In 1939, when IIHR organized the first Hydraulics Conference, professional hydraulicians had few opportunities to meet and educate one another by sharing ideas and research results in person. The seven national Hydraulics Conferences, which were organized and hosted by IIHR, helped fill this gap. Most focused on a single research theme (indicated below). The conference series was eventually replaced by other professional hydraulics conferences (such as ASCE’s annual Water Resources Engineering Conference).

This record group consists of three archival boxes. Some of the original sketches and photographs for the book Engineering Hydraulics are archived elsewhere, in IIHR’s graphics archives.

Box 1: Conferences #1–4, 1939, 1942, 1946, and 1949

• First Hydraulics Conference (June 1939)
• Second Hydraulics Conference (June 1942, focused on applications of fluid mechanics)
• Third Hydraulics Conference (June 1946, focused on post-war applications of war research). Three folders:
  • General
  • Orders for Conference Proceedings
  • Correspondence with participants and about Proceedings

• Fourth Hydraulics Conference (June 1949, focused on production of Engineering Hydraulics). Three folders (plus 14 folders in Box 2):
  • General
  • Group correspondence, Engineering Hydraulics
  • Correspondence, planning, and Engineering Hydraulics (two folders)

NOTE: Engineering Hydraulics was a book edited by Rouse and published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., in 1950. This 1,039-page comprehensive reference manual comprised the Proceedings of the Fourth Hydraulics Conference, which was organized with the book’s production in mind.

Box 2: Conference #4, June 1949, Engineering Hydraulics Book (Also Box 1)

• Correspondence, planning, and Engineering Hydraulics (third of three folders)
• Chapters in Engineering Hydraulics Thirteen folders:
  • Hunter Rouse chapter on “Fundamental Principles of Flow”
  • Carl Brown chapter on “Sediment Transport”
  • G. Folsom and James Daily chapter on “Hydraulic Machinery”
  • Art Ippen chapter on “Channel Controls and Transitions”
  • Joe W. Howe chapter on “Flow Measurement”
  • Bruce Gilcrest chapter on “Flood Routing”
  • Charles Jacob chapter on “Flow of Ground Water”
  • H. Keulegan chapter on “Wave Motion”
  • John S. McNown chapter on “Surges and Water Hammer”
  • J. Posey chapter on “Gradually Varied Flow”
  • L. Streeter chapter on “Steady Flow in Pipes and Conduits”
  • E. Warnock chapter on “Hydraulic Similitude”
  • Gordon Williams chapter on “Hydrology”

Box 3: Conferences 5–7, 1952, 1955, and 1958

• Fifth Hydraulics Conference (June 1952, focused on sediment transport). Three folders:
  • General
  • Correspondence (planning, speakers, and proceedings)
  • Proceedings Chapters, Correspondence

• Sixth Hydraulics Conference (June 1955, focused on measurement of fluid flow). Three folders:
  • General
  • Correspondence (planning and proceedings)
  • Experimental Techniques class held after conference (June 13–July 2, 1955)

• Seventh Hydraulics Conference (June 1958, focused on agreement between prototype and model behavior). Two folders:
  • General
  • Correspondence