John Alexander Low Waddell
American civil engineer (1854–1938)
Dr. John Alexander Low Waddell (January 15, 1854 – March 3, 1938, often shortened to J.A.L. Waddell and sometimes known as John Alexander Waddell) was a Canadian-American civil engineer and prolific bridge designer, with more than a thousand structures to his credit.2
From Wikipedia’s article on John Alexander Low Waddell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born Jan 15, 1854, died Mar 3, 1938.1
About
Most of these were in the United States and Canada, with some in Mexico, Russia, China, Japan, and New Zealand. Waddell’s work set standards for elevated railroad systems and helped develop materials suitable for large span bridges. His most important contribution was the development of the steam-powered high-lift bridge. Waddell was a widely respected writer on bridge design and engineering theory, as well as an advocate for quality in higher education engineering programs. The company he founded in 1887, 'J.A.L. Waddell, Consulting Engineer,' would eventually become the modern day Hardesty & Hanover, a leading moveable bridge engineering firm. Many of Waddell's surviving bridges are now considered historic landmarks.
From Wikipedia’s article on John Alexander Low Waddell, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2
Companies
- Hardesty & HanoverFounder12
Early life and education
- Date not recordedRensselaer Polytechnic Institute3
John Alexander Low Waddell was born on January 15, 1854, in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada, to Robert Waddell (b. 1815) and Angeline E. Jones. His mother was the daughter of William Jones, late colonel of the 27th regiment and sheriff of the city of New York and a member of the State legislature in 1844. Waddell was the oldest child of eight.
Homeschooled until the age of nine, Waddell was reportedly in poor health throughout his youth. He later attended Trinity College School in Port Hope until turning sixteen, when his parents sent him on a ten-month voyage to Hong Kong and Shanghai on the clipper ship N.B. Palmer. In 1875, Waddell obtained his first degree, in civil engineering, from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. In 1882 he married Ava Everett of Council Bluffs, Iowa, the daughter of prominent lawyer Horace Everett. In 1904 he earned a Doctorate of Science (D.Sc) from McGill University.
From Wikipedia’s article on John Alexander Low Waddell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career
Occupation: engineer, civil engineer.7
- Date not recordedWorked at University of Tokyo4
- Date not recordedFounded Hardesty & Hanover5
- Date not recordedForeign government advisor in Meiji Japan6
Waddell began his career by returning to his homeland as a draftsman in Canada's Department of Marine and Fisheries in Ottawa, where he spent a few months designing buoys, lanterns, and similar marine appliances. His next position came as a 'rodman' (surveyor's assistant) on the Canadian Pacific Railway.
He returned to the United States where he designed mines for a West Virginia coal company. In 1878, he returned to Rensselaer and taught mechanics courses until 1880. Waddell then traveled west, obtaining additional degrees from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, and spending some time working at the Raymond & Campbell firm in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
In July 1882, he was hired as a foreign advisor by the Meiji government of the Empire of Japan and taught at the Tokyo Imperial University while writing two books. That same year, he was also awarded an honorary Bachelor's and Master's of Science each by McGill University.
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Private practice
Waddell returned to the United States in 1886, and one year later established a private engineering practice in Kansas City, Missouri, as J.A.L. Waddell, Consulting Engineer. The firm would later evolve over the decades with various junior partners, including Ira G. Hedrick in 1899, John L. Harrington in 1907, Waddell's own son Needham Everett in 1915, and Shortridge Hardesty in 1927. After Waddell's death, the company became, and continues today as, Hardesty & Hanover.
The company enjoyed great success with railroad clients in particular during its early years; in addition to the wide adoption of Waddell's "A" truss design along the St. Louis Southwestern Railway and Nippon Railway, one 1906 newspaper article from Brownsville, Texas, reported that Dr. Waddell had been responsible for all the bridges on the International–Great Northern Railroad.
Midway through his consulting career, Waddell opened a New York City office, which soon became the firm's headquarters in 1920 amidst the economic boom of the Roaring Twenties. Many of metropolitan area's most important postwar infrastructure projects were awarded to the company, including the Goethals Bridge and Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge.
Waddell was also an adviser to the Ministry of Railways, Republic of China. When in China he along with Meloy was entrusted by MIT and Harvard University to talk over with National Southeastern University (later renamed National Central University and then Nanking University) and reached the agreement on founding Sino-American joint engineering college in Shanghai, but it soon ceased due to the wars outbroken in the area.
He was widely recognised, being awarded honours by Japan, Russia, China, and Italy, holding five honorary doctorates (including those from Japan, Canada, and Puerto Rico) and being elected an Honorary Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1936.
From Wikipedia’s article on John Alexander Low Waddell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Personal life
Links
Sources
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- 12WikidataHardesty & Hanover, Founder
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