Ralph Modjeski

Structural Engineer
Ralph Modjeski was born on January 27, 186I, in Cracov, Poland, during the time that Poland was
divided among partitioning porwers of Austria, Germany and Russia. His mother, Helena Modjeska, was a
glamorous international actress who, following her immigration to the United States in 1876, came to be
referred in press reports as the "first lady of the American theater." Modjeski's early European education
included musical studies; he was also an associate of the illustrious pianist, composer and patriot Ignacy Jan
Paderewski, who led his country to freedom and later become the first Prime Minister of Poland. Rather than
follow a musical path himself, however, Modjeski decided on a career in engineering, and graduated from
the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees in
Paris in 1885 at the head ofhis class
with a degree in civil engineering. He
never abandoned his musical interests.
Despite a
full time
engineering
practice that eventually brought him
fame as one of the 20ú Cennrry's most
accomplished and respected designers
andbuilders of bridges, he continued
a daily practice regimen at the piano.
Modjeski became a naturalized
citizen of the United States in 1887,
and began his engineering career in
Chicago. His first engineering
engagement was with George
Morison, father of bridge building in
America. In 1893, he opened his own Ralph Modjeski's first major assignment was to des¡gn this double deck
office in the just completed and highway bridge. Photo couftesy of Modieski
rail
& Masters, lnc.
Monadnock Building. In 1 894, Ralph
Modjeski received his first major assignment, which was the design and consftuction of a double deck railway
and highway bridge over the Mississippi River at Rock Island, Illinois. For the next few years he prepared
standard designs for steel bridges, varying in spans from 10 ft. to 250 ft., for the Northern Pacific Railway
Company.
r04
ln 1902, he worked with Alfred Noble, past
president of the American Society of Civil
Engineers, as chief engineer for the double track
railway bridge over the Mississippi River atThebes,
Illinois. In the years that followed, many calls came
for his expert service in the design and construction
of railway bridges. In 1905 he was the chief
engineer of reconstruction of the single-track
railway bridge over the Missouri River at Bismarck,
North Dakota, and for the new double track railway
bridges in Portland, Oregon, over the Columbia
and Willamette rivers. In 1906, he designed a new
single-frack elecftic railway bridge over the Illinois
River at Peoria. His next work, in 1907, was the
construction of the McKinley Bridge, a double
track railway and highway bridge over the
Mississippi River at St. Louis, Missouri.
In 1908, he was appointed by the Government
of the Dominion of Canada to the three-man Board
of Engineers retained for the reconstruction of the
Quebec Bridge over the St. Lawrence River.
Modjeski serveduntil successful completion of this
bridge, the longest truss span in the world. Between
the years 1905 and 1915, Ralph Modjeski was the
chief engineer on all bridges for the Oregon Trunk
Railway Companybetween Celilo andBend. These
included the single-track railway bridge over the
Columbia River at Celilo and the famous 340 ft.
two hinged arch that spans the Crooked River at a height of 350 ft. above the stream. In 1910, he was
engaged as chief engineer by the City of Portland to build the Broadway Bridge over the Willamette River.
This was a double track electric railway bridge including a bascule span with roadways and sidewalks.
ln 1912, the City of Toledo engaged Ralph Modjeski to redesign and construct the Cherry Street Highway
Bridge over the Maumee River. This was his first concrete arch bridge.Inl9I4,he designed and supervised
construction of the Harahan Bridge, a double track railway structure with wagon roadways over the Mississþi
River at Memphis, Tennessee. At the same time he did reconstruction on a double deck single-track railway
and highway bridge at Keokuk, Iowa.
Photo above is Modjeski's double
track railway bridge over the
Mississippi River at Thebes, lllinois.
Courtesy of Modjeski & Masters, lnc.
Photo below shows the McKinley
Bridge, a double track railway and
highway bridge over the Mississippi
River at St. Louis, Missouri. Couftesy
of Modjeski & Masters, lnc.
105
ln I9I7, Modjeski was consulting engineer in the preparation of the design
for a double track railway bridge over the Ohio River at Metropolis, Illinois.
During the same period of time he worked on the double track railway bridge
over the Thames River at New London, Connecticut, and on the reinforcement
and general reconstruction of the Poughkeepsie, New York, Railway Bridge over
the Hudson River.
lnI922,he was the engineer of design and consulting engineer of construction
for the United States Government on the Tanana River Bridge inAlaska, a singletrack railway bridge. From 1920 to 1924, he was also engaged in rebuilding of
two bridges under traffic, one was the double track railway bridge with sidewalks
over the Ohio River at Cincinnati, Ohio, which was done without falsework, and
the second was the double track electric railway and highway bridge with
sidewalks over the Missouri River at Omaha, Nebraska. Following this work he
was engaged as consulting engineer for the reinforcement of the cantilever span
of the Columbia River Bridge atWenatchee, Washington.
In 1923, in partnership with Frank Masters he designed two bridges over the
Susquehanna River: a concrete arch highway bridge to replace the old covered
timber bridge at Clark's Ferry, Pennsylvania, and a stone faced arch highway
bridge at Market Street in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania.ln 1920, he was appointed by the
Delaware River Joint Commission to select
location and prepare design and cost estimates
for the Delaware River Bridge. Upon submission
of the report he was retained as chief engineer of
Above: Modjeski's single-track railway bridge over the
Columbia River at Celilo, Oregon, and the famous 340
ft. two hinged arch that spans the Crooked River at a
height of 350 ft. above the stream.
Below: The first train crossed Modjeski's Crooked River
Bridge on September 17, 1911. The bridge remains
one of the highest railroad bridges in the country, rising
hundreds
of
feet above the water. Photo shows
passengers standing along side train.
Photos courtesy of Mr. David Neys, Oregon
Depa
106
ftm e nt of
Tra n spo rtati o n.
the Commission, serving in this capacity during the entire period
of construction until the bridge was opened to traffic. At the
time of its completion ín 1926, the Delaware River Bridge was
the longest suspension bridge ever built, the length of the main
span being 1,750 feet and the total length 9,57O feet.
From L927 to 1929, Modjeski built four other bridges: a
highway bridge over the Delaware River between Tacony,
Pennsylvania, and Palmyra, New Jersey; theAmbassador Bridge
crossing Detroit River between Detroit Michigan, and V/indsor,
Ontario, Canada; a single track railway bridge over the
Atchafalaya River, at Melville, Louisiana; and a cantilever
highway bridge over the Ohio River between Louisville,
Kentucky, and Jeffersonville, Indiana. During this same period
he designed and erected the Mid-Hudson Bridge at Poughkeepsie,
for the State of New York. This suspension highway bridge is
particularly beautiful for its Gothic beauty. In the following years,
his firm built two Henry Avenue bridges for the Department of
Public V/orks at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: one highway bridge
over the Reading Railway tracks, and one stone and concrete
arch highway bridge over the Wissahickon Creek; a cantilever
highway bridge overthe Ohio River atEvansville,Indiana; several
structures for the Kentucþ State Highway Commission, including
the Highway Suspension Bridge over the Ohio River at Maysville;
the Smithland Bridge over the Cumberland River; and the
Paducah Bridge over the Tennessee River.
He was also appointed chief engineer of the Huey P. Long
Bridge over the Mississippi at New Orleans structure; two arches
in Washington, D.C.- the Klingle Valley and Calvert Street
Bridges; studies and report on the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, over the Mississippi River; design and construction
of the Owensboro, Kentucþ, and Cairo, Illinois, bridges over the Ohio River; and the Davenport, Iowa,
suspension bridge over the Mississippi River.
Reports on many of these bridges were published by Ralph Modjeski and filed with the Engineering
Societies Library in New York, N.Y., together with papers written on the technical unusual phases of some
of his works. Among these articles is one read before the World Engineering Congress in Japan in 1929 at
which he represented the engineers of the United States. Several others were prepared for engineering societies
and clubs of which he was a member.
ln 1920 Ralph Modjeski was appointed
by the Delaware River Joint
Commission to select location and
prepare design and cost estimates for
the Delaware River Bridge. This bridge
was the longest suspension bridge of
its time in 1926, with a span of 1,750
feet and a total length of 9,570 feet.
Photo couftesy of Mr. Mike Williams
of the Delaware River Port Authority.
t07
Ione híghway,
cold and 8re!,
To a chasm vast and deep and wide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
For the sullen stre(tm held. no fears for him,
But he turned when he reached Íhe other sid.e,
And buitded a bridge to span the tide.
"Old man," cried afellow pilgrim near,
"Your journey will end with the ending day,
And you never wíll pass thís way,
You have crossed the chasm deep and wide,
Why build you thís bridge at everctide?"
he
Modjeski, who served as Western Society of Engineers 1903-04
President, saw his professional work recognized throughout the
engineering world by way of honorary degrees, medals and prizes.
He received honorary doctor of engineering degrees from the
University of lllinois, Urbana, in 1911 ; from the Pennsylvania Military
College at Chester; and in 1931 from the Polytechnic Institute of
Lvov in Poland. In 1914, he was awarded the Howard N. Potts Gold
Medal; in 1922 the Franklin Medal; in 1924, the John Scott Medal
(Franklin Institute); and in 1930, the JohnFntzMedal. The Republic
of France made him a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1926.In
1930 the Polish Government at the Exposition of Industry and Science
at Poznan, Poland, named him recipient of the Grand Prize. That
same year he was selected as a representative of the United States at
the World Engineering Congress in Japan.
In 1932, Ralph Modjeski was appointed Chairman of rhe Board
of Consulting Engineers for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge,
the longest major highway bridge in the world, which with its
approaches extends over 8.25 miles. It was in his office and under
his inspiration and guidance that most of the preliminary plans were
drawn up, including the plan that was used for a central anchorage
between the double suspension span for the westbay crossing. This
was the last major work on which Ralph Modjeski was active. Because
of his failing health he moved to California in 1936 so that he could
be close to the work. Ralph Modjeski died in Los Angeles on June
26, 1940. The ASCE memoir srated that; "With his death the
ln 1931,70year old Ralph Modjeski
received the Washington Award.
During the festivities a poem (above)
was read that beautifully summarizes
his life accomplishments:
108
profession lost a pronounced personality and one who merited the
reputation of one of "the world's leading bridge engineers." The firm
he founded, now called Modjeski and Masters, is currently headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
David Plowden in his book "Bridges - The Spans of North AmeÍica," says that "No man produced more
characteristically American bridges than Ralph Modjeski, whose career encompassed two areas of bridge
design. Beginning in the age of the steel truss and the railway, it continued into heyday of the suspension
bridge." In 1931, he was recipient of the Washington Award.