Othmar Hermann Ammann

Ammann, Othmar (1879–1965). Swiss-born engineer, who settled in the United States in 1904, and over 35 years designed bridges in the N. Y. area. In 1925 he joined the Port of New York Authority for which he designed the Bayonne Bridge (opened in 1931) as a graceful parabolic two-hinged steel-arch structure, which made his name. In the same year his George Washington Bridge was opened, with twice the span of any then existing suspension-bridge, and steel-framed towers suggesting vestigial Classicism. His elegant Bronx-Whitestone Suspension Bridge was the first to use shallow plate-girders as stiffeners instead of the more usual deep trusses. In 1946 he formed a partnership with Charles Whitney, establishing one of the leading engineering firms in the world. His majestic Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, NYC (completed 1964), was even longer than his earlier structures.

Bibliography

Billington (1983);
Rastorfer (2000);
Stüssi (1974)

Othmar Hermann Ammann , 1879-1965, American civil engineer, b. Switzerland, grad. Federal Polytechnic Institute, Zürich, 1902. He came to the United States in 1904 and was naturalized in 1924. He served (1925-39) with the Port of New York Authority and was its director of engineers from 1937 to 1939. An authority on bridges, he participated in either the designing or the construction of Hell Gate, George Washington, Triborough, Bronx-Whitestone, and Verrazano-Narrows (at its opening in 1964, the longest and heaviest suspension bridge in the world) bridges in New York City, and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.