Fritz Leonhardt (12 July 1909 – 30 December 1999) was a German structural engineer who made major contributions to 20th-century bridge engineering, especially in the development of

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...

s. His book ''Bridges: Aesthetics and Design'' is well known throughout the bridge engineering community.

Biography

Born in Stuttgart in 1909, Leonhardt studied at

Stuttgart University The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany with ...

and

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

. In 1934 he joined the German Highway Administration, working with Paul Bonatz amongst others. He was appointed at the remarkably young age of 28 as the Chief Engineer for the Cologne-Rodenkirchen Bridge. In 1954 he formed the consulting firm Leonhardt und Andrä, and from 1958 to 1974 taught the design of reinforced concrete and

prestressed concrete Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete used in construction. It is substantially "prestressed" ( compressed) during production, in a manner that strengthens it against tensile forces which will exist when in service. Post-tensioned concreted i ...

at Stuttgart University. He was President of the University from 1967 to 1969. He received Honorary Doctorates from six universities, honorary membership of several important engineering universities, and won a number of prizes including the

Werner von Siemens Ring The Werner von Siemens Ring (in German orthography, Werner-von-Siemens-Ring) is one of the highest awards for technical sciences in Germany. It has been awarded from 1916 to 1941 and since 1952 about every three years by the foundation ''Stiftung ...

, the Honorary Medal Emil Mörsch, the Freyssinet Medal of the FIP, and the Gold Medal of the

Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers is a professional body for structural engineering based in the United Kingdom. The Institution has over 30,000 members operating in over 100 countries. The Institution provides professional accreditation ...

. In 1988, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

. Throughout his career, Leonhardt was as dedicated to research as to design, and his major contributions to bridge engineering technology included: *development of a launching system for

bridges, first used in his 1963 bridge over the

Caroní River The Caroní River is the second most important river of Venezuela, the second in flow, and one of the longest, from the Kukenan tepui through to its confluence with the Orinoco River. The name "Caroní" is applied starting from the confluence ...

in Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela *the 'Hi-Am' anchor for cable stays, in collaboration with the Swiss firm B.B.R.V. *anchorages in prestressed concrete *experiments during the 1930s on steel

orthotropic deck An orthotropic bridge or orthotropic deck is typically one whose fabricated deck consists of a structural steel deck plate stiffened either longitudinally with ribs or transversely, or in both directions. This allows the fabricated deck both t ...

Major works

His major structures include the Cologne-Rodenkirchen Bridge, Stuttgart Television Tower, Hamburg's

Alster-Schwimmhalle The Alster-Schwimmhalle is one of Germany's larger aquatics centers, located in the Hamburg district of Hohenfelde. Opened in 1973, it has regularly hosted various national and international swimming competitions. The Alster-Schwimmhalle is n ...

and various cable-stayed bridges in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

. He also worked on the design of several cable-stayed bridges abroad, including the Pasco-Kennewick bridge (1978) in the U.S., and the

Helgeland Bridge The Helgeland Bridge ( no, Helgelandsbrua) is a cable-stayed bridge that crosses the Leirfjorden between the mainland (in Leirfjord Municipality) and the island of Alsta (in Alstahaug Municipality) in Nordland county, Norway. The town of San ...

(1981) in Norway.

Fritz Leonhardt Prize

This prize was established in 1999 on the 90th anniversary of Leonhardt's birth, to recognise outstanding achievements in structural engineering. The first prize was awarded to

Michel Virlogeux Dr. Michel Virlogeux FREng CorrFRSE (born 1946, Vichy, Allier, Auvergne) is a French structural engineer and bridge specialist. Career Virlogeux graduated from the ''École Polytechnique'' in 1967 and from the ''École Nationale des Ponts et Cha ...

. Subsequent winners have included

Jörg Schlaich Jörg Schlaich (17 October 1934 – 4 September 2021) was a German structural engineer and is known internationally for his ground-breaking work in the creative design of bridges, long-span roofs, and other complex structures. He was a co-founde ...

(2002),

René Walter René ('' born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name ( Renée being the femin ...

(2005), and William F. Baker (engineer) (2009)."William F. Baker Awarded Fritz Leonhardt Prize For Achievement In Structural Engineering"
. SOM.com. 2009-07-09. Retrieved on 2009-07-14

Bibliography

* Brücken / Bridges (4th edition), Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart (Germany), , 1994 (first published 1982). * Ponts/Puentes,

Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes The Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes (PPUR, literally "Polytechnic and university press of French-speaking Switzerland") is a Swiss academic publishing house. It is based in Lausanne, on the Lausanne campus, in the Rolex Learni ...

, Lausanne (Switzerland), , 1986.

Notes

External links

Fritz Leonhardt Symposium 2009 – University of Stuttgart
*
Bridge Design and Engineering: Fritz Leonhardt, Master of Bridges

Structures of Leonhardt, Andrä and Partners
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonhardt, Fritz IStructE Gold Medal winners Bridge engineers German civil engineers Structural engineers 1909 births 1999 deaths Werner von Siemens Ring laureates Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg 20th-century German engineers Engineers from Stuttgart