Ralph Modjeski, during his lifetime, was considered the world’s leading bridge engineer, for his contributions to transportation, bridge design and construction. He designed over 50 great bridges, the majority of which remain in service and remain classical examples of the art of bridge engineering.

Biography

Ralph Modjeski was born Rudolf Modrzejewski in Cracow, Poland in 1861, educated in Paris at the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees and graduated first in his class in 1885. His mother, Helena Modrzejewska (later shortened to Modjeska, for reasons similar to her son’s adoption of a simplified name), was a famous actress, and initially Ralph, an admirer of Poland’s native son, Frederic Chopin, trained as a pianist, a career for which he showed great promise. One of his biographers notes that he studied "under Kazimierz Hofmann, son of the world renowned pianist, Joseph Hofmann. Curiously, during that same period Modjeski's fellow student was the illustrious Jan Ignacy Paderewski. Ralph Modjeski was an extremely proficient pianist; in seven lessons he had learned four of Kohler's etudes by heart and almost the entire sixth sonata of Mozart." (Ref. 3-2) However, his other interests subsequently led him to the engineering field. Upon graduation, he married Felicie Benda, a fellow native of Cracow, and then promptly emigrated to the United States (which he had previously visited, in 1878, before entering engineering school). He became a U.S. citizen in 1887, and from 1885 until 1893 he worked in the office of George S. Morison, who is considered the father of bridge building in America. In 1893, Mr. Modjeski established his own offices in the Monadnock Building in Chicago and entered private practice as a civil engineer. Initially this firm was a partnership with another engineer, but by 1894 it was Modjeski’s alone.

As an independent civil engineer, his first major project was the design and construction of the seven-span railway and highway bridge at Rock Island, Illinois. This initial bridge was the first of many bridges whose combined length exceeded 125 miles. Between 1896 and 1900 for the Northern Pacific Railway Company, he prepared a set of standard plans for railway structures varying in spans for up to 250 feet. These specifications were used by the Northern Pacific railroad until the late 1950’s.

In 1902, in association with Alfred Noble (later President of the American Society of Civil Engineers), he designed and supervised the construction of the bridge over the Mississippi river at Thebes, Illinois. Although completed in 1905, this innovative bridge is still in service today and was one of the first bridges in the United States to use reinforced concrete. Because of his work as engineer of the Thebes bridge, H. Witherspoon selected Modjeski for inclusion in his 1902 book, "Men of Illinois". This book was dedicated to those individuals who made the State of Illinois great.

Ralph Modjeski designed and built over 50 great bridges that included railroad trusses and suspension-type bridges across North America. Most of Modjeski’s bridges are in service today and remain classical examples of the art of bridge engineering. His bridges over the Mississippi River include bridges at Keokuk, St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans. Crossing the Ohio River, Modjeski bridges are at Metropolis, Evansville, Louisville, and Maysville. In 1908, he was in charge of reconstruction of the Quebec Bridge over the St. Lawrence River. This bridge remains the longest truss span in the world. He designed the longest bridge in Alaska, over the Tanana River. In 1926 he completed construction of the Delaware River Bridge in Philadelphia, now called the Ben Franklin Bridge; at that time, this bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world. The Ambassador Bridge in Detroit was completed in 1929. In 1930 he designed and erected the Mid-Hudson Bridge at Poughkeepsie, New York, considered one of the most beautiful American suspension bridges.

An excellent example of Modjeski design engineering strength is the Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans. The best engineers in the country were unable to build a bridge in the deep delta deposits of the Mississippi River. Due to difficult foundation conditions, low lands, required navigation clearances, and strong river currents, construction of this bridge was a pioneering engineering problem of the first magnitude. New Orleans papers called Modjeski the greatest engineer in the history of the country.

In 1931 Modjeski was nominated Chairman of the Consulting Board of Engineers for the design and construction of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. This important position indicated Modjeski’s status in the engineering community in the USA in the 1930’s. The ASCE’s Memoir, ASCE Trans., Vol.95, on Ralph Modjeski stated that he merited the reputation of one of "the world’s leading bridge engineers".

While Modjeski maintained his official residence in Chicago at the Union League Club (his actual home was California for much of his life), he accepted Frank M. Masters, a twenty-year employee, as a partner in 1924; the firm was renamed Modjeski & Masters, Inc., moving their headquarters to New York (and more recently to Harrisburg PA). While in Chicago, Mr. Modjeski was a member, president, and then an honorary member of the Western Society of Engineers, and made several presentations on bridge construction to its meetings. In 1931 he received the Washington Award from that Society.

In recognition of his engineering accomplishments, Mr. Modjeski received many awards. These included:

1. Man of Illinois, 1902 – Thebes Bridge, Chief Engineer, H. Witherspoon, "Men of Illinois", 1902, Chicago

2. Honorary Doctorate, University of Illinois, 1911

3. Howard Potts Medal, Franklin Institute, 1914

4. Ben Franklin Medal, Franklin Institute, 1922

5. John Scott Medal, City Trusts of Philadelphia, 1924

6. Knight, Legion of Honor, Republic of France, 1926

7. Honorary Doctorate, Pennsylvania Military College, 1927

8. Honorary Doctorate, Lwow Polytechnic Institute, 1929

9. John Fritz Medal, American Association of Engineering Societies, 1930

Washington Award, Western Society of Engineers, 1931

Among the many papers and publications to which Mr. Modjeski contributed were the following:

• Report on reconstruction of Rock Island Bridge over Mississippi River, Western Society of Engineers, 1897

• Erection of the Draw Span of the New rock Island Bridge, Western Society of Engineers, 1897

• Northern Pacific Railroad, Standard Bridge Plans, Western Society of Engineers, 1901

• A Report to the Mayor and City Council with Plans and Estimates for the Proposed Bridge across the Willamette River at Portland, Oregon, 1908

• The Celilo Bridge over the Columbia River, Western Society of Engineers, 1912

• A Report for the Proposed Bridge across the Columbia River between Portland, Oregon And Vancouver, Washington, 1912

• Design of Large Bridges with Special Reference to the Quebec Bridge, Franklin Institute the State of Pennsylvania Howard N. Potts Gold Medal Address, 1913

• The Harahan Bridge over the Mississippi River at Memphis, Tennessee, Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania, 1917

• The Metropolis Bridge over the Ohio River at Metropolis, Illinois, Western Society of Engineers, 1918

• The Delaware River Bridge, Journal of Western Society of Engineers, 1923

• Special Problems in Bridge Design and Construction, Aldred Lecture, Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, 1924

• Unusual Problems in the Design and Construction of Large Bridges, Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania – Centenary Lecture, 1925

• High Level Fixed Bridges over Navigable Waters, The American Association of Port Authorities, 1926

• Structural Steel and Reinforced Concrete in Engineering, American Institute of Steel Construction, Inc., 1927

• Suspension Bridges with Special Reference to the Philadelphia-Camden Bridge, USA World Engineering Congress, Japan, 1929.

Mr. Modjeski remarried in 1931; at his death in 1940, his second wife, Mary, survived him, along with two sons and a daughter from his first marriage.

For further information:

1. Memoir prepared by F. M. Masters, Published in Trans. ASCE, Vol. 106, 1941

2. Chapter 20 "ASCE Illinois Section Book, "150 Years of Engineering Excellence", A Celebration of Engineering 1852-2002.

3. (Web references)

See http://www.icivilengineer.com/Famous_Engineers/Modjeski/

or

http://www.polishamericancenter.org/KayaArticle_Mod.htm