Othmar Ammann

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Othmar Ammann (March 26 1879 - September 22 1965) was a renowned civil engineer whose designs include:

George Washington Bridge (opened October 24 1931)
Bayonne Bridge (opened November 15 1931)
Bronx-Whitestone Bridge (opened April 29 1939)
Throg's Neck Bridge (opened January 11 1961)
Verrazano Narrows Bridge (opened November 21 1964)

Othmar Ammann was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland in 1879. He received his engineering education at the Polytechnikum in Zürich, Switzerland. Polytechnikum is considered by many to be one of Europe's premier universities. In 1904, he emigrated to the United States, spending his career working mostly in New York City. In 1905 he briefly returned to Switzerland to marry Lilly Selma Wehril. Together they had 3 children- Werner, George, and Margaret- before she died in 1933. In 1924, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He then married Karly Vogt Noetzli in 1935 in California. It was a report that he wrote about the failure of the Quebec City Bridge in 1907 that first earned him recognition in the field of bridge design engineering. It was because of this report that he was able to obtain a possition working for Gustav Lindenthal on the Hell Gate Railroad bridge. By 1925 had been appointed bridge engineer to the New York Port Authority and his design for a bridge over the Hudson River had been accepted in preference to one developed by Lindenthal. Ultimately, this became the George Washington Bridge. Under Ammann's direction, it was completed six months ahead of schedule for less than the original $60 million budget. In 1946, Ammann and Charles Whitney founded the firm Ammann & Whitney. In 1964, Ammann opened the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in New York that had the worlds longest suspended span of 4,260ft and the worlds heaviest suspension bridge of its time. The Verrazano Narrows Bridge is currently the eight longest of all time. Ammann also assisted in the building of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which is currently the ninth longest bridge of all time.

Othmar Ammann designed more than half of the eleven bridges that connect New York City to the rest of the United States. His talent and ingenuity helped him create the two longest suspension bridges during his time. Ammann was known for being able to create bridges that were lighter and inexpensive, yet they were still simple and beautiful. This made him popular during the depression era when being able to reduce the cost was crucial.

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