You have reached the website of Cecil R. Bearden, P.E. I retired as the Engineer in Charge of Oklahoma's Dam Safety Program. I started as an engineer with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board in 1977. I made the first dam safety inspection in the Oklahoma under President Carter's Safety of Dams program following the Taccoa Falls dam failure. This was one of the first dam inspections in the United States. With the help of the Tulsa District Corps of Engineers, we started one of the most comprehensive inspective programs in the U.S.
During my tenure I had the privilege to work with engineers who shaped the science of soils engineering. These engineers were with the USDA Soil Conservation Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and the US Army Corps of Engineers. I also had the privilege to be mentored by 3 great men who built and maintained some of the largest Corps of Engineers dams in the United States. These retired engineers became my best friends anyone could have. They always had time to explain the complexities of concrete or embankment design, and to share some of their more than 100 years of combined experience. I dedicate this site to John Murchison, engineering geologist, Johnson Miller, P.E., and Wayne Cowan, engineering geologist, the best mentors a young engineer could have.
I have a varied experience background. I graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1975 with a B.S. degree in Agricultural Engineering. I woked in various jobs for the next 2 years. Manufacturing, large scale dairy farming, excavation and grading contrractor, and in 1977 I went to work for the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) www.owrb.ok.gov for a winter job until the economy picked up, and stayed for 30 years.
Durng my tenure with the OWRB I was the Oklahoma representative to the Association of Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) www.damsafety.org , and served as one of the western states representatives for 8 years. I worked on many committees to promote the safety of dams in the U.S. including the committee to provide funding for dam repair.
I now design dams. Most of my designs are earthfill dams. I also design foundations and analyze watersheds and hydraulic structures to pass the floods created by rainfall on those watersheds.
This website is my first attempt at organizing some of the information necesary to build a dam in the state of Oklahoma. It is a work in progress. It will expand as I gather information and pictures of projects I was fortunate to work on during my 30 years as the Engineer in Charge of the Dam Safety Program in OKlahoma.
If you are thinking of building a dam or any type of structure needing geotechnical or hydraulic analysis, or need to have a dam inspected or evaluated, please contact me.
