Ralph Modjeski

Ralph Modjeski (born Jan. 27, 1861, Kraków, Pol.—died June 26, 1940, Los Angeles) was a Polish-born American bridge designer and builder, outstanding for the number, variety, and innovative character of his projects.

He was the son of the actress Helena Modjeska (1840–1909). After study in Paris, he settled in the United States and from 1892 practiced as a consulting bridge engineer in Chicago.

Among his best known bridges were the seven-span railroad and highway bridge over the Mississippi at Rock Island, Ill.; the McKinley Bridge at St. Louis, Mo.; the Northern Pacific railroad bridge over the Missouri at Bismarck, N.D.; and bridges over the Columbia and Willamette rivers in Oregon. His double-track railroad bridge over the Ohio River at Metropolis, Ill., contained several striking innovations, including a simple truss span of 720 feet (219 metres) and the unusual use of alloys: silicon steel for the bridge proper and nickel steel for the tension members. He was chief engineer and chairman of the board of engineers of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge over the Delaware River, which, upon completion in 1926, was the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Modjeski was also chief engineer of the Huey P. Long Bridge over the Mississippi at New Orleans and, as his last undertaking, served as chairman of the board of consulting engineers for the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (California), completed in 1936. By the time he died, he had been associated with more than 50 major bridges.