Roebling, Washington Augustus
- Roebling, Washington Augustus
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b. 26 May 1837 Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, USA
d. 21 July 1926 Trenton, New Jersey, USA.
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American civil engineer.
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The son of John Augustus Roebling, he graduated in 1857 from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as a civil engineer, and joined his father in his suspension bridge construction work. He served in the Civil War as a colonel of engineers in the Union Army, and in 1867, two years after the end of the war, he went to Europe to study new methods of sinking underwater foundations by means of compressed air. These new methods were employed in the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, of which he took charge on his father's death in 1869. Timber pneumatic caissons were used, with a maximum pressure of 34 psi (2.4 kg/cm2) above atmospheric pressure. Two years after work on the piers had started in the caissons, Roebling, who had been working constantly with the men on the foundations of the piers, was carried unconscious out of the caisson, a victim of decompression sickness, then known as “caisson disease”. He was paralysed and lost the use of his voice. From then on he directed the rest of the work from the sickroom of his nearby house, his wife, Emily Warren Roebling, helping with his instructions and notes and carrying them out to the workforce; she even read a statement from him to the American Society of Civil Engineers. The erection of the cables, which were of steel, began in August 1876 and took twenty-six months to complete. In 1881 eleven trustees and Emily Warren Roebling walked across temporary planking, but the decking of the total span was not completed until 1885, fourteen years after construction of the bridge had started. The Brooklyn Bridge was Roebling's last major work, although following the death of his nephew in 1921 he was forced to head again the management of Roebling \& Company, though aged 84 and an invalid.
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Further Reading
D.B.Steinman and S.R.Watson, 1941, Bridges and their Builders, New York: Dover Books.
D.McCullough, 1982, The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn
Bridge, New York: Simon \& Schuster.
IMcN
Biographical history of technology. - Taylor & Francis e-Librar.
Lance Day and Ian McNeil.
2005.
Look at other dictionaries:
ROEBLING, Washington Augustus — See ROEBLING, John Augustus … Historical Dictionary of Architecture
Roebling, Washington Augustus — ▪ American engineer born May 26, 1837, Saxonburg, Pa., U.S. died July 21, 1926, Trenton, N.J. U.S. civil engineer under whose direction the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, was completed in 1883; the bridge was designed by Roebling with his… … Universalium
Roebling, John Augustus — born , June 12, 1806, Mühlhausen, Prussia died July 22, 1869, Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., U.S. German U.S. civil engineer, a pioneer in the design of suspension bridges. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1831. His best known work is New York s Brooklyn… … Universalium
Roebling,John Augustus — Roeb·ling (rōʹblĭng), John Augustus. 1806 1869. German born American engineer who designed and began the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, a project completed (1883) by his son Washington Augustus Roebling (1837 1926). * * * … Universalium
ROEBLING, John Augustus — (1806 1869) and Washington Augustus ROEBLING (1837 1926) See STEEL … Historical Dictionary of Architecture
Washington Augustus Roebling — (* 26. Mai 1837 in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania; † 21. Juli 1926 in Trenton, New Jersey) war ein US amerikanischer Ingenieur, bekannt für seine Arbeit an der Brooklyn Bridge, die durch seinen Vater John August Roebling begonnen wurde. Roebling erhielt … Deutsch Wikipedia
Roebling, John Augustus — (12 jun. 1806, Mühlhausen, Prusia–22 jul. 1869, Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., EE.UU.). Ingeniero civil alemán estadounidense, un pionero en el diseño de puentes colgantes. Emigró a EE.UU. en 1831. Su obra más conocida es el puente de Brooklyn de Nueva… … Enciclopedia Universal
Washington August Roebling — Washington Augustus Roebling (* 26. Mai 1837 in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania; † 21. Juli 1926 in Trenton, New Jersey) war ein US amerikanischer Ingenieur, bekannt für seine Arbeit an der Brooklyn Bridg … Deutsch Wikipedia
Washington Roebling — Washington Augustus Roebling (* 26. Mai 1837 in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania; † 21. Juli 1926 in Trenton, New Jersey) war ein US amerikanischer Ingenieur, bekannt für seine Arbeit an der Brooklyn Bridge, die durch seinen Vater John August Roebling… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Washington Roebling — Washington Augustus Roebling (né le 26 mai 1837 à Saxonburg, Pennsylvanie, mort le 21 juillet 1926 à Trenton, New Jersey) était un ingénieur américain d origine allemande, connu pour son rôle majeur dans la construction du pont de Brooklyn,… … Wikipédia en Français
Washington Roebling — Infobox Architect caption=Washington Augustus Roebling (1837 1926) name=Washington Augustus Roebling nationality=American (German heritage) birth date=May 26, 1837 birth place=Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, USA death date=July 21, 1926 death… … Wikipedia
