Axel Jacob Petersson (1834–15 January 1884) was a Swedish-Norwegian

structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research List of structural elements, structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of ...

and inventor. He is most noted for his work with railway bridges and viaducts in Norway from the 1860s through the 1870s, as well as developing the

Krag–Petersson The Krag–Petersson was the first repeating rifle adopted by the armed forces of Norway and was one of the first repeating rifles to be adopted as standard issue by a military force,

rifle.

Biography

Petersson was born in

Öland Öland (, ; ; sometimes written ''Oland'' internationally) is the second-largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of and is located in the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Småland. ...

in 1834. He studied at the

Royal Institute of Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology (), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technology and is Sweden's largest technical university. Since 2018, KTH consist ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

between 1852 and 1855. He worked for the Swedish Canal Administration and later for a private railway in Sweden. He moved to Norway in 1859, after he was hired as an assistant engineer for the construction of the

Kongsvinger Line The Kongsvinger Line () is a railway line between the towns of Lillestrøm and Kongsvinger in Norway and onwards to Charlottenberg in Sweden. The railway was opened on 3 October 1862 and is Norway's second standard gauge line (after the Hoved ...

. By 1865 he was hired as the chief of the Railway Construction Office. He was responsible for construction of bridges and viaducts on the

Østfold Line The Østfold Line () is a railway line which runs from Oslo through the western parts of Follo, Norway, Follo and Østfold to Kornsjø in Norway. It continues through Sweden as the Norway/Vänern Line. The northern half is double track and the en ...

and the

Dovre Line The Dovre Line () is a Norwegian railway line with three slightly different lines which all lead to the historic city of Trondheim (city), Trondheim. Definition *Dovre Line is the main line between Eidsvoll Station and Trondheim Station, used b ...

between

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the munic ...

and

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

. By 1881 Peterson had poor health and retired. He died on 15 January 1884 in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. There was a story that stayed around for a long time that the constructor of the Ljan Viaduct had committed suicide before its opening because he did not trust it to stand. Geir-Wider Langård has proposed that this folklore arose with the magnitude of the bridge combined with the Tay Bridge disaster in Scotland which killed 75 people when it collapsed the same year as the Ljan Viaduct opened in 1879.

Works

Some of the larger constructions were the Minnesund Railway Bridge (opened in 1880, closed in 2023 to be repurposed as a bicycle path; known in Norwegian as ''Minnesund Jernbanebru''), Ljan Viaduct (''Ljansbroen''),

Hølen Viaduct The Hølen Viaduct () is a disused iron railway viaduct situated at Hølen in Akershus, Akershus county, Norway. The iron carried a single track of the Østfold Line over the river Såna and the valley where the village of Hølen is located. The ...

(''Hølen viadukt'') and Sarp Bridge (''Sarpsbroene''). Petersson invented the pendular pillar principle, which was first applied on Hølen Viaduct. Petersson also made a series of other inventions. He developed a rotating camera and calculating machines. He cooperated with

Ole Herman Johannes Krag Ole Herman Johannes Krag (7 April 1837 – 9 December 1916) was a Norwegian officer and firearms designer. Biography Ole H. J. Krag was born in Vågå, in Oppland county, Norway. Krag grew up in various locations where his father, Hans Peter Sc ...

to develop the

rifle, which was a mainstay in the Norwegian military for decades.

Bibliography

* ''Regler for Maskindeles Konstruktion'' (1866, 1877) with C. M. Guldberg * ''Regler for Vandhjuls og Turbiners Konstruktion'' (1868) with C. M. Guldberg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petersson, Axel 1834 births 1884 deaths People from Kalmar County Swedish engineers Norwegian engineers Bridge engineers Viaduct engineers Swedish emigrants to Norway