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Retired civil engineer Bernard 鈥淏ud鈥� Ossey played a significant role in some of the most important hydroelectric facility projects in the Pacific Northwest. But don’t expect the centenarian to tell you that.

鈥淚 was just one person working with a team,鈥� Ossey said recently at his residence in Tigard, where he still keeps a tidy office and produces his own business cards.

Ossey turned 100 on Nov. 5. This past Wednesday, the Society of American Military Engineers’ Portland Post hosted a celebration at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Portland District headquarters. There, former and active civil engineers toasted Ossey’s career and shared highlights of the projects he worked on.

鈥淗e’s not going to tell you these things,鈥� SAME Portland Post board member Toni Leon said. 鈥淗e’s very humble and he’s very big on team.鈥�

Ossey was on the teams that built McNary Dam, The Dalles Dam, John Day Dam, Chief Joseph Dam and Green Peter Reservoir. These landmarks continue to play a critical role in powering the Pacific Northwest as part of the Army Corps of Engineers’ massive network of infrastructure.

鈥淏ud is a living legend and the story of civil engineering in Oregon can’t be told without him,鈥� Justin Stranzl, the business development head for DLR Group, stated via email.

Leon wholeheartedly agrees.

鈥淗e still casts a shadow when he walks into meetings,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople know who he is, and he knows a lot of people.鈥�

Ossey worked in a much different era, but with the same precision and care employed by civil engineers today, SAME Portland Post President Terry Hosaka said.

鈥淭he science and the math still work,鈥� Hosaka said. 鈥淭hey had very different tools back then. Bud was doing calculations on a slide rule, and we have massive computing power and digital tools. But he obviously is a legend among those of us involved in that organization and similarly at the Army Corps because he was there for such a long time and has left an indelible imprint on the folks who were there.鈥�

First a student, then a trainer

Ossey was born Bernard Osipovich. He left Odessa, Ukraine, with his mother, grandfather, uncle and three siblings for the U.S. in 1920 to escape the political chaos surrounding the Russian Revolution. His family members shortened their surname to 鈥淥ssey鈥� and moved into a new home in Portland. Bud’s father, Abraham Osipovich, joined the family three years later after a harrowing ordeal involving a trek across Poland.

In 1924, Ossey’s father enrolled at Oregon Agricultural College (later renamed Oregon State University) to study mechanical engineering; he graduated in 1927. Bud followed his father’s footsteps a decade after graduating from Benson Polytechnic High School; however, he chose to study civil engineering at the college.

But after just a year in school, during the Great Depression, Ossey took a job in 1938 with the Bonneville Power Administration to help survey teams design the future path of the Bonneville-Grand Coulee transmission line across central Washington. It turned out to be a transformative experience for Ossey, who likened it to an internship.

鈥淭hat’s about what it was,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here was this little thing called the Depression that hit and I had no money and my folks couldn’t afford to put me through school, so I stayed out for a year and a half.鈥�

Ossey returned to the college as a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadet in 1939. But then he was drafted into the U.S. Army. However, the Army allowed Ossey to continue his education, and he graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1943 while remaining in active service. Along the way he married his high school sweetheart, Maxine, in 1942. But duty called during World War II.

鈥淚 was mostly training troops,鈥� Ossey said. 鈥淚 was (ready to travel) overseas with a combat engineer outfit in 1944 before Normandy. And I was ready to go in the boat, and they pulled me off because I had background experience in construction and engineering, and they said I’d be more valuable training troops than being over there.鈥�

It was fortuitous for Ossey.

鈥淭he outfit I was with had 87 percent casualties,鈥� he said.

Ossey was discharged from active service in 1946, but remained in the Army Reserves for two more decades.

A start in hydroelectric design

At that point, the nation began investing in efforts to strengthen and expand its infrastructure. Ossey sought to return to his former job with the BPA, but the agency would only offer him his former salary.

鈥淚 had more opportunities than that,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 went and applied at the (Army Corps of Engineers) because that’s where my father had worked. I was the first civil engineer hired in the hydroelectric design branch.鈥�

Ossey’s first job was contributing to the engineering and design of the massive, 1,422-foot-long powerhouse for the new McNary Dam across the Columbia River. Located a mile east of Umatilla, the dam spanned more than 7,300 feet across the river; 14 turbines each rated at 70,000 kilowatts generated power. The concrete structure reached 183 feet in height and was built by the Army Corps of Engineers between 1947 and 1954. Power generation began in 1957 and continues to this day 鈥� enough at peak output to power more than 650,000 homes.

鈥淲e had on the planning boards several other projects,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut my first one was the McNary Dam at Umatilla. We patterned our basic model on the Bonneville (Dam) powerhouse, but we modified it because it’s a lot bigger than Bonneville. It was a beautiful project.鈥�

In addition to size, Ossey noted, advances in technology and materials meant the McNary Dam used a much higher grade of concrete and more reinforcing steel than Bonneville.

鈥淲e were increasing the design because the possibility of bombing was still a threat,鈥� Ossey said. 鈥淚t was a good engineering job for me working on that; it was good to have a pattern to follow, but the design was more up to date. There were larger turbines than Bonneville and they had to provide a better design for the generators because of those turbines.鈥�

鈥楩rom one project to the next’

From there, Ossey went directly to work on an even larger dam at The Dalles. It remains one of the 10 largest hydroelectric facilities in the U.S. The powerhouse alone is nearly 2,100 feet in length and holds 22 turbines with a total capacity of 1.87 megawatts, and Ossey once again played an integral role in its engineering.

Construction began in 1952 and finished in 1957 as one of the key components of a 10-dam plan for the Columbia River first laid out by the Army Corps of Engineers in the early 1930s. World War II interrupted the program after the Bonneville and Grand Coulee dams were constructed, leaving a backlog of projects for the postwar period.

鈥淚t was continuous,鈥� Ossey said. 鈥淵ou worked from one project to the next. I went to The Dalles, John Day and the Chief Joseph dams; that was one of my larger projects that I worked on. I was involved in some of the work in the Willamette Valley, and I was in charge of the powerhouse at Green Peter Reservoir.鈥�

The Chief Joseph Dam, which began operating in 1961, is the largest hydroelectric facility run by the Army Corps of Engineers. It is the third-largest hydroelectric power-generating facility in the U.S. (The John Day Dam ranks fifth, and The Dalles Dam ranks seventh.)

鈥淢y satisfaction is that we got the job done and it was a job that accommodated our goals of providing power to the Northwest and the Bonneville Power grid,鈥� Ossey said.

However, he doesn’t have a favorite project.

鈥淭hey were all exciting for me because I was a young engineer starting out,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y first job was the McNary powerhouse and it got increasingly more interesting as the power necessity developed and more powerhouses were built.鈥�

A shift in focus in later years

The John Day Dam powerhouse was one of the last major projects Ossey worked on before he retired from the Army Corps of Engineers in 1974. By then he had moved into resource management.

鈥淚’m glad I did it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was interesting and I got completely out of the technical side of things and it got more political.鈥�

That role took Ossey throughout the Northwest for meetings with local, county, state and federal agencies involved in partnerships operating facilities with the Army Corps of Engineers.

鈥淚 got to know everybody,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was a very interesting job.鈥�

Retirement allowed Ossey to devote more time to his beloved Oregon State University athletics.

鈥淚 started the golf tournament for the university in 1971 and I still am involved in running the tournament after 49 years,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s what’s kept the golf program going at OSU. I’ve been pretty much involved with Oregon State for a lot of years.鈥�

The Bud and Maxine Ossey Golf Center is named after Ossey and his late wife.

SAME’s Portland Post holds a similar golf fundraiser each year, Leon added.

鈥淲e have a scholarship in his name through the SAME Portland Post,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s open to engineering students, veterans, and even those still on active service. That’s the Bud Ossey tournament.鈥�