John A. Roebling
Encyclopedia
John Augustus Roebling was a German-born American
civil engineer
. He is famous for his wire rope
suspension bridge
designs, in particular, the design of the Brooklyn Bridge
.
Divi Blasii at Mühlhausen
. As a young boy he played the bass clarinet
and the french horn. He also exhibited great artistic talent for sketches and paintings. His father owned a small tobacco shop, but the business was insufficient to provide livelihood for all three sons. Roebling's sister Friederike Amalie married Carl August Meissner, a poor merchant in the town, and his oldest brother Herman Christian Roebling prepared to take over the tobacco shop.
. Recognizing his intelligence at a young age, Roebling's mother, Friederike Dorothea Roebling arranged for him to be tutored in mathematics and science at Erfurt
by Ephraim Salomon Unger. He went to Erfurt when he was 15. In 1824 he passed his Surveyor's examination and returned home for a year. In 1824 he enrolled for two semesters at the Bauakademie in Berlin where he studied architecture
and engineering
under Martin Friedrich Rabe (1765–1856), bridge construction and foundation construction under Johann Friedrich Dietlein (1782–1837), hydraulics
under Johann Albert Eytelwein (1764–1848), and languages. Roebling also attended lectures of the philosopher Hegel
. Roebling developed an interest in natural philosophy and many years later he worked on a 1000 page treatise about his own concepts of the universe.
In 1825 Roebling got a government job at Arnsberg
, Westphalia, working on military road building for four years. During this period he made sketches for suspension bridges. In 1829 he returned to his home to work out his final thesis and prepare for his second engineer examination. For unknown reasons, he never took the examination.
, which lasted until 1815. This period in European history left Prussia
with political unrest, as authoritarian governments took the places of democratic ones. Etzler had ideas about creating a utopia
in the United States, but disputes arose en route, and the group split. John and Carl purchased 1582 acres (6.4 km²) of land on October 28, 1831, in Butler County, Pennsylvania
with the intent to establish a German settlement, called Saxonburg
. Most of the other settlers remained with Etzler.
John Roebling and his brother arrived in the United States
at an interesting time. The nation was in the latter stages of an economic boom, which ended in the Panic of 1837
. Farmers were deeply affected by it. A dominant mode of thought in America would be called manifest destiny
by the 1840s. Transportation between eastern industrial hubs and frontier farming markets had become a matter of both national and popular interest. Many transportation projects were underway near the location he chose for his colony, but instead of continuing an engineering profession, he took up farming. After five years he married Johanna Herting, a tailor's daughter.
Agrarian work was unsatisfactory to John Roebling, and the colony attracted very few settlers. In 1837, after the death of his brother and the birth of his first child, he returned to engineering as a vocation.
Roebling's first engineering work in America was devoted to improving river navigation and canal
building. He spent three years surveying for railway lines across the Allegheny Mountains
, from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh
, for the state of Pennsylvania
. In 1840 he wrote to suspension bridge
designer Charles Ellet, Jr.
, offering to help with the design of a bridge near Philadelphia:
Roebling began producing wire rope
at Saxonburg in 1841. At that time canal boats from Philadelphia were transported over the Allegheny Mountains
on railroad cars to access waterways on the other side of the mountains, so that the boats could continue to Pittsburgh. The system of inclines and levels that moved the boats and conventional railroad cars was a state-owned enterprise, the Allegheny Portage Railroad
. The railroad cars were pulled up and down the inclines by a long loop of thick hemp
rope, up to 7 cm thick. The hemp ropes were expensive and had to be replaced frequently. Roebling remembered an article he read about wire ropes. Soon after, he started developing a 7-strand wire rope at a ropewalk
that he built on his farm.
In 1844 Roebling won a bid to replace the wooden canal aqueduct
across the Allegheny River
with the Allegheny Aqueduct
. His design encompassed seven spans of 163 feet (50m), each consisting of a wooden trunk to hold the water supported by a continuous cable made of many parallel wires, wrapped tightly together, on each side of the trunk. This was followed in 1845 by building a suspension bridge over the Monongahela River
at Pittsburgh. In 1848 Roebling undertook the construction of four suspension aqueducts on the Delaware and Hudson Canal
. During this period, he moved to Trenton, New Jersey
. In Trenton, Roebling built a large industrial complex for wire production. This complex inspired the Trenton, New Jersey
motto on Trenton's Lower Trenton Bridge
.
Roebling's next project, starting in 1851, was a railroad bridge connecting the New York Central and Great Western Railway
of Canada over the Niagara River
, which would take four years. The bridge, with a clear span of 825 feet (251m), was supported by four, ten-inch (25 cm) wire cables, and had two levels, one for vehicles and one for rail traffic.
While the Niagara bridge was being built, Roebling undertook another railway suspension bridge, across the Kentucky River
which required a clear span of 1,224 feet (373m). The anchorage and stone towers were completed, and the cable wire delivered along with the material for the superstructure, when the railway company became insolvent. The bridge construction was halted, and was later finished as a truss bridge
.
In 1859 Roebling completed another suspension bridge at Pittsburgh. Its total length was 1,030 feet (314m), consisting of two main spans of 344 feet (105m) each, and two side spans of 171 feet (52m) each.
The American Civil War
brought a temporary halt to Roebling's work. However, in 1863 building resumed on a bridge over the Ohio River
at Cincinnati which he had started in 1856 and halted due to financing; the bridge was finished in 1867. The Cincinnati-Covington Bridge, later named the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge
, was the world's longest suspension bridge at the time it was finished.
In 1867 Roebling started design work on what is now called the Brooklyn Bridge
, spanning the East River
in New York. One day in 1869 he was standing at the edge of a dock, working on fixing the location where the bridge would be built, when his foot was crushed by an arriving ferry
. His injured toes were amputated. He refused further medical treatment and wanted to cure his foot by "water therapy
" (continuous pouring of water over the wound). His condition deteriorated. He succumbed to tetanus
24 days after the accident.
Roebling devised "an equilibrium strength approach, in which equilibrium is always satisfied but compatibility of deformations is not enforced." This was essentially an approximation method similar to the force method: First, Roebling computed the dead and live loads, then divided the load between the cables and the stays. Roebling added a large safety factor to the divided loads and then solved for the forces. This approach gave a sufficiently accurate analysis of the structure given the assumption that the structure was sufficiently ductile
to handle the resulting deformation (Buonopane, 2006).
Roebling's son Washington Roebling
and his daughter-in-law Emily Warren Roebling
continued his work on the Brooklyn Bridge. His son Ferdinand expanded his wire rope business. His son Charles Roebling designed and invented a huge 80 ton wire rope machine and founded the town of Roebling, New Jersey where the John A. Roebling's Sons company steel mill was built. His grandson Washington A. Roebling II perished on the . His great-grandson Donald Roebling
was a noted philanthropist and inventor who devised the amphtrack.
and developed lockjaw. He suffered severe seizures and periodically lapsed into a coma before dying in the early morning hours of July 22, 1869 in Brooklyn Heights, New York.
Roebling is buried in the Riverview Cemetery in Trenton, New Jersey
, where his family resided until the death of his great-grandaughter Mary Roebling.
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United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
civil engineer
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
. He is famous for his wire rope
Wire rope
thumb|Steel wire rope Wire rope is a type of rope which consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a helix. Initially wrought iron wires were used, but today steel is the main material used for wire ropes....
suspension bridge
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
designs, in particular, the design of the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
.
Early life
Roebling was the youngest of four children. He was baptized in the Lutheran churchLutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
Divi Blasii at Mühlhausen
Mühlhausen
Mühlhausen is a city in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Unstrut-Hainich district, and lies along the river Unstrut. Mühlhausen had c. 37,000 inhabitants in 2006.-History:...
. As a young boy he played the bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
and the french horn. He also exhibited great artistic talent for sketches and paintings. His father owned a small tobacco shop, but the business was insufficient to provide livelihood for all three sons. Roebling's sister Friederike Amalie married Carl August Meissner, a poor merchant in the town, and his oldest brother Herman Christian Roebling prepared to take over the tobacco shop.
Education
At first John attended the gymnasium in MühlhausenMühlhausen
Mühlhausen is a city in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Unstrut-Hainich district, and lies along the river Unstrut. Mühlhausen had c. 37,000 inhabitants in 2006.-History:...
. Recognizing his intelligence at a young age, Roebling's mother, Friederike Dorothea Roebling arranged for him to be tutored in mathematics and science at Erfurt
Erfurt
Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
by Ephraim Salomon Unger. He went to Erfurt when he was 15. In 1824 he passed his Surveyor's examination and returned home for a year. In 1824 he enrolled for two semesters at the Bauakademie in Berlin where he studied architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
and engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
under Martin Friedrich Rabe (1765–1856), bridge construction and foundation construction under Johann Friedrich Dietlein (1782–1837), hydraulics
Hydraulics
Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...
under Johann Albert Eytelwein (1764–1848), and languages. Roebling also attended lectures of the philosopher Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the creators of German Idealism. His historicist and idealist account of reality as a whole revolutionized European philosophy and was an important precursor to Continental philosophy and Marxism.Hegel developed a comprehensive...
. Roebling developed an interest in natural philosophy and many years later he worked on a 1000 page treatise about his own concepts of the universe.
In 1825 Roebling got a government job at Arnsberg
Arnsberg
Arnsberg is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the location of the Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg's administration and one of the three local administration offices of the Hochsauerlandkreis.-Geography:...
, Westphalia, working on military road building for four years. During this period he made sketches for suspension bridges. In 1829 he returned to his home to work out his final thesis and prepare for his second engineer examination. For unknown reasons, he never took the examination.
Escaping Germany
On May 22, 1831, Roebling left Prussia with his brother Carl and Johann Adolphus Etzler, the technological utopianist. Economic mobility and career advancement were difficult for engineers in Prussian society. This unfortunate state of affairs had been brought about by the Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, which lasted until 1815. This period in European history left Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
with political unrest, as authoritarian governments took the places of democratic ones. Etzler had ideas about creating a utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
in the United States, but disputes arose en route, and the group split. John and Carl purchased 1582 acres (6.4 km²) of land on October 28, 1831, in Butler County, Pennsylvania
Butler County, Pennsylvania
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 174,083 people, 65,862 households, and 46,827 families residing in the county. The population density was 221 people per square mile . There were 69,868 housing units at an average density of 89 per square mile...
with the intent to establish a German settlement, called Saxonburg
Saxonburg, Pennsylvania
Saxonburg is a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,629 as of the 2000 census.- History :Founded in 1832 by John A...
. Most of the other settlers remained with Etzler.
Career
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at an interesting time. The nation was in the latter stages of an economic boom, which ended in the Panic of 1837
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis or market correction in the United States built on a speculative fever. The end of the Second Bank of the United States had produced a period of runaway inflation, but on May 10, 1837 in New York City, every bank began to accept payment only in specie ,...
. Farmers were deeply affected by it. A dominant mode of thought in America would be called manifest destiny
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
by the 1840s. Transportation between eastern industrial hubs and frontier farming markets had become a matter of both national and popular interest. Many transportation projects were underway near the location he chose for his colony, but instead of continuing an engineering profession, he took up farming. After five years he married Johanna Herting, a tailor's daughter.
Agrarian work was unsatisfactory to John Roebling, and the colony attracted very few settlers. In 1837, after the death of his brother and the birth of his first child, he returned to engineering as a vocation.
Roebling's first engineering work in America was devoted to improving river navigation and canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
building. He spent three years surveying for railway lines across the Allegheny Mountains
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...
, from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, for the state of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. In 1840 he wrote to suspension bridge
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
designer Charles Ellet, Jr.
Charles Ellet, Jr.
Charles Ellet, Jr. was a civil engineer and a colonel during the American Civil War, mortally wounded at the Battle of Memphis.-Biography:Ellet was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, brother of Alfred W...
, offering to help with the design of a bridge near Philadelphia:
The study of suspension bridges formed for the last few years of my residence in Europe my favourite occupation ... Let but a single bridge of the kind be put up in Philadelphia, exhibiting all the beautiful forms of the system to full advantage, and it needs no prophecy to foretell the effect which the novel and useful features will produce upon the intelligent minds of the Americans.
Roebling began producing wire rope
Wire rope
thumb|Steel wire rope Wire rope is a type of rope which consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a helix. Initially wrought iron wires were used, but today steel is the main material used for wire ropes....
at Saxonburg in 1841. At that time canal boats from Philadelphia were transported over the Allegheny Mountains
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...
on railroad cars to access waterways on the other side of the mountains, so that the boats could continue to Pittsburgh. The system of inclines and levels that moved the boats and conventional railroad cars was a state-owned enterprise, the Allegheny Portage Railroad
Allegheny Portage Railroad
The Allegheny Portage Railroad was the first railroad constructed through the Allegheny Mountains in central Pennsylvania, United States. It was a series of 10 inclines, approximately long, and operated from 1834 to 1854...
. The railroad cars were pulled up and down the inclines by a long loop of thick hemp
Hemp
Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...
rope, up to 7 cm thick. The hemp ropes were expensive and had to be replaced frequently. Roebling remembered an article he read about wire ropes. Soon after, he started developing a 7-strand wire rope at a ropewalk
Ropewalk
A ropewalk is a long straight narrow lane, or a covered pathway, where long strands of material were laid before being twisted into rope.Ropewalks historically were harsh sweatshops, and frequently caught on fire, as hemp dust forms an explosive mixture. Rope was essential in sailing ships and the...
that he built on his farm.
In 1844 Roebling won a bid to replace the wooden canal aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
across the Allegheny River
Allegheny River
The Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
with the Allegheny Aqueduct
Allegheny Aqueduct (Pittsburgh)
The Allegheny Aqueduct was John A. Roebling's first wire cable suspension bridge. It was built in 1844 by as a replacement for a wooden covered bridge aqueduct over the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, part of the Pennsylvania Canal....
. His design encompassed seven spans of 163 feet (50m), each consisting of a wooden trunk to hold the water supported by a continuous cable made of many parallel wires, wrapped tightly together, on each side of the trunk. This was followed in 1845 by building a suspension bridge over the Monongahela River
Monongahela River
The Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...
at Pittsburgh. In 1848 Roebling undertook the construction of four suspension aqueducts on the Delaware and Hudson Canal
Delaware and Hudson Canal
The Delaware and Hudson Canal was the first venture of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, which later developed the Delaware and Hudson Railway...
. During this period, he moved to Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
. In Trenton, Roebling built a large industrial complex for wire production. This complex inspired the Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
motto on Trenton's Lower Trenton Bridge
Lower Trenton Bridge
The Lower Trenton Toll Supported Bridge, commonly called the Lower Free Bridge, Warren Street Bridge or Trenton Makes Bridge, is a two-lane through truss bridge over the Delaware River between Trenton, New Jersey and Morrisville, Pennsylvania, owned by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission...
.
Roebling's next project, starting in 1851, was a railroad bridge connecting the New York Central and Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
of Canada over the Niagara River
Niagara River
The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...
, which would take four years. The bridge, with a clear span of 825 feet (251m), was supported by four, ten-inch (25 cm) wire cables, and had two levels, one for vehicles and one for rail traffic.
While the Niagara bridge was being built, Roebling undertook another railway suspension bridge, across the Kentucky River
Kentucky River
The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River, long, in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The river and its tributaries drain much of the central region of the state, with its upper course passing through the coal-mining regions of the Cumberland Mountains, and its lower course passing through the...
which required a clear span of 1,224 feet (373m). The anchorage and stone towers were completed, and the cable wire delivered along with the material for the superstructure, when the railway company became insolvent. The bridge construction was halted, and was later finished as a truss bridge
Truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...
.
The American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
brought a temporary halt to Roebling's work. However, in 1863 building resumed on a bridge over the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
at Cincinnati which he had started in 1856 and halted due to financing; the bridge was finished in 1867. The Cincinnati-Covington Bridge, later named the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge
John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge
The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky. When the first pedestrians crossed on December 1, 1866, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world at 1,057 feet main span. Today, many pedestrians use the bridge to get between...
, was the world's longest suspension bridge at the time it was finished.
In 1867 Roebling started design work on what is now called the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
, spanning the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
in New York. One day in 1869 he was standing at the edge of a dock, working on fixing the location where the bridge would be built, when his foot was crushed by an arriving ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
. His injured toes were amputated. He refused further medical treatment and wanted to cure his foot by "water therapy
Water cure (therapy)
A water cure in the therapeutic sense is a course of medical treatment by hydrotherapy.-Overview:In the mid-19th century there was a popular revival of the water cure in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
" (continuous pouring of water over the wound). His condition deteriorated. He succumbed to tetanus
Tetanus
Tetanus is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, rod-shaped, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani...
24 days after the accident.
Roebling devised "an equilibrium strength approach, in which equilibrium is always satisfied but compatibility of deformations is not enforced." This was essentially an approximation method similar to the force method: First, Roebling computed the dead and live loads, then divided the load between the cables and the stays. Roebling added a large safety factor to the divided loads and then solved for the forces. This approach gave a sufficiently accurate analysis of the structure given the assumption that the structure was sufficiently ductile
Ductility
In materials science, ductility is a solid material's ability to deform under tensile stress; this is often characterized by the material's ability to be stretched into a wire. Malleability, a similar property, is a material's ability to deform under compressive stress; this is often characterized...
to handle the resulting deformation (Buonopane, 2006).
Family
John Roebling and Johanna Herting had nine children:- son: Washington A. RoeblingWashington RoeblingWashington Augustus Roebling was an American civil engineer best known for his work on the Brooklyn Bridge, which was initially designed by his father John A. Roebling.-Education and military service:...
(b. 1837, d. 1926) - daughter: Laura R. Methfessel (b. 1840, d. 1873)
- son: Ferdinand W. Roebling (b. 1842, d. 1917)
- daughter: Elvira R. Stewart (b. 1844, d. 1871)
- daughter: Josephine R. Jarvis (b. 1847)
- son: Charles Gustavus Roebling (b. 9-Dec-1849, d. 1918)
- son: Edmund Roebling (b. 1854, d. 1930)
- son: William Roebling (b. 1856, d. 1860)
- daughter: Hannah Roebling (died in infancy)
Roebling's son Washington Roebling
Washington Roebling
Washington Augustus Roebling was an American civil engineer best known for his work on the Brooklyn Bridge, which was initially designed by his father John A. Roebling.-Education and military service:...
and his daughter-in-law Emily Warren Roebling
Emily Warren Roebling
Emily Warren Roebling was married to Washington Roebling, a civil engineer who was Chief Engineer during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge...
continued his work on the Brooklyn Bridge. His son Ferdinand expanded his wire rope business. His son Charles Roebling designed and invented a huge 80 ton wire rope machine and founded the town of Roebling, New Jersey where the John A. Roebling's Sons company steel mill was built. His grandson Washington A. Roebling II perished on the . His great-grandson Donald Roebling
Donald Roebling
Donald Roebling was an eccentric twentieth century American philanthropist and inventor. He is most famous for inventing the amtrac in 1937, which he originally intended to be a hurricane rescue device...
was a noted philanthropist and inventor who devised the amphtrack.
Death
While surveying the site of the Brooklyn tower for the Brooklyn Bridge, the tip of Roebling's right foot was crushed by a docking boat. After his toes were amputated, Roebling was diagnosed with tetanusTetanus
Tetanus is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, rod-shaped, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani...
and developed lockjaw. He suffered severe seizures and periodically lapsed into a coma before dying in the early morning hours of July 22, 1869 in Brooklyn Heights, New York.
Roebling is buried in the Riverview Cemetery in Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
, where his family resided until the death of his great-grandaughter Mary Roebling.
Projects
- 1844 Allegheny Aqueduct Bridge – Pittsburgh; 162 feet (49m) spans; demolished 1861
- 1846 Smithfield Street BridgeSmithfield Street BridgeThe Smithfield Street Bridge is a lenticular truss bridge crossing the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.The bridge was designed by Gustav Lindenthal, the engineer who later designed the Hell Gate Bridge. The bridge was built between 1881–83, opening for traffic on March 19, 1883....
– Pittsburgh; 188 feet (57m) spans; replaced 1881–1883 - 1848 Lackawaxen Aqueduct – spanning the Lackawaxen RiverLackawaxen RiverThe Lackawaxen River is a tributary of the Delaware River in northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. The river flows through a largely rural area in the northern Pocono Mountains, draining an area of approximately ....
at Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania; two spans of 115 feet (35m) each, two 7-inch (18 cm) cables; no longer extant - 1849 Roebling's Delaware AqueductRoebling's Delaware Aqueduct-External links:...
– spanning the Delaware RiverDelaware RiverThe Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
from Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania to Minisink Ford, New YorkMinisink Ford, New YorkMinisink Ford is a hamlet on the Delaware River fifteen miles northwest of Port Jervis. It is in the town of Highland, Sullivan County, New York, in the United States.-History:...
, four spans of 134 feet (41m) each, two 8-inch (20 cm) cables; converted to vehicular and pedestrian use, restored in 1965 and 1995 - 1850 High Falls Aqueduct – one span of 145 feet (44m), two 8½-inch (22 cm) cables
- 1850 Neversink Aqueduct – spanning the Neversink RiverNeversink RiverThe Neversink River is a tributary of the Delaware River in southeastern New York in the United States...
; one span of 170 feet (52m), two 9½-inch (24 cm) cables - 1854 Niagara Falls Suspension BridgeNiagara Falls Suspension BridgeThe Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge was the world's first working railway suspension bridge. It spanned and stood downstream of Niagara Falls from 1855 to 1897...
– spanning the Niagara RiverNiagara RiverThe Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...
from Niagara Falls, New YorkNiagara Falls, New YorkNiagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 50,193, down from the 55,593 recorded in the 2000 census. It is across the Niagara River from Niagara Falls, Ontario , both named after the famed Niagara Falls which they...
to Niagara Falls, Canada, 821 feet (250m) span - 1859 Allegheny Bridge – Pittsburgh; 344-foot (105m) spans
- 1866 John A. Roebling Suspension BridgeJohn A. Roebling Suspension BridgeThe John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky. When the first pedestrians crossed on December 1, 1866, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world at 1,057 feet main span. Today, many pedestrians use the bridge to get between...
– spanning the Ohio RiverOhio RiverThe Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
from Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, OhioCincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
to Covington, KentuckyCovington, Kentucky-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...
; 1,057 feet (322m) long with a deck clearance of 100 feet (30m) - 1870 Waco Suspension BridgeWaco Suspension BridgeThe Waco Suspension Bridge crosses the Brazos River in Waco, Texas. It is a single-span suspension bridge with a main span of 475 feet . Opened in 1869, it contains nearly 3 million bricks. It is located north of Downtown Waco, connecting Indian Springs Park with Doris D. Miller Park...
– Waco, TexasWaco, TexasWaco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
; one 475 feet (145 m) span - 1883 Brooklyn BridgeBrooklyn BridgeThe Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
– spanning the East RiverEast RiverThe East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
from ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
to BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
; 1595 feet (486m) span
External links
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