The American colonel who brought General Electric turbines and dam-building expertise to the Soviet Union's showcase construction site
At the 1932 Dneprostroi dedication: "The practical experience of American methods thus acquired will be a lever in raising the living standards of this country."
A self-taught dam engineer, Hugh Lincoln Cooper made his name by taming the Horseshoe Rapids at Niagara (1907) and spanning the Mississippi at Keokuk (1913), rising to become America's foremost hydroelectric builder. In 1926 the Soviet government invited him as chief consultant for Dneprostroi; he supplied General Electric turbines, supervised every phase of construction, and delivered Europe's largest power station eight months ahead of schedule in 1932. That September the USSR awarded Cooper and five other American engineers the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, the first time the decoration went to a foreigner. He remained an anti-communist all his life, but without his dam there would have been no flagship achievement for the First Five-Year Plan.
Career Timeline
- 1907Completed Toronto Power Generating Station, Horseshoe Rapids, Niagara
- 1913Completed Keokuk Dam and power plant, Mississippi River
- 1914Consultant, Aswan Dam power conversion (interrupted by WWI)
- 1917–1918Supervising engineer, US Army Corps of Engineers; colonel
- 1919Completed Lake Zumbro Hydroelectric Plant, Minnesota
- 1924Completed Wilson Dam, Alabama (later part of TVA)
- 1927–1932Chief consultant, Dneprostroi (DneproGES), USSR
- 1932Awarded Order of the Red Banner of Labour (first foreign recipient)