Roebling

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

JOHN AUGUSTUS, an born in Muhlhausen, American engineer; 1806; came to the Prussia, June 6, 1831, and settled in Pitts- United States in work was as assisburgh, Pa. His first dock navigation of tant engineer on the of the Ohio. Beaver river, a tributary employment in the Penn- He soon found , and for three sylvania State service in surveying and loyears was engaged railroads from Harrisburg cating three the Allegheny Mounto Pittsburgh across were in due course tains. These roads Railroad Combuilt by the Pennsylvania secured the contract pany. In 1844 he wooden aqueduct of the to remove the across the Allegheny Pennsylvania canal become unsafe and to river, which had structure. His next replace it with a new was the Monongapiece of construction at Pittsburgh. He hela suspension bridge two years, built a series of then, within aqueducts on the line of four suspension canal, connectthe Delaware and Hudson with the anthracite ing the Hudson river . He recoal regions of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania about this moved from J., where he estabtime, to Trenton, N. . He next built a lished his wire works suspension bridge across the chasm of the Niagara river to unite the New York Central and Great Western (Canada) railroads. He began the Cincinnati suspension bridge in 1856 and completed it in 1867. His greatest work was the first bridge over the East river, connecting New York and Brooklyn. He died while the construction was in progress, in Brooklyn, July 22, 1869, and the bridge was completed by his son.