Artist in Concrete and Steel: Bridges of Ralph Modjeski

According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, the engineer Ralph Modjeski, a specialist in the design and construction of bridges, was best known for “the number, variety, and innovative character of his projects.” One of the most acclaimed in his field during his life, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering from the University of Illinois, was a director of the American Society of Civil Engineers, president of the Western Society of Civil Engineers, and a member of the American Institute of Consulting Engineers, the Franklin Institute, the American Railway Engineering Association, the British Institute of Civil Engineers, and several other organizations. Among his many professional recognitions were the Gold Medal from the Franklin Institute, the John Scott Award for his “skill and success in [the] building of large bridges,” the Howard N. Potts Medal for science and engineering, the John Fritz Medal from the American Association of Engineering Societies for “outstanding scientific or industrial achievements,” membership in the National Academy of Sciences, and honorary membership in the Philadelphia Engineers Club. Most writers would approach writing about such an accomplished person by focusing either on their life and achievements or through a detailed professional analysis of the protagonist's engineering feats. Jan Plachta bravely attempts both.The author begins with a substantial “Introduction” of thirty pages that is in fact a rather detailed biography of the engineer, both professionally and in terms of his personal life. Born in Austrian-controlled Poland the son of noted Shakespearean actress Helena Modjeska (Modrzejewska) in 1861, he was educated in his native land and France before becoming a United States citizen in 1883. In the Introduction Plachta provides more than just the kind of overview one might find in an encyclopedia. Rather, he delves into his education, his interest in music, his relationship with his famous mother—and some more negative aspects, such as his marital problems. By intertwining the personal with the professional as the protagonist acquires his first position in the United States, moves on to establish his own independent office in Chicago, and then expands his career in engineering and activities in various professional associations, Plachta presents a human portrait that also explains how these disparate elements all influenced his personal and professional development.Following the Introduction, the book's thirty-eight chapters, each focusing on a different bridge, provide technical explanations, photographs, and often diagrams which combine to provide the reader with design and engineering concerns, along with their solutions, for each of the structures. Possessing his own professional qualifications, the author provides detailed engineering information but at the same time, beyond the technical specifications, his clear prose is easily understood by non-specialists. A good example that I was drawn to was the chapter “Mid-Hudson Bridge” since I have personally crossed that structure innumerable times. The description includes a historical background, the reasons for the site selection and the choice of a suspension style construction. In addition to specific technical specifications, the text is accompanied by a modern photograph of the span, a closeup photo of support structures, construction diagrams, and a historical photograph of the original ribbon cutting. Although the illustrations vary, each chapter contains these elements in a mixture that provides the technical information specialists seek while also the general explanations for the non-specialist reader. When opened, it was the sixth-longest suspension bridge in the world. In 1983, the American Society of Civil Engineers designated the Mid-Hudson Bridge a New York State Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.Reading through the various bridge descriptions it struck me how flexible Modjeski was in varying his techniques to fit existing circumstances and how apparently willing he was to adopt different or new engineering approaches. No doubt this adaptability was one of the reasons for his success when faced with a multitude of varying circumstances and challenges over so many years. An example of this was the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. As the author points out, the soil conditions in the area, the deep water, and the distance to be covered all conspired to make this a challenging assignment. In the chapter the author also takes on the controversy over credit for the bridge generally being given to Charles Purcell who led the California team of designers, indicating that Purcell “had no experience in the design of large bridges so he turned to some of the best known and most experienced bridge engineers in the country” (pp. 376–377). One of these was Ralph Modjeski who served as chair of the Consulting Group of Engineers for the Bay Bridge design and construction. His experience, Plachta notes, in “building various types of foundations [. . .] designing suspension type bridges . . . [and] two-level truss bridges and cantilever type bridges” (p. 380) was essential to this difficult project.Modjeski's designs were, Plachta concluded, “very safe, economical and esthetically pleasing structures” (p. 421). He might also have added that a tribute to Modjeski's skill and foresight is the high percentage of the structures he designed that are still functional today.A serious investigation into the professional accomplishments of the noted engineer Ralph Modjeski is long overdue. Jan Plachta's Artist in Concrete and Steel: Bridges of Ralph Modjeski fills that void. For the information and convenience of the readers, the book is replete with an amazing 279 illustrations including photographs, sketches, reproductions of documents, technical drawings, and blueprints, many of them in color, which are very helpful as adjuncts to the explanations of the techniques used in each of the bridges. Likewise, the depth of research is attested by 148 bibliography entries including both primary and secondary sources. For anyone seeking an in-depth explanation of Modjeski's engineering techniques and the reasons why he was so highly respected in his profession this book will be a welcome source.