Othmar Ammann
| Othmar Ammann | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 26, 1879 Feuerthalen, Switzerland |
| Died | September 22, 1965 (aged 86) Rye, New York |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Education | ETH Zurich |
| Occupation | structural engineer |
| Known for | George Washington Bridge, Throgs Neck Bridge, Bronx Whitestone Bridge, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and Bayonne Bridge |
| Home town | Schaffhausen, Switzerland |
Othmar Hermann Ammann (March 26, 1879 – September 22, 1965) was a Swiss-American structural engineer whose bridge designs include the George Washington Bridge, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and Bayonne Bridge. He also directed the planning and construction of New York City's Lincoln Tunnel.
Othmar Ammann was born nearby Schaffhausen, Switzerland in 1879. His father was a manufacturer and his mother was a hat maker. He received his engineering education at the Polytechnikum in Zürich, Switzerland. He studied with Swiss engineer Wilhelm Ritter. 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 Wehrli. Together they had 3 children- Werner, George, and Margot- 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.
Ammann wrote two reports about bridge collapses, the collapse of the Quebec Bridge and the collapse of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Galloping Gertie). It was the report that he wrote about the failure of the Quebec Bridge in 1907 that first earned him recognition in the field of bridge design engineering. Because of this report, he was able to obtain a position working for Gustav Lindenthal on the Hell Gate Bridge. By 1925, he had been appointed bridge engineer to the Port of New York Authority. His design for a bridge over the Hudson River was accepted over one developed by his mentor, Lindenthal. (Lindenthal's "North River Bridge" designs show an enormous, 16+ lane bridge that would have accommodated pedestrians, freight trains, rapid transit, and automobile traffic. The bridge, which would have entered Manhattan at 57th Street, was rejected in favor of Ammann's designs primarily due to cost reasons.)
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