Gustav Lindenthal

File:Hell Gate Bridge ca 1917.jpg

The Hell Gate Bridge circa 1917.

Gustav Lindenthal (May 21 1850--July 31 1935) was a civil engineer, best known for his design of the Hell Gate Bridge across New York City's East River, which was completed in 1916.

He was born in Brno, Moravia. After working on railroads and bridges in Austria, he emigrated to the United States in 1871, where, prior to his work on the Hell Gate Bridge, he served as a construction engineer on the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition from 1874 to 1877. He died in Metuchen, New Jersey.

Lindenthal's work was greatly affected by his pursuit for perfection and his love of art. His structures not only serve the purpose they were designed for, but are aesthetically pleasing to the public eye. Having recieved little formal education and no degree in civil engineering, Lindenthal based his work off of prior experience and techniques used by other engineers of the time.

Standard Engineering Practices

Lindenthal had a difference in opinion with one of the standard engineering practices of the day. Trains were very popular during this time and made up a majority of large bridge building that took place. Trains being as heavy as they were made engineers greatly overcompensate and build bridges that were oversized, bulky, and expensive. Lindenthal pointed out that bridges did not have to support the full load of a train. The train moves across the bridge and displaces its load evenly. This was not how the bridges were tested to see if a design worked though. The train’s dead weight was simply added to the bridge, and if it did not hold, it was said to be structurally unstable. Lindenthal’s idea of not haveing to carry the full load allowed bridge designers to creat bridges that were still stable, but at the same time much lighter and cheaper.

External link

• Biography by American Society of Civil Engineers

In one instance, a bridge needed to be constructed over the Monongahela River, after the ferry, which was used for many years beforehand, became outdated. The first bridge, designed by John Roebling, continuously swayed and deflected, as well as being "shaky and loose." (Petroski 1994). Lindenthal was then given an opportunity to design a replacement bridge, and then came up with the Smithfield Street Bridge. This bridge, built using the structural form of a lenticular truss, could withstand higher stresses, as well as using resources that made it more economical. "Lindenthal's use of steel instead of iron wherever possible was based upon economy as much as anything." (Petroski 1994). Approximately $23,000 was saved simply by using these materials.

EDUCATION AND PRACTICAL TRAINING OF LINDENTHAL

Gustav Lindenthal was born in the Czech Republic in 1850. Lindenthal like many people of his time received some sort of basic education. Lindenthal received a formal education until he was 16 years old, and at this time he was forced to get a job and help support his family. Lindenthal began to receive practical training in 1866 when he was employed as a mason and carpenter (Petroski 1995). At the age of 18, Lindenthal left his family to set out to make a life of his own in Vienna, Austria. When he arrived in Vienna he became an assistant in the engineering department for the Austrian Empress Railroad. Two years later he joined the Union Construction Company, where he gained experience in building incline planes and railroads. Then a year later he decided to join the Swiss National Railroad, where he was hired on as a division engineer in charge of location and construction. While living in Vienna, he attended some public engineering lectures at a local university. However, he never did actually attend the university or receive a degree. Lindenthal in fact taught himself mathematics, engineering theory, metallurgy, hydraulics, estimating, management, and everything else that a successful bridge engineer needed to know (Petroski 1995). Nevertheless, the lack of his formal education hindered him from further advancement in Europe, so he decided to immigrate to the United States in 1874. When he first arrived in the United States he was employed as a journeyman stone-mason for the memorial granite building of the Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia (Janberg 2006). After completion of this project, Lindenthal went and worked for the Keystone Bridge Company on numerous projects. While working for this company, he gained valuable experience which propelled him to the status of bridge engineer.