Oscar Velikin

Life Member 2012December 25, 1919 - April 12, 2013Born and educated in the USSR (MS in Structural Engineering, Polytechnic University, Minsk 1941, graduated with honors), Oscar Velikin worked there for forty years before his life took "a sharp turn" when he and his family moved to the US in 1980.In the USSR, Oscar worked for a number of design companies, "gathering experience and taking on more and more responsibilities" as Chief Engineer of a large company devoted to design of heavy industry structures for ore processing and metal manufacturing, located throughout the European USSR, Siberia, and Kazakhstan. As an example, he worked on the Costamus Iron Ore Plant, located at the Finnish border, designed with complicated underground structures and heavy steel frames for 450-ton bridge cranes as well as long and wide conveyors. He also worked on the Cherepovetsky Metallurgical Plant, designed as multiple buildings and structures with hefty steel and concrete frames under big loads and operating in an atmosphere of extremely high temperatures. Oscar notes that "The design philosopy in the USSR of this period was to use concrete, particularly precast concrete, for buildings and structures, instead of steel -- steel was needed in the USSR for building tanks and other weaponry."He further noted that "The Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the Trade Act of 1974 helped me to leave Russia and to come to the United States with my family: my wife, my son, and my daughter. Since the Law of Gravity and basic Mechanics of Engineering are the same anywhere, I could start working almost immediately. ... I passed the Civil Engineering exam and then the Structural Engineering exam as soon as the rules allowed."

He worked in Seattle with KPFF 1981-92, with GHC Consulting 1993-95, with Skilling Ward Magnusson Barkshire 1996-98, and with INCA 1999-2011. His early projects included the design of shoring systems involving soldier piles with tiebacks -- such as his first shoring, 80 feet deep, for the multi-story First Interstate Bank and later the 55-story Washington Mutual Tower, both in Seattle.

He also recalled various projects involving soil-structure interaction: the Longfellow Creek Storm Water tank in Seattle, "with a shoring system from soldier piles supported by two 120-foot diameter inclined compression rings. The structure was quite elegant, which I believe every structure should be." The Barge Loading Ramp in Everett took its character from "a big concentrated load of 2000 tons from oil field modulus on piles, shipped to Alaska." He counted also among his "interesting and complicated projects" "intricate connections for the five-story steel frame of Seattle Art Museum, and the multi-span pedestrian bridge crossing Minor Avenue with spans supported by Vierendel trusses." Shown here: the construction of the Gate at IHNC Hurricane Risk Reduction; USACE, New Orleans DistrictHis later work involved design of water-supported structures such as locks, approach walls, and gates for rivers and lakes, such as his design as Senior Structural Engineer for Chickamauga Lock Approach Walls, "made from huge pre-stressed concrete hollow beams up to 150 feet long, with 10'x10' sections, supported by piers from deep embedded shafts, ... designed for anticipated environmental loads, barge impact, earthquakes, and construction loads. ... Nose piers protect the wall from head-on barge collision. The whole system was analyzed with a dynamic mode shape method." For the Kentucky Lock, "a floating caisson was designed as a huge barge that can be transported to anywhere in horizontal position, then turned 90 degrees to become a bulkhead." For his final project, he worked as Head Structural Engineer with a group of engineers designing a Sector Gate (150 feet wide, 42 feet tall, pictured here) for New Orleans District, to close the canal in the event of a hurricane. "The steel composed frame was done from hollow steel sections up to 24 inches in diameter."

Oscar worked until 2010, retiring at age 90. He summarized his career: "You spend so much thought and so much energy and then you recognize that it could be done even better -- but it is over."

Posted August 2012; primary source: Oscar Velikin notes July 2012. Updated April 2013

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