Online Encyclopedia
Washington Roebling
Washington Augustus Roebling (26 May, 1837 - 21 July, 1926) was a United States civil engineer, best known for his work on the Brooklyn Bridge, started by his father John A. Roebling.
Washington Roebling was born in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania. After education at the the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York he joined his father's engineering work as a bridge builder. He served in the United States Army during the American Civil War, seeing action repeatedly including at the Battle of Gettysburg. He was brevetted liutenant-colonel in December of 1864 for gallant service, ending his service as a colonel. After the war he returned to working with his father, and took over supervision of the Brooklyn Bridge after his father's death in 1869. He made many important improvements on the bridge design and development of major bridge building techniques.
Decompression sickness due to working in compressed air under the river combined with over work shattered his health, and rendered him bedridden, but he continued to oversee it to successful completion in 1883.
Roebling's hobby was collecting rocks and minerals. His collection of over 16,000 was donated to the Smithsonian Institution, becoming an important part of the national museum's mineral and gem collection.
Roebling died in his home in Trenton, New Jersey