J.A.L. Waddell | |
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 John Alexander Low Waddell | |
| Born | (1854-01-15)January 15, 1854 Port Hope, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | March 3, 1938(1938-03-03) (aged 84) New York City, United States |
| Resting place | Fairview Cemetery,Council Bluffs, Iowa |
| Education | C.E., B.A.Sc., Ma.E., D.Sc. |
| Alma mater | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute McGill University |
| Notable work | De Pontibus Bridge Engineering (two volumes) |
| Spouse | Ada Everett (m. 1882) |
| Children | 3 |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Civil Engineering |
| Institutions | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Imperial University at Tokyo |
| Practice name | J.A.L. Waddell, Consulting Engineer |
| Significant design | Waddell "A" Truss Bridge Vertical-lift bridge |
| Awards | ASCENorman Medal (x3) AAE Clausen Gold Medal |
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Dr. John Alexander Low Waddell (January 15, 1854 – March 3, 1938, often shortened toJ.A.L. Waddell and sometimes known asJohn Alexander Waddell) was a Canadian-Americancivil engineer and prolificbridge designer, with more than a thousand structures to his credit in the United States, Canada, as well asMexico,Russia,China,Japan, andNew Zealand. Waddell’s work set standards for elevated railroad systems and helped develop materials suitable for large span bridges. His most important contribution was the development of thesteam-poweredhigh-lift bridge. Waddell was a widely respected writer on bridge design and engineering theory, as well as an advocate for quality in higher education engineering programs. The company he founded in 1887, 'J.A.L. Waddell, Consulting Engineer,' would eventually become the modern dayHardesty & Hanover, a leading moveable bridge engineering firm. Many of Waddell's surviving bridges are now considered historic landmarks.
John Alexander Low Waddell was born on January 15, 1854, inPort Hope, Ontario, Canada, to Robert Waddell (b. 1815) and Angeline E. Jones. His mother was the daughter of William Jones, late colonel of the 27th regiment and sheriff of the city of New York and a member of the State legislature in 1844.[1][2] Waddell was the oldest child of eight.[3]
Homeschooled until the age of nine, Waddell was reportedly in poor health throughout his youth.[4]: 62 He later attendedTrinity College School in Port Hope until turning sixteen,[5][6] when his parents sent him on a ten-month voyage toHong Kong andShanghai on the clipper shipN.B. Palmer. In 1875, Waddell obtained his first degree, in civil engineering, fromRensselaer Polytechnic Institute inTroy, New York.[7] In 1882 he married Ava Everett ofCouncil Bluffs, Iowa, the daughter of prominent lawyer Horace Everett.[4] In 1904 he earned aDoctorate of Science (D.Sc) fromMcGill University.
Waddell began his career by returning to his homeland as a draftsman in Canada'sDepartment of Marine and Fisheries inOttawa, where he spent a few months designing buoys, lanterns, and similar marine appliances.[6] His next position came as a 'rodman' (surveyor's assistant)[8] on theCanadian Pacific Railway.
He returned to the United States where he designedmines for aWest Virginia coal company. In 1878, he returned to Rensselaer and taught mechanics courses until 1880. Waddell then traveled west, obtaining additional degrees fromMcGill University inMontreal, Quebec, and spending some time working at theRaymond & Campbell firm inCouncil Bluffs, Iowa.
In July 1882, he was hired as aforeign advisor by theMeiji government of theEmpire of Japan and taught at theTokyo Imperial University while writing two books. That same year, he was also awarded an honoraryBachelor's andMaster's of Science each byMcGill University.[9]
Waddell returned to the United States in 1886, and one year later established a private engineering practice inKansas City, Missouri, asJ.A.L. Waddell, Consulting Engineer. The firm would later evolve over the decades with various junior partners, includingIra G. Hedrick in 1899,John L. Harrington in 1907, Waddell's own son Needham Everett in 1915, andShortridge Hardesty in 1927. After Waddell's death, the company became, and continues today as,Hardesty & Hanover.[10]
The company enjoyed great success with railroad clients in particular during its early years; in addition to the wide adoption of Waddell's "A" truss design along theSt. Louis Southwestern Railway andNippon Railway, one 1906 newspaper article fromBrownsville, Texas, reported that Dr. Waddell had been responsible for all the bridges on theInternational–Great Northern Railroad.[11]
Midway through his consulting career, Waddell opened aNew York City office, which soon became the firm's headquarters in 1920 amidst the economic boom of theRoaring Twenties. Many ofmetropolitan area's most important postwar infrastructure projects were awarded to the company, including theGoethals Bridge andMarine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge.
Waddell was also an adviser to the Ministry of Railways,Republic of China. When in China he along with Meloy was entrusted byMIT andHarvard University to talk over withNational Southeastern University (later renamedNational Central University and thenNanking University) and reached the agreement on founding Sino-American joint engineering college inShanghai, but it soon ceased due to the wars outbroken in the area.
He was widely recognised, being awarded honours by Japan, Russia, China, and Italy, holding five honorary doctorates (including those from Japan, Canada, and Puerto Rico) and being elected an Honorary Member of theAmerican Society of Civil Engineers in 1936.[12]
One of Waddell's earliest contributions to the field ofcivil engineering was the "A" Truss bridge. Patented in 1893, the cost-effective design allowed for cheap and rapid construction, and could easily carry the heavy loads generated bysteam locomotive-powered trains. Replicated throughout theEmpire of Japan and the American West and Midwest, this basic design contributed to the rapid expansion of severalrailway companies during theSecond Industrial Revolution.
Lifting and swinging bridges had been used for generations, but not on the scale that they exist today. Waddell was the first to invent a modern design, originally intended to span a short channel acrossMinnesota Point in the harbor ofDuluth, Minnesota. His design won a city contest in 1892, but theWar Department objected to the proposal. The city built an aerial transporter bridge in that location in 1905. In 1929, it was remodeled into theAerial Lift Bridge, similar to Waddell's design.[13]
Waddell adapted his vertical-lift concept in 1893 and it was finally built as theSouth Halsted Street Lift-Bridge over theChicago River. While the city of Chicago was the first to build a lift bridge of Waddell's design, the second had to wait for his partnership withmechanical engineerJohn Lyle Harrington, formed in 1907.Waddell & Harrington designed a vertical lift bridge (since demolished) for the Iowa Central Railway over theMississippi River atKeithsburg, Illinois, in 1909. The pair designed more than two dozen more vertical lift bridges over the next five years before Harrington left in 1914,[14] among them theASB Bridge inKansas City Missouri.
Four years after the death of his wife Ada, Waddell died on March 3, 1938, in hisManhattan apartment at theHotel Earle. According to an obituary his death was caused by complications from a stroke, suffered 3 months prior.[17] Waddell is memorialized with his wife at Fairview Cemetery inCouncil Bluffs, Iowa.
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