Ralph Modjeski (born Rudolf Modrzejewski; January 27, 1861 – June 26, 1940) was a

Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.83% ...

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

who achieved prominence as "America's greatest bridge builder."

Life

He was born in

Bochnia Bochnia (german: Salzberg) is a town on the river Raba in southern Poland. The town lies approximately halfway between Tarnów (east) and the regional capital Kraków (west). Bochnia is most noted for its salt mine, the oldest functioning in E ...

, called

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

at the time, on January 27, 1861, to Gustav Sinnmayer Modrzejewski and actress Helena Opid Modrzejewska (best known outside Poland as

Helena Modjeska Helena Modrzejewska (; born Jadwiga Benda; 12 October 1840 – 8 April 1909), known professionally as Helena Modjeska, was a Polish actress who specialized in Shakespearean and tragic roles. She was successful first on the Polish stage. After ...

). In 1865, his mother left Sinnmayer, and in 1868, she married "Count" Karol Bożenta Chłapowski. In July 1876, they emigrated to America, where, as a matter of convenience, the boy's mother changed her name to

and her son's name to Ralph Modjeski. He was a classmate of

Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versail ...

in Poland and was a formidable pianist in his own right. The son returned to Europe to study at ''l'Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées'' (the School of Bridges and Roads) in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. It was in 1883, while studying at Paris, that he obtained American citizenship. However, he always maintained contact with Poland, wrote much in Polish, and emphasized his Polish origins. In 1885 he graduated from the School of Bridges and Roads at the top of his class. The same year, he married Felicie Benda; the couple had three children. In 1931 they divorced after 16 year long separation. The same year the now 70 year old Modjeski married Virginia Mary Giblyn. Modjeski returned to America to begin his career, working first under the "father of American bridge-building,"

George S. Morison George Shattuck Morison (December 19, 1842 – July 1, 1903) was an American attorney best known as a designer of bridges. He was trained to be a lawyer but instead became a civil engineer and leading bridge designer in North America in the late 1 ...

. In 1893, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, Modjeski opened his own design office, which still exists as "Modjeski & Masters," after it was joined in 1924 by Frank M. Masters. Modjeski's first project as chief engineer was the

railroad bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Arsenal Island. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 census. Located on ...

. During his career, he served as chief or consulting engineer on dozens of bridges around the country. He took over the mis-designed

Quebec Bridge The Quebec Bridge (french: pont de Québec) is a road, rail, and pedestrian bridge across the lower Saint Lawrence River between Sainte-Foy (a former suburb that in 2002 became a western area of Quebec City) and Lévis, in Quebec, Canada. The ...

after the 1907 disaster that killed 75 workers, and succeeded in creating the longest truss span in the world (though a construction accident killed another thirteen workers). It is still the longest

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...

in the world. Modjeski was famous as a designer of bridges and rail lines. He pioneered

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical ...

s. He built nearly 40 bridges spanning the great rivers of North America. He trained succeeding generations of American bridge designers and builders, including

Joseph B. Strauss Joseph Baermann Strauss (January 9, 1870 – May 16, 1938) was an American structural engineer who revolutionized the design of bascule bridges. He was the chief engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge, a suspension bridge. Life, beginnings and dea ...

, chief engineer of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco P ...

(which was completed six months after Modjeski's

San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, known locally as the Bay Bridge, is a complex of bridges spanning San Francisco Bay in California. As part of Interstate 80 and the direct road between San Francisco and Oakland, it carries about 260,000 ve ...

). Modjeski was considered "America's greatest bridge builder." He was the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees. In 1911 he received a doctorate in engineering from

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

, in 1923 the

Franklin Medal The Franklin Medal was a science award presented from 1915 until 1997 by the Franklin Institute located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. It was founded in 1914 by Samuel Insull Samuel Insull (November 11, 1859 – July 16, 1938) was a Bri ...

, in 1929 a doctorate ''

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...

'' from the Lwów Polytechnic, in 1930 the prestigious

John Fritz Medal The John Fritz Medal has been awarded annually since 1902 by the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) for "outstanding scientific or industrial achievements". The medal was created for the 80th birthday of John Fritz, who lived betw ...

. He died June 26, 1940, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

, nearly 80 years old.

Notable projects

*Chief Engineer **

Government Bridge The Government Bridge or Arsenal Bridge spans the Mississippi River, connecting Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa. The Iowa Interstate Railroad uses the upper deck of the bridge for its ex- Chicago and Rock Island Railroad route between ...

(1896) ** Thebes Bridge (1905) ** Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 9.6, Bridge 8.8 and Bridge 5.1 (all 1906–08) **

(1907-1917) ** McKinley Bridge (1910) ** Celilo Bridge (1910) ** Crooked River Railroad Bridge (1911) ** Broadway Bridge (Portland, Oregon) (1913) **

Metropolis Bridge The Metropolis Bridge is a railroad bridge which spans the Ohio River at Metropolis, Illinois. Originally built for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, construction began in 1914 under the direction of engineer Ralph Modjeski. The bridg ...

(1914) ** Harahan Bridge (1916) **

(1917) ** Mears Memorial Bridge (1923) **

Mid-Hudson Bridge The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge is a toll suspension bridge which carries US 44 and NY 55 across the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie and Highland in the state of New York. History Proposals for the Mid-Hudson span were made ...

aka Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge (1930) **

Benjamin Franklin Bridge The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, originally named the Delaware River Bridge and known locally as the Ben Franklin Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. Owned and o ...

(

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 20 ...

(1926) ** Tacony-Palmyra Bridge (

and Palmyra, New Jersey) (1929) **

I-74 Bridge The Interstate 74 Bridge, officially known as the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge, and often called ''The Twin Bridges'', or the ''I-74 Bridge'', are basket-handle, through arch twin bridges that carry Interstate 74 across the Mississippi River an ...

aka the Moline to Bettendorf Veterans Memorial Bridge 1933 ** Huey P. Long Bridge (1935) **

Blue Water Bridge The Blue Water Bridge is a twin-span international bridge across the St. Clair River that links Port Huron, Michigan, United States, and Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Water Bridge connects Highway 402 in Ontario with both Interstate 6 ...

(

Port Huron, Michigan Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administered separately. Located along the St. Clair ...

and Point Edward, Ontario, 1938) *Consulting Engineer **

Manhattan Bridge The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. The main span is long, with the suspension cables ...

(1909) ** Market Street Bridge (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) (1926) **

Ambassador Bridge The Ambassador Bridge is a tolled international suspension bridge across the Detroit River that connects Detroit, Michigan, United States, with Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1929, it is the busiest international border crossing in North ...

(

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, and

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

, 1929) ** George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge (1929) ** McPhaul Suspension Bridge (1929) **

(1936)

Notes

References

External links

BRIDGING URBAN AMERICA, A STORY OF RALPH MODJESKI
a documentary film
Ralph Modjeski
on the ASCEbr>History and Heritage of Civil Engineering website
*

includes a brief resume * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Modjeski, Ralph 1861 births 1940 deaths People from Bochnia Polish emigrants to the United States Polish engineers American civil engineers Bridge engineers Illinois State University alumni Howard N. Potts Medal recipients John Fritz Medal recipients

Life

Notable projects

See also

Notes

References

External links