15 Facts About Gustav Lindenthal

Gustav Lindenthal was a civil engineer who designed the Queensboro and Hell Gate bridges in New York City, among other bridges.

Gustav Lindenthal was born in Brunn, Austrian Empire, now Brno, Czech Republic in 1850.

Gustav Lindenthal began to receive practical training in 1866 when he was employed as a mason and carpenter.

At the age of 18, Gustav Lindenthal left his family to set out to make a life of his own in Vienna, Austria.

Gustav Lindenthal worked for the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad during 1879 to 1881.

In 1881, Gustav Lindenthal established his own consulting business and built four bridges in the Pittsburgh area: 30th Street Bridge ; Smithfield Street Bridge, Youghiogheny River Bridge at McKeesport ; and the Seventh Street Bridge.

Gustav Lindenthal's career transitioned to public service when he was appointed to lead the New York City Department of Bridges from 1902 through 1903.

In one of the more novel initiatives of his tenure, Gustav Lindenthal advocated for the construction of continuous "moving platform" transit systems in lieu of traditional subway trains on the Brooklyn Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge.

Gustav Lindenthal had a difference in opinion with one of the standard engineering practices of the day.

Gustav Lindenthal pointed out that bridges did not have to support the full load of a train as a single point load.

Gustav Lindenthal made bridges that reached new heights for his time.

Gustav Lindenthal expanded the idea of "double decker" lanes on his bridges.

The Queensboro Bridge is one of the bridges Gustav Lindenthal designed that displays the double decker idea.

The materials being considered by engineers like Gustav Lindenthal were reinforced concrete, cable, and steel.

At the age of eighty-five, Gustav Lindenthal succumbed to a long illness and died shortly after, at his home in Metuchen, New Jersey.