph purchase 1984 BANC MSS 2007/134

Merced Irrigation District BANC MSS 2007/134

container 2, folder 1

Recreation facility 1964-1966 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 2, folder 2-3

Board of Consultants meetings 1963-1967 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 2, folder 4

Bid data 1964 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 2, folder 5

Construction issues 1967 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 2, folder 6

California Dam Safety - meeting notes 1965-1967 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 2, folder 7

Schedule of drawings 1964 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 2, folder 8

Bond closing 1964 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 2, folder 9-10

Construction 1964 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 2, folder 11-12

New Exchequer Dam, publicity 1965-1967 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 2, folder 13-14

American Society of Engineers, New York meeting 1967 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 2, folder 15

New Exchequer Dam, papers for publication 1968 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 2, folder 16-17

Thomas Leps papers 1985-1987 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 2, folder 18

New Exchequer Dam, photographs BANC MSS 2007/134

container 2, folder 19-20

Miscellaneous 1965-1993 BANC MSS 2007/134

carton 2, folder 21-22

Christmas Party 1986 BANC MSS 2007/134

carton 2, folder 23

ICF International, Inc., brochures BANC MSS 2007/134

carton 2, folder 24-29

Financial statements 1963-1987 BANC MSS 2007/134

carton 2, folder 30-33

Stockholder's reports 1968-1993 BANC MSS 2007/134

carton 3, folder 1-29

Tudor Newsletters 1952 1954 1955 1962-1972 1974-1987 1989 BANC MSS 2007/134

container 3, folder 3:01

Tudor Newsletters 1952 1952 BANC MSS 2007/134:3:01