Daniel B. Luten also known as Daniel Benjamin Luten (Dec. 26, 1869-July 3, 1946) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

bridge builder and engineer based in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Career

He designed and patented the

Luten arch A Luten arch is a patented concrete arch design for bridges, designed by Daniel B. Luten, of Indianapolis. Luten was awarded more than 30 patents for his improvements of the Luten arch design. The Luten arch improves upon preceding concrete arc ...

, a type of concrete arch bridge. He obtained more than 30 patents eventually, including various refinements of design that used transverse and other reinforcement which allowed bridges to be lighter. "By 1919, Luten claimed to have designed some 17,000 arches, and stated that examples of his designs could be found in all but three states of the Union. Indiana alone had some 2,000 Luten arches." He was born in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

in 1869. He graduated from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1894, in civil engineering. He was an instructor, in architectural and sanitary engineering, for

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

from 1895 to 1900. He resigned in 1900 to conduct the bridge company work.

List of Bridges

A number of historic bridges, some of which are listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

are credited to him, including (with specific attribution): * Beck's Mill Bridge, Carries Beck's Mill Road over Mill Creek, Salem, IN (Luten, Daniel B.), NRHP-listed * Canyon Padre Bridge, Abandoned grade of

US 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

over Padre Canyon, Flagstaff, AZ. (Luten, Daniel B.), NRHP-listed * Carrollton Bridge, Carrollton Rd. across Wabash R., Delphi, IN (Luten, Daniel B.), NRHP-listed * Dr. George S. Smith Memorial Bridge, 3rd St. across Lehigh R., Easton, PA. (Luten, Daniel B.) *

Dumbarton Bridge (Washington, D.C.) The Dumbarton Bridge, also known as the Q Street Bridge and the Buffalo Bridge, is a historic masonry arch bridge in Washington, D.C. Dumbarton Bridge was built between 1914 and 1915 to convey Q Street Northwest across Rock Creek Park between t ...

, Q Street across

Rock Creek Park Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. Created by Act of Congress in 1890, the park comprises 1,754 acres (2.74 mi2, 7.10 km2), generally along Rock Cr ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

* Holbrook Bridge, Abandoned grade of

US 70 U.S. Route 70 or U.S. Highway 70 (US 70) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. It is a major east–west highway of the Southeastern, Southern and Southwestern United States. ...

over the

Little Colorado River The Little Colorado River () is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona, providing the principal drainage from the Painted Desert region. Together with its major tributary, the Puerco River, it drains an area of about in ...

, 4.2 mi. SE of Holbrook, AZ. (Luten, Daniel B.), NRHP-listed *

Kelvin Bridge A Kelvin bridge, also called a Kelvin double bridge and in some countries a Thomson bridge, is a measuring instrument used to measure unknown Resistor, electrical resistors below 1 ohm. It is specifically designed to measure resistors that a ...

, Florence-Kelvin Hwy. over the

Gila River The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of ...

, Kelvin, AZ. (Luten, Daniel), NRHP-listed * Putnam County Bridge No. 159, Co. Rd. 650 W. over Big Walnut Cr., Reelsville, IN. (Luten, Daniel B.), NRHP-listed *

Moores Creek Bridge Moores Creek Bridge is an historic single span reinforced concrete bridge located on North 2nd Street between Avenues B and C in Fort Pierce, Florida. Including run up, it is 46 feet long. It is known locally as the Tickle Tummy Bridge or Tickl ...

Fort Pierce, Florida Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Florida’s Atlantic Coast. It is also known as the Sunrise City. Per the 2020 census, the population w ...

Winkelman Bridge The Winkelman Bridge is a historic bridge over the Gila River in Winkelman, Arizona, U.S.. It was built in 1916. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal g ...

, Old AZ 77 over the

, Winkelman, AZ. (Luten, Daniel), NRHP-listed * Wolcott Bridge, CO 131 at milepost 0.07, Wolcott, CO.(Luten, Daniel B.), NRHP-listed * Miami Bridges,

Miami, Arizona Miami ( Western Apache: Goshtłʼish Tú) is a town in Gila County, Arizona, United States. Miami is a classic Western copper boom-town. Miami's old downtown has been partly renovated, and the Bullion Plaza Museum features the cultural, min ...

five identical bridges across the town Bloody Tanks wash canal, 1921, Luten, Daniel, NRHP-listed Additional Luten arch bridges are NRHP-listed that are attributed to the

Luten Bridge Company Luten Bridge Company and variations such as Luten Engineering Company was the name of a number of different bridge building companies in the United States during the early- to mid-20th century. Each had rights to build concrete Luten arch bridges, ...

or to Topeka Bridge & Iron Co., two firms which had use of Luten's patented designs.

References

External links

*
Daniel B. Luten papers, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library
American civil engineers People from Grand Rapids, Michigan University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni Purdue University faculty People from Indianapolis 1869 births 1946 deaths {{US-engineer-stub