Robert Ridgway, sometimes spelled Robert Ridgeway (October 19, 1862 – December 19, 1938), was an American

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 ...

. He did not study engineering at any school, but worked 49 years for New York City in the construction of major projects, and became Chief Engineer of the Transit Commission in 1921. He became president of the

American Society of Civil Engineers 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 ...

(ASCE) Metropolitan section. Further he became president of the national ASCE in 1925. The Ridgway Awards are an annual award of the ASCE Met section named for him. At the time of his death, Ridgway was consulting Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes on Chicago's first subway. According to the December 20, 1938 edition of the

Brooklyn Eagle :''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently'' The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...

, he died in Fort Wayne, Indiana after suffering a heart attack, while en route to New York after attending ground-breaking ceremonies for the Chicago Subway. He was 76.

Works

Major projects he worked on include the

New Croton Aqueduct The New Croton Aqueduct is an aqueduct in the New York City water supply system in Westchester County, New York carrying the water of the Croton Watershed. Built roughly parallel to the Old Croton Aqueduct it originally augmented, the new ...

; the first NYC subway line; the first East River subway tunnel; the

Catskill Aqueduct The Catskill Aqueduct, part of the New York City water supply system, brings water from the Catskill Mountains to Yonkers where it connects to other parts of the system. History Construction commenced in 1907. The aqueduct proper was completed ...

, the expansion of the

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and

BMT BMT or bmt may refer to: Transportation * Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, one of the three original New York City Subway systems * IATA code and FAA location identifier for Beaumont Municipal Airport, Beaumont, Texas * Station code f ...

subways; and the construction of the IND subway. In 1914, he was serving as Engineer of Subway Construction. A number of his works are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

, with several listed in relation to one multiple property study, the " New York City Subway System MPS". Works he is credited with include the following subway infrastructure projects: * 15th Street–Prospect Park subway station (), 15th Street and Prospect Park West,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, NRHP-listed * 181st Street subway station (), Fort Washington Avenue, Between West 185th and 181st Streets.

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, NRHP-listed * 190th Street subway station (), Fort Washington Avenue between Fort Tryon Park (Cabrini Boulevard) and West 190th Street,

, NRHP-listed * 207th Street Yard – Signal Service Building and Tower B, West 215th Street between Tenth Avenue and the Harlem River,

, NRHP-listed * Concourse Yard Entry Buildings, West 205th Street, between Jerome and Paul Avenues,

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

, NRHP-listed * Concourse Yard Substation, 3119 Jerome Avenue,

, NRHP-listed *

Coney Island Yard The New York City Transit Authority operates a total of 24 rail yards for the New York City Subway system, and one for the Staten Island Railway. There are 10 active A Division yards and 11 active B Division yards, two of which are shared bet ...

Gatehouse, SW corner of Shell Road and Avenue X,

, NRHP-listed * Flushing – Main Street subway station (), Near junction of Roosevelt Avenue and Main Street,

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, NRHP-listed *

West Fourth Street–Washington Square West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

subway station (), Under Sixth Avenue between West Third Street and Waverly Place,

, NRHP-listed * Wilson Avenue subway station (), Chauncey Street at Wilson Avenue,

, NRHP-listed

References

1862 births 1938 deaths American civil engineers Engineers from New York City {{US-engineer-stub