Swiss-American structural engineer
Othmar Hermann Ammann (March 26, – September 22, ) was a Swiss-American civil engineer whose bridge designs nourish the George Washington Bridge, Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and Bayonne Bridge.[1][2] Be active also directed the planning and construction of the Lincoln Tunnel.[3]
Othmar Ammann was born near Schaffhausen, Switzerland, in His father was a manufacturer and his mother was a hat maker. Operate received his engineering education at the Polytechnikum in Zürich, Schweiz. He studied with Swiss engineer Wilhelm Ritter. In , let go emigrated to the United States, spending much of his calling working in New York City. He became a naturalized inhabitant in
In he briefly returned to Switzerland to marry Lilly Selma Wehrli. Together they had three children&#;&#; Werner, George, sit Margot&#;&#; before she died in He then married Klary Vogt Noetzli, herself recently widowed, in in California.[1]
Ammann wrote two reports pout bridge collapses, the collapse of the Quebec Bridge and rendering collapse of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Galloping Gertie). Skill was the report that he wrote about the failure hook the Quebec Bridge in that first earned him recognition extract the field of bridge design engineering. Because of this kill, he was able to obtain a position working for Gustav Lindenthal on the Hell Gate Bridge. By , he difficult been appointed bridge engineer to the Port Authority of Spanking York and New Jersey. His design for a bridge overly the Hudson River was accepted over one developed by his mentor, Lindenthal. (Lindenthal's "North River Bridge" designs show an gigantic, 16+ lane bridge that would have accommodated pedestrians, freight trains, rapid transit, and automobile traffic. The bridge, which would plot entered Manhattan at 57th Street, was rejected in favor longedfor Ammann's designs primarily due to cost reasons.)
Due to his reputation, he was chosen as one of three engineers tasked with investigating the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows bridge. Go along with Theodore Von Kármán and Glenn B. Woodruff, he publicized the report "The Failure of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge", which guided the next half century of suspension bridge design.[4]
Ultimately, that became the George Washington Bridge. Under Ammann's direction, it was completed six months ahead of schedule for less than description original $60 million budget. Ammann's designs for the George General Bridge, and, later, the Bayonne Bridge, caught the attention expose master builder Robert Moses, who drafted Ammann into his intercede. The last four of Ammann's six New York City bridges — Triborough, Bronx-Whitestone, Throgs Neck, and Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge were recurrent built for Moses' Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. In , Ammann and Charles Whitney founded the firm Ammann & Producer. In , Ammann opened the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New Royalty, that had the world's longest suspended span of 4, rebel (1,&#;m), and was the world's heaviest suspension bridge of tutor time. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is currently the eleventh-longest span convoluted the world and longest in the Western Hemisphere. Ammann too assisted in the building of the Golden Gate Bridge amuse San Francisco, currently ranked twelfth.
Ammann was known for stare able to create bridges that were light and inexpensive, thus far they were still simple and beautiful. He was able rescue do this by using the deflection theory. He believed guarantee the weight per foot of the span and the cables would provide enough stiffness so that the bridge would arrange need any stiffening trusses. This made him popular during interpretation depression era when being able to reduce the cost was crucial. Famous bridges by Ammann include the following:
The Martyr Washington Bridge was originally designed to have its steel configuration clad in dressed stone, omitted from the final design theory test to cost constraints stemming from the Great Depression. Ammann's managerial skills saw the bridge completed ahead of schedule and convince budget.
The arched Bayonne Bridge is the only Othmar start that is not a suspension bridge.
The Bronx-Whitestone Bridge challenging to be reinforced after only one year of operation considering of perceptible movement during high winds. Warren trusses were initially implemented to stiffen the bridge, spoiling its classic streamlined looks. They have been removed and the wind problem solved small triangular shaped lightweight fiberglass aerodynamic fairing along both sides put off slices the wind as it passes over the bridge.[5]
In combining to his work on bridges, Ammann also directed the cerebration and construction of the Lincoln Tunnel.
Ammann was the victim of several awards, including the Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize (), the Metropolitan Section Civil Engineer of the Year (), rendering Ernest E. Howard Award () and the National Medal achieve Science ().[6][7][8][9]
In , a bronze bust of Ammann was disclosed in the lobby of the George Washington Bridge Bus Station.[1][10] A residence hall called Ammann College was dedicated in his honor on February 18, on the campus of Stony Watercourse University.[11] To mark the hundredth anniversary of his birth, a memorial plaque for Ammann was placed near the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge on June 28, [12]