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West Coast Consulting Firm Gets Large Minicomputer to Keep Pace with Growth

by Henry W. Haeseker, Principal Engineer; Boyle Engrg. Corp., Orlando, Fla.,
Charles Hodge, Data Svcs. Mgr.; Boyle Engrg. Corp., Newport Beach, Calif.,


Serial Information: Civil Engineering—ASCE, 1978, Vol. 48, Issue 4, Pg. 60-65


Document Type: Feature article

Abstract:

This article tells the story of computer use in a medium-sized consulting engineering firm in the water resources field, Boyle Engineering Co., of Newport Beach, Calif. In the mid 1960's, the firm put computer time-sharing terminals in all their offices, and led to the establishment of the firm's Dept. of Computer Services in 1969. A small IBM 1130 computer, rented at a cost of $1500/month, performed reliably, and rapid progress was made. Growth brought more accounting problems, more management problems, more engineering problems�� all for the computer. The 1130 became overworked and was upgraded by adding peripherals. Finally, this computer was replaced by a more powerful look-alike�� the CHI-2130, a computer 20 times more productive than the original IBM 1130. After more than three years of use of the CHI, the company is replacing it with a still bigger and more versatile computer, the HP-3000. This computer can accomodate up to 64 remote terminals, and will be closer to company engineers.

Subject Headings: Computing in civil engineering | Consulting services | Water resources | Hydraulic engineering | Engineering firms | Sea water | Benefit cost ratios

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