Tung-Yen Lin (; November 14, 1912 – November 15, 2003) was a Chinese-American structural engineer who was the pioneer of standardizing the use of

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

Biography

Born in

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

, China, as the fourth of eleven children, he was raised in Beijing where his father was a justice of the ROC's Supreme Court. He did not begin formal schooling until age 11, and only so because his parents forged his birth year to be 1911 so that he would qualify. At only 14, entered Jiaotong University's Tangshan Engineering College (now

Southwest Jiaotong University Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU; ) is a national public science and engineering university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. The university is affiliated with the Ministry of Education. It is a national key university co-sponsored by the Minis ...

), having earned the top score in math and the second best score overall in the college entrance exams for his entering class. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1931 and left for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he earned his master's degree in civil engineering from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 1933. Lin's master's thesis was the first student thesis published by the

American Society of Civil Engineers The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...

. Lin returned to China after graduation to work with the Chinese Ministry of Railways. Before too long he earned the reputation of being a "good engineer". This positioned him to become the chief bridge engineer of the Yunnan-Chongqing Railway and oversaw the design and construction of more than 1,000 bridges. He returned to UC Berkeley to join its faculty in 1946, and began to research and develop the practice of prestressed concrete. He did not invent prestressed concrete, but he did develop it for practical use. The inventor of prestressed concrete is

Eugene Freyssinet Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Lin retired in 1976 to work full-time at

T.Y. Lin International TYLin is a global, multi-disciplinary infrastructure services firm. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, TYLin established its business in the design of long-span bridges and specialty structures. The firm provides a range of planning, ...

, a firm he founded in 1954. After selling that firm, he left it to found Lin Tung-Yen China on June 1, 1992, which oversees engineering projects in China. When Lin received the

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral science, behavior ...

from President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

in 1986, he handed over a 16-page plan for a bridge linking

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

and

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

across the

Bering Strait The Bering Strait ( , ; ) is a strait between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. The present Russia–United States maritime boundary is at 168° 58' ...

, a project he dubbed the Intercontinental Peace Bridge. He also proposed a bridge across the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

that would have spans and tall towers. Lin was also the first recipient of the A.S.C.E. lifetime achievement in design award, and the society renamed the prestressed concrete award to the T.Y. Lin award.

Engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while consider ...

were often

architects An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

in the early 1900s, but by the late 1940s, this aspect of engineering had been all but forgotten. Lin was saddened by this situation commenting: Lin fought against the pressures of economy by incorporating more aesthetics into his bridges and developing new techniques that increased economy. Lin believed that "engineering approach should be a global vision of the bridge. To fit the environment and to express the structural forces and moments, and nature itself." Attention had to be paid not only to the details of the bridge, but also to the surrounding landscape. Pre-stressing the concrete allowed Lin to accomplish the goal of incorporating unique shapes without sacrificing the bottom line. Among his engineering accomplishments were the

Moscone Convention Center The George R. Moscone Convention Center (), popularly known as the Moscone Center, is the largest convention and exhibition complex in San Francisco, California, United States. The complex consists of three main halls spread out across three bl ...

in San Francisco, the Kuan Du Bridge in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, and the roof of the National Racetrack in Caracas, Venezuela. In 1996, he was named the 53rd National Honor Member of

Chi Epsilon Chi Epsilon () is an American collegiate civil engineering honor society. It honors engineering students who have exemplified the "principles of scholarship, character, practicality, and sociability...in the civil engineering profession.""The ...

, the national civil engineering honor society. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at age 91. His El Cerrito, California home is the world's first residential structure made of prestressed concrete. His home features a dance floor serving as monument to his favorite pastime, dancing. His widow, Margaret Kao Lin is also the daughter of a former ROC supreme court justice.

References

External links

Guide to the T.Y. Lin Papers
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library is the primary special-collections library of the University of California, Berkeley. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retain the name Bancroft Library in perpetuity. ...

Oral History at the Online Archive of California
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lin, Tung-Yen 1912 births 2003 deaths American academics of Chinese descent American architects of Chinese descent American civil engineers American structural engineers Chinese architects Chinese bridge engineers Chinese emigrants to the United States Educators from California Educators from Fujian Engineers from California Engineers from Fujian Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Members of Academia Sinica National Medal of Science laureates People from Fuzhou People from Richmond, California Southwest Jiaotong University alumni Tsien family UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni UC Berkeley College of Engineering faculty

Biography

See also

References

External links