ARTHUR CASAGRANDE, 1902-1981

a tribute
S. D. WILSON, H. B. SEED and R. B. PECK

Arthur Casagrande died peacefully in his sleep on

6 September 1981, aged 79. He had known for
several years that the end was inevitable, yet with
characteristic strength of will he actively partici-
pated in his consulting and research activities until
a few months before his death, when it became no
longer physically possible to do so. The profession
has lost one of the great civil engineers of this
century. His former students have lost an inspiring
teacher and his family and relatives mourn the loss
of the beloved head of the closely-knit family
group.
Arthur Casagrande, born on 28 August 1902 in
Haidenschaft, Austria, was the first of two sons
and one daughter of Angelo and Anna Nussbaum
Casagrande. He spent his first year in school in
Linz, after which the family moved to Trieste. For
one year he was taught by his mother; he then
completed the German Grammar School in
Trieste. When he was ready to enter secondary
school, he chose to enter the Realschule, where he
would be trained to enter a technical university.
Casagrande’s choice of a technical career was
influenced chiefly by his forebears on his mother’s
side, several of whom were mechanical and chemi-
cal engineers. Arthur Casagrande
He received his civil engineering degree in 1924
(and subsequently the Doctor of Engineering
degree in 1933 on the basis of the contributions major civil engineering projects and the need for
that he had pubiished during the years following money to support his family all led him to take this
his arrival in the USA) from the Technical Univer- course.
sity in Vienna. It was there that he served as an Casagrande arrived in the USA on 26 April
auxiliary assistant to Professor Schaffernak in the 1926, with little money and no work, but with
hydraulics laboratory, where he subsequently confidence in his training and ability. After spend-
spent an additional year as full-time assistant. ing 10 days in a YMCA hostel in New York, he
Casagrande’s father died in 1924, which left the obtained a position as draughtsman for Carnegie
major burden of supporting the family on Arthur’s Steel near Newark, New Jersey. He immediately
shoulders. The Austrian Empire had been dis- wrote to Professor Spofford, head of the Depart-
membered after the First World War and very ment of Civil Engineering at the Massachusetts
little construction was in progress. The salary of an Institute of Technology (MIT), and described his
assistant was very low, and Casagrande had to experience in the hydraulics laboratory in Vienna.
supplement it by tutoring high school students. Professor Spofford invited Casagrande to MIT for
These conditions forced him to take the gamble of an interview. It was on this trip that Casagrande
going to the USA, much against the wishes of his met Karl Terzaghi, who promptly offered Casa-
mother and Professor Schaffernak, neither of grande the opportunity to work as his private
whom could understand why he wished to leave. assistant for the summer of 1926.
But his impatience, his strong desire to work on On his first day of work, Terzaghi gave Casa-
87

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 88 WILSON, SEED AND PECK

grande some hand-written notes and told him to with universities on the west coast of America. At
type them. Casagrande replied that he had no this juncture, his good friends Mr Harry Mohr and
typewriter, whereupon he was told to get one. Mr J. Stuart Crandall convinced Dean Clifford of
When he meekly countered that he also did not the School of Engineering at Harvard that soil
know how to type, Terzaghi ordered him to learn mechanics should be introduced there, and that
to type. This he did, developing his own style of Casagrande was the man to do it. He was offered a
rapid hunt-and-peck which served him well half-time lectureship, which he gladly accepted. He
throughout his lifetime. was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1934.
From 1926 to 1932, he was a research assistant In 1940 Harvard promoted Casagrande to a
with the US Bureau of Public Roads, assigned to tenured position as Associate Professor and in
MIT, where he assisted Terzaghi in his numerous 1946 he became Gordon McKay Professor of Soil
research projects directed towards improving Mechanics and Foundation Engineering. In 1973
apparatus and techniques for soil testing. In those he retired from Harvard and became Professor
years Arthur developed the liquid limit apparatus, Emeritus. In 1970 he joined with his brother Leo
the hydrometer test, the horizontal capillarity test, and his nephew Dirk to form a geotechnical
the consolidation apparatus and the direct shear consulting group under the name of Casagrande
test equipment. Among his research projects, he Consultants. In addition to his consulting activi-
conducted field investigations on frost action ties, he remained active as a teacher, lecturer and
during a co-operative project between the Bureau author of papers. During his long career, he wrote
of Public Roads and the New Hampshire State or co-authored more than a hundred professional
Highway Department. His criteria for the frost papers.
susceptibility of soils, resulting from this project, Professor Casagrande often said that his in-
have been adopted by highway designers all over terests in order of their importance were research,
the world. teaching and practice. He excelled in all three, yet
In 1929 he went with Terzaghi to Vienna to those who knew him intimately over a number of
equip a soil mechanics laboratory. At this time he years felt that he placed teaching first, followed by
toured all soil mechanics laboratories in Europe practice and then by research. His colleagues at
and returned to the USA in 1930 with a thorough Harvard in the 1930s and 1940s may not have
knowledge of developments in this field in Europe. appreciated that he taught more than a course or a
During 193&32 Casagrande constructed a triaxial series of courses. He taught a whole field. He
compression cell and developed his shear box developed the art of instruction in soil mechanics,
apparatus with which, for the first time, he studied established laboratory courses as an inherent part
volume changes during shear. This led to his of the curriculum and, with the aid of his assistants,
recognition that pore pressures are induced during presented his subject from first principles to prac-
undrained shear. His report on the shear tests tical applications. It would hardly be an exaggera-
(written jointly with an assistant, S. G. Albert) and tion to say that the teaching of soil mechanics, at
the paper on the difference between remoulded and least in the Western Hemisphere, was based for at
undisturbed clay rank among the most significant least a generation on Arthur Casagrande’s school
contributions to the literature of soil mechanics. at Harvard.
Also in 1932, he published his celebrated paper Those who were former students came to regard
‘Research on the Atterberg limits of soils’. At this him as the great teacher. Always thoroughly pre-
time he made the first consolidation tests on pared, not dramatic, but completely at home in
undisturbed soil samples which led to the develop- every detail, he developed among his students a
ment of his ideas on preconsolidation pressures sense of being in the mainstream of soil mechanics.
and overconsolidation, presented shortly after They felt as if they occupied ringside seats in every
1932. round of the development and growth of soil
It was Casagrande in 1939 who persuaded the mechanics from its beginning. They learned, too,
Waterways Experiment Station to sponsor the co- that they were not nameless faces assembled before
operative triaxial research programme that was him. They soon felt his personal interest, his
carried out at Harvard and, under Donald Taylor, genuine concern for their future, and the gracious-
at MIT in 194&44. The results of this work, ness that was a hallmark of his personality. He
contained in progress reports (seven by Casa- became their friend, and his friendship persisted
grande himself) and summarized by Philip Rut- through the years. Genuine affection towards
ledge, initiated a new era in soil testing and Arthur Casagrande is the hallmark of his students.
knowledge of soil strength. Typical of his attitude towards teaching is the
Seeing no future with his Bureau of Public following ancedote related by Wilson Binger.
Roads research assignment at MIT, Casagrande In May of 1939 our group of soil mechanics gradu-
decided in 1931 to leave and begin negotiations ate students at Harvard gave a dinner for Casagrande,

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 ARTHUR CASAGRANDE 89

at the end of which he gave us a short talk. I remember tion and classification of soils. This unique tuition,
only one part of the talk, but that has stuck with me for which has never been successfully duplicated by
more than 40 years.
anyone, consisted of the visual and manual identi-
Casagrande referred to the loyalty that students
fication of a seemingly infinite variety of soils from
tend to have to their teachers, particularly those for
whom they have some affection, and he said that such the Harvard soils laboratory. Casagrande would
loyalty can result in holding onto the concepts and feel each soil, roll out a thread in the palm of his
theories that were taught them even when later experi- hand, taste it, bite it between his teeth, rub it
ence may suggest they should be dropped or modified. between his fingernails, estimate its strength and
He pointed out that many engineers had persisted in conclude with a detailed description, the probable
calculating earth pressures by the classical Coulomb source, the suitability for road and airfield con-
method, even though they could see with their own struction, permeability, potential problems, frost
eyes that foremen did not put their heaviest bracing at susceptibility and an estimate of the Atterberg
the bottom of a sheeted trench. Casagrande then said,
limits-which his assistant invariably found to be
‘If what you learn from your own experience after you
leave here differs from what I have taught you, then
nearly as precise as the laboratory determined
what I have taught you is wrong, and you should not value. Foreign students were often astounded to
hesitate to discard it.’ see this eminent professor revelling in this soil-
Only a great teacher could have made such a handling process.
statement to his students. He was a great teacher. The years immediately following the Second
Casagrande always picked out a key student in World War were particularly busy ones as Casa-
each class who would have trouble in following his grande’s classes expanded to 80 or 90 students per
lectures. Pretending to review his notes, he would year. During the subsequent two decades, he con-
covertly observe the face of this key student to see tinued his very active teaching schedule of three or
if he had understood the previous portion of the four courses each year and supervised several
lecture. If he had not, Casagrande would start doctoral candidates. The number of doctoral
again, trying a different approach. Even this did degrees earned at Harvard by students under
not always work, as remembered by H. Q. Golder. Professor Casagrande’s supervision totals more
than 20.
In 1960 I was asked by Casagrande to give the The students who studied soil mechanics at
course on engineering geology at Harvard. During this Harvard under Dr Casagrande total about 1400,
time I was able to sit in on his course on ‘Seepage’. and a roster of their names includes many of the
There were 13 graduate students, not all of whom had
outstanding professors, researchers and practising
English as their first language. On one occasion
Casagrande came in to give his next lecture in the
geotechnical engineers of the world. Perhaps no
course, and said: ‘There are 13 of you in this class. other person has influenced the development of a
Since my last lecture 6 of you have come and asked me branch of engineering as much as Arthur Casa-
questions about it. I think that I did not give that grande has been able to do through both his own
lecture very well. I propose to repeat it today.’ This he teaching and that of his former students.
did! Such humility is a mark of greatness! In 1962 Arthur conceived the idea of starting a
During his first year at Harvard-1932-33- special programme at Harvard to update teachers
Casagrande taught a course in soil mechanics over and practising engineers in all aspects of soil
two semesters, much as Terzaghi had done, and mechanics and foundation engineering. This inten-
Harvard continued to offer a course in foundation sive programme incorporated a unique blending of
engineering that was given as a lecture series by science, laboratory work and practical experience
practising engineers. In 1933 he introduced Har- brought back from the field, and made an impor-
vard’s course in laboratory testing, which was tant contribution to the development of the profes-
probably the first in the world. In 1934 he revised sion over the six years that Arthur devoted to
the course in foundation engineering considerably, developing and running it.
and in 1935 he introduced his course on seepage Harvey Brooks, former Dean of the Division of
through soil. Engineering and Applied Physics at Harvard, re-
During 194244, at the request of the Corps of calls that Casagrande gave him his first introduc-
Engineers, Casagrande trained approximately 400 tion to that subtle blending of practical experience,
army officers on the soil mechanics aspects of hard common sense and the profound theoretical
airfield construction. In intensive, four-week insights that represented the tradition of soil
courses he gave three lectures per day. The officers mechanics as Casagrande and Terzaghi developed
were charged with the responsibility of building it at Harvard.
airfields during the Second World War, chiefly in Arthur was always deeply loyal to Harvard and to
the Pacific area. the Division of Engineering and Applied Physics, even
As part of these courses he introduced a two- when he was in deep disagreement with some of the
hour Tuesday afternoon session in field identifica- decisions that were being made and some of the things

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 90 WILSON, SEED AND PECK

he saw going on. At many times and, in many areas, he Casagrande was called on by the Corps of
constituted himselfa gentle but firm loyal opposition in Engineers to join the consulting board that investi-
the most constructive and helpful sense, and he saved gated the failure. His work on liquefaction, pub-
the University from many costly mistakes, though
lished two years earlier, and the probable role of
sometimes his advice was sought too late. The period of
liquefaction in the failure of the dam led the Corps
the 1960s and early 1970s was one of unprecedented
building at Harvard as the campus was transformed to engage his services. This was the start of a close
physically. Arthur served as an unpaid consultant on relationship which helped to shape his career for
the foundation aspects of almost every building at 40 years and which, at the same time, had a
Harvard. powerful effect on the Corps.
Reading through some of the correspondence be- After the Second World War there was concern
tween Arthur and various University officials in regard about the stability of the banks of the Panama
to the building program recalled to me Arthur’s Canal under the influence of a possible atomic
pungent and sometimes sarcastic expression and his bomb blast. This led the Corps of Engineers to
ever present impatience with stupidity and waste.
begin sea level canal studies in 1946. Accordingly,
Casagrande could not tolerate incompetence, Casagrande started research on the resistance of
and his assistants, as well as others, were made soils to dynamic stresses as part of the Corps’
abundantly clear of his views in this regard. studies. The results were published in 1948. This
A dominant influence in his life was his relation- work was followed by additional research, also
ship with Karl Terzaghi. He was a student and financed by the Corps of Engineers, on the effect of
disciple of Karl Terzaghi, who is universally con- time of loading on the stress-deformation and
sidered to be the father of soil mechanics. They strength characteristics of soils.
worked together first at MIT, after which Terzaghi Casagrande always kept his feet solidly on the
returned to Europe and Casagrande established ground, even though he sometimes gave free reign
his school at Harvard. In the early days of the to his imagination. He was tremendously excited
Second World War Terzaghi left Vienna and about the moon landings, and deeply interested in
returned to the USA as an immigrant. Arthur the probable soil conditions on the moon. On
provided the necessary guarantees and installed accepting a decoration for distinguished civilian
Terzaghi at Harvard, first as a lecturer and later as service from the Army in 1967, he commented
Professor of the Practice of Civil Engineering. For the time being, however, the only soils that are
Arthur had developed the entire programme at of interest to some physicists are the soils on the moon.
Harvard during Terzaghi’s nine-year absence Soon we will learn more about them. Of course, we will
from the country, but Terzaghi-a strong person- find them entirely ditlerent from our earth soils; per-
ality--considered it perfectly natural to regard him- haps ‘crunchy’ as I have read predictions in some
self as the master in a master-disciple relationship. papers; although I cannot quite believe that without an
atmosphere to transmit sound, anything could be
Moreover, Terzaghi disdained most academic
crunchy on the moon. I expect that we will find the
duties other than his lectures. Arthur, often at properties of the moon soils rather simple and eventu-
considerable expenditure of time, fulfilled ally rather boring. I also foresee that the detour via the
Terzaghi’s academic obligations as well as his own. moon will some day lead physicists to discover what
Those who knew them both appreciated that interesting materials earth soils really are, and what
Arthur felt the greatest respect for and devotion to exciting opportunities for research they have to offer.
Terzaghi and retained Terzaghi’s greatest ad- Indeed, next to living matter, many of our highly
miration, but was surely often taxed to remain colloidal clays are the most complex materials that
patient under sometimes trying circumstances. nature has made on earth
It was Casagrande who proposed the first Inter- During the last decade of his life, the subject of
national Conference on Soil Mechanics and liquefaction of sands (one of his first major in-
Foundation Engineering in 1936, and Terzaghi terests) was very much on his mind. When he heard
who considered it too great a gamble at such an that the subject was to be discussed at the Water-
early stage in soil mechanics. Casagrande pro- ways Experiment Station in March 1981 he wrote
ceeded, none the less, and created the conference from bed in Massachusetts General Hospital,
that established soil mechanics as a legitimate and where he was receiving X-ray radiation treatments
essential part of civil engineering. Terzaghi soon for bone cancer in his back, that he wanted his
admitted that he had evaluated the situation in- views to be fully represented in whatever discus-
correctly, and appreciated that Arthur’s vision in sions took place. Intuitively he felt that the use of
establishing the conference had been the greatest the word liquefaction (with or without any accom-
single step in bringing soil mechanics to the atten- panying adjectives) to describe the effects of earth-
tion of the engineering world. quake loading or cyclic loading in building up pore
In September 1938, after the major slide during water pressures and deformations in sands was
the construction of Fort Peck Dam, Professor inappropriate and led to unjustified concern on the

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 ARTHUR CASAGRANDE 91

part of engineers not familiar with this termin- ducting concentrated inquiries leading to keen
ology. It was mainly for this reason that in 1976 he insights and extensive writings on this important
published his paper entitled ‘Liquefaction and study. The truth is that he had long before been
cyclic deformation of sands-a critical review’. To able to equate work with pleasure, and his long-
Casagrande, who invented the term in soil time love affair with soil mechanics and soil be-
mechanics, liquefaction meant a substantial loss of haviour, in all its aspects, enriched both his life and
strength that persisted over very large deforma- the lives of those around him.
tions and led to flow-type behaviour. Always very Casagrande was neat and orderly in everything
precise about the meaning of words, he strenu- except the arrangement of his desk and the ad-
ously objected to the use of the term for more jacent table which were covered, sometimes to a
limited deformation behaviour, even though such depth of several feet, with a heterogeneous assort-
movements might be damaging to engineered ment of files, reports, magazines and papers. How-
structures. ever, he knew exactly where, in all the apparent
This led to a great debate among a small circle of disorder, to locate a given file or scrap of paper.
his colleagues which persisted for about eight When the morning mail arrived, he would open
years. Casagrande always believed that a frank the top letter, read it, then turn to his typewriter (it
discussion of different views would eventually may have been the same one he purchased for
clarify the issues and in his 1976 paper he said Terzaghi in 1926) and type a reply. Few letters
went unanswered the same day. Also, at intervals
I have always learned during these decades that
whenever I found myself in disagreement with a highly whenever thoughts came to him, he would type out
experienced and respected colleague it was for one or notes to be placed in his files or memos to his sta5,
more of the following reasons: (1) We looked at to the administration or others. These memos,
different aspects of the same problem, (2) We although usually brief, were nevertheless descrip-
generalized too much on the basis of different sets of tive in great detail of what he expected or wanted.
empirical data and (3) We used the same terminology In the laboratory every detail of new apparatus
for different phenomena. was critically examined to ensure that the results of
Nevertheless agreement on terminology was tests were not adversely atrected by friction in a
difficult to achieve and the group discussions were bearing or by a leaky membrane. When samples of
discontinued. Casagrande still wanted a resolution a new material arrived, they were subjected to the
of the problem, however, and in late 1976 he made most detailed visual and manual classification
his position on the matter of cyclic loading be- techniques. Undisturbed samples of stratified
haviour very clear: ‘. . whatever you agree upon, I clays, when extruded from Shelby tubes, were
will accept, provided it does not include the word scraped to expose fresh surfaces which were then
liquefaction’. This was not easily accomplished partially air dried and examined, each layer being
but, not surprisingly, his wishes were ultimately minutely sketched and classified.
respected and a concerted effort was made to re- Despite meticulous attention to detail, or per-
establish his original definition of the term. This haps as a result of it, Casagrande developed a
pleased him enormously. It ended a long period of perspective of engineering judgement which his
concern over the direction of studies in this area colleagues learned never to discount, and which
and led, in his words, to ‘a major and urgently gained the trust of his clients. His reputation
needed contribution to the profession’. spread throughout the world and his advice was
Such detailed and extensive discussions of much sought on many of the major soil engineer-
important aspects of soil behaviour were a charac- ing problems of the 20th century. Despite many
teristic feature of Casagrande’s modrrs operandi. demands on his time, he seldom cancelled a class-
He could strongly disagree with his colleagues room lecture, as teaching and lecturing assign-
(who were often former students) and yet accept ments always carried top priority. Although he
their contrary views in a spirit of goodwill and spent more time away from home than he would
mutual respect which engendered the deep feelings have liked-he enjoyed his family and was im-
of loyalty and affection with which he was univer- mensely proud of their accomplishments-he felt
sally regarded. an overwhelming obligation to fulfil his consulting
It was during the Teton Dam investigations that commitments, and often these obligations took
he first learned of the seriousness of his illness. This precedence over his family. It was not uncommon
sad news had no apparent effect on his way of life. to see the lights on in his office in Pierce Hall, not
He continued to work 12-15 hour days to help only at weekends but even on Christmas Day and
ensure that no stone was left unturned which New Year’s Eve.
would throw light on the cause of this important Of all his consulting projects, dams were his
failure. His colleagues on the investigation panel favourite, and on these jobs he could only be
were constantly amazed at his capacity for con- described as an artist. He gave the greatest care to

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 92 WILSON. SEED AND PECK

the selection, treatment and arrangement of the liquefaction of a large mass of overlying sand, both
materials to be placed in the dam. For him, it was in the foundation and in the saturated upstream
not enough that the calculated factor of safety portion of the dam. His views were not shared by
should have an accepted value. He worked the remainder of the consulting board and in later
towards the best dam that could be constructed years he often remarked that a reappraisal of the
within economic limits, and insisted on including slide would be rewarding.
every reasonable detail that could improve per- After the Fort Peck slide, Casagrande was
formance, even if the results of the details were involved in the great Corps of Engineers’ dams on
difficult to quantify. He refused to debate the the Missouri, particularly Oahe Dam, at a time
influence of these refinements on the value of the when soil mechanics was developing the
factor of safety; he simply pointed out that they understanding and techniques to make those dams
produced a better dam. No one had a keener sense possible.
of the inadequacies of design procedures to take During this same period his impact as an
into account all the ways water may act to eminent consulting engineer and gifted and
endanger man’s structures, and no one devoted inspiring teacher was strongly felt in Canada. For
more attention to providing defences in depth 50 years he was consulted on the soil behaviour
against the ways in which nature might seek to aspects of many of the largest civil engineering
weaken his structures. projects throughout Canada. These projects, in
He especially loved personal relationships with their success, form indelible and long-lasting
fellow board members and with clients, engineers monuments to his professional talents.
and contractors. He called this aspect of consulting Included in these projects were Mica Dam-the
‘human engineering’. On a job, after dinner, when highest earthfill dam in North America-
consultants and the people on the job gathered for Manicouagan III Dam, which has a 410ft deep
fellowship, Arthur always became the centre of concrete cut-off wall, and Gardiner Dam on the
attention as he drew on his great store of South Saskatchewan River Project. Gardiner Dam
anecdotes. He had a remarkable memory for was founded on Bearpaw shale with bentonite
enlightening or amusing incidents, many recalling seams (similar to the Pierre Shale on the Missouri).
the early days of soil mechanics, and he recounted These foundation conditions presented unusual
them with great skill and relish. He often used a stability problems requiring stage construction,
pertinent anecdote to break a tense moment or to extensive instrumentation and major design
enliven a dull period in meetings of consultant modifications during construction. Casagrande, as
boards. chairman of the board of consulting engineers, not
One of Casagrande’s earliest consulting only provided advice and guidance throughout the
assignments was for the Corps of Engineers’ design and construction (194&68) but also was
Franklin Falls Dam. The right abutment and deeply involved in the post-construction perform-
foundation of this 13Oft high embankment dam ance of this project. He received monthly reports
were of fine to medium sand in a loose condition. on instrumentation data which he reviewed
Seepage analyses performed by Casagrande led to promptly and commented on until he was
the adoption of an upstream blanket with a deep physically unable to do so.
intercepting drainage trench. Because of the In 1955 the Southern Pacific Company decided
danger of flow slides, the sand foundation was to replace its 12 mile timber trestle across the
made denser by blasting. The proposed grading Great Salt Lake with an embankment.
tests of the filters of the drainage trench were Casagrande’s assignment on this project, as he
performed by G. E. Bertram as part of a general often expressed it, ‘stretched his imagination to its
programme of filter studies supervised by Dr elastic limit’. This underwater fill was supported
Casagrande. The successful performance of the over a portion of its length on a layer of crystalline
Franklin Falls Dam marked a milestone in design salt underlain by very soft clay. Despite extensive
and construction of embankment dams on explorations and theoretical analyses, numerous
pervious foundations. failures occurred in test fills and in the prototype
During the construction of Fort Peck Dam in embankment. In his classic paper entitled ‘An
1938, a weakness in the underlying Bearpaw shale unsolved problem of embankment stability on soft
resulted in the development of strains in the ground’ he stated, ‘It is discouraging to arrive at
overlying foundation sand stratum and in a the conclusion that we do not know with any
portion of the upstream section of the dam consist- reasonable degree of accuracy the magnitude of the
ing of a hydraulically deposited sand fill. principal driving force, the earth pressure that is
Casagrande believed strongly that the massive acting within the embankment, nor the effective
failure was a combination of shear failure in shearing resistance of the foundation clay.’ Never-
bentonite layers within the Bearpaw shale and theless, he considered that to achieve maximum

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 ARTHUR CASAGRANDE 93

economy it was reasonable to design and build the and of the International Society for Soil
trestle with a factor of safety practically equal to Mechanics and Foundation Engineering.
unity, and that if it had been completed without a He was the recipient of many awards and prizes,
single failure it would have been overdesigned. including the Clemens Herschel Prize (BSCE,
(This was not his philosophy on embankment 1933) Desmond Fitzgerald Medal (BSCE, 1936),
dams.) Just before completion of the project in SM (Hon.) of Harvard University (1942),
1959, a major failure occurred. Normally, such Certificate of Appreciation from the War Depart-
failures were buttressed and refilled slowly, but to ment for services in a position of trust and re-
do that in this instance would have delayed the sponsibility during the Second World War,
project at least six months. Over the objection of Structural Section Prize (BSCE, 1947) Arthur M.
the other Board members, Casagrande approved Wellington Prize (ASCE, 1950), Clemens Herschel
the rapid refilling of this particular failure, without Prize (BSCE, 1951) Honorary Doctor of Science
stating the basis for his decision. To the delight of (University of Mexico, 1952), President of the
the owners and the amazement of his associates, it Boston Society of Civil Engineers (1957-58),
worked. Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize
One of his last consulting assignments was on (ASCE, 1959), First Rankine Lecturer (British
Itaipu Dam in Brazil-the largest concentrated National Society of Soil Mechanics and Founda-
hydropower development in the world. This tion Engineering, 1961), Honorary Member of the
capped a long list of embankment dams in Latin Soil Mechanics Society of Venezuela (1961),
America for which he had a special fondness. President of the International Society of Soil
One of his more difficult assignments was for Mechanics and Foundation Engineering (1961-
Tarbela Dam across the Indus in Pakistan. This 65), First Karl Terzaghi Award (ASCE, 1963),
enormous project-2745 m long and 145 m high- Honorary President of the Second Pan-American
is founded on up to 220m of river alluvium Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation
containing zones of open-work gravel. Casagrande Engineering (1963) Second Terzaghi Lecturer
played an active role in the exploration, design, (ASCE, 1964) Honorary Member of BSCE (1965),
construction and performance of this-the largest Honorary Member of ASCE (1965), Dr honoris
embankment dam in the world-for nearly two causa (Technical University of Vienna, 1965),
decades: from 1960 to during the last year of his Member of the National Academy of Engineering
life. Since the great depth of alluvium made a cut- (1966), Decoration for Distinguished Civil Service
off to bedrock impractical, the embankment (31 January 1967, awarded by Secretary of the
incorporates in its design most of the defence Army), Edmund Friedman Professional
mechanisms which Casagrande developed during Recognition Award (ASCE, 1968), Honorary
his lifetime. These measures include an upstream Member of the Mexican Soil Mechanics Society
impervious blanket, multiple zoning, downstream (1970), First Nabor Carrillo Lecturer (Mexican
relief wells and drainage ditches, drainage galleries Society for Soil Mechanics, 1972), Honorary Dr
and grout curtains in the abutments, and self- L. C. (University of Liege, Belgium, 1975), Decor-
healing well-graded non-cohesive materials in the ated order of Rio Branco (Brazil, 1980), Award of
core. Merit (American Consulting Engineers Council,
Casagrande was an active member of many 1973), Goethals Medal (Society of Military
professional societies. He was a Member of the Engineers) and Moles Award (1976).
National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the In 1969 Arthur Casagrande retired to a half-time
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow professorship. On that occasion, several hundred
of the Geological Society of America, an Honorary of his former students honoured him and his family
Member of the American and Boston Societies of at a dinner and presented him with a bound
Civil Engineering, an Honorary Member of the volume of testimonials from friends and associates.
Mexican Soil Mechanics Society, the Venezuelan His old friend and associate H. A. Mohr-always a
Soil Mechanics Society, the Japanese Soil man of few words-wrote a one sentence
Mechanics Society and the National Academy of testimonial: ‘You taught me everything I know
Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Argentina. about soil mechanics’. The same could be said by
He was also a Member of the International Society many others.
for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, In 1973 Casagrande became Professor Emeritus
the US Committee on Large Dams, the American and gave up active teaching. He continued his
Geophysical Union, the Highway Research Board, research on the behaviour of non-cohesive sands
the American Society for Engineering Education, and, to the fullest extent of his physical endurance,
the Society of Harvard Engineers and Scientists, stepped up the pace of his lecturing and of his
and of Sigma Xi. In addition, he was past- consultations. He could not say ‘No’ to a challen-
President of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers ging assignment.

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 94 WILSON, SEED AND PECK

At the end he left behind three uncompleted lifetime. Unfortunately the problems were too
tasks which he had established for himself long complex and progress was too slow.
ago. The first was his book on soil mechanics. For Words are not adequate to express the deep
nearly 40 years he typed notes for inclusion in sense of loss experienced not only by Arthur
various chapters and many times he wrote and Casagrande’s family, but also by his countless
rewrote the introduction, but the book had to be friends and associates all over the world. All will
perfect and, because he was his own severest critic, miss his seemingly tireless devotion to solving
he could not satisfy himself. difficult problems and his devotion to passing his
In the 1950s he agreed to prepare for the Corps knowledge on to others. But perhaps most of all,
of Engineers a comprehensive report on the he will be missed as a man who genuinely cared
Atterberg limits. Again, he set his goals too high about others and a man who, even under most
and was never able to accomplish a finished trying conditions, was able to maintain a great
* product. sense of humour.
The behaviour of sand had always challenged He is survived by his wife Erna (nee Maas), his
him from the time he first developed the concept of brother Leo Casagrande, his sister Alix Robinson,
critical void ratio. He hoped that the last missing his daughters Vivien McKanna and Sandra, and a
elements, including an understanding of cyclic grandson James McKanna, Jr.
loading phenomena, would be resolved in his

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