Othmar Hermann Ammann

Biography

Othmar Ammann was born near Schaffhausen, Switzerland, in 1879. His father was a manufacturer and his mother was a hat maker. He received his engineering education at the Polytechnikum in Zürich, Switzerland. He studied with Swiss engineer Wilhelm Ritter. In 1904, he emigrated to the United States, spending much of his career working in New York City. He became a naturalized citizen in 1924.

In 1905 he briefly returned to Switzerland to marry Lilly Selma Wehrli. Together they had three children Werner, George, and Margotbefore she died in 1933. He then married Klary Vogt Noetzli, herself recently widowed, in 1935 in California.

Works Ammann was known for being able to create bridges that were light and inexpensive, yet they were still simple and beautiful. He was able to do this by using the deflection theory. He believed that the weight per foot of the span and the cables would provide enough stiffness so that the bridge would not need any stiffening trusses. This made him popular during the depression era when being able to reduce the cost was crucial. Famous bridges by Ammann include the following: George Washington Bridge (opened October 25, 1931) Bayonne Bridge (opened November 15, 1931) Triborough Bridge (opened July 11, 1936) Bronx–Whitestone Bridge (opened April 29, 1939) Delaware Memorial Bridge (with HNTB, first span opened 1951) Walt Whitman Bridge (opened May 16, 1957) Throgs Neck Bridge (opened January 11, 1961) Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge (opened November 21, 1964)

The George Washington Bridge was originally designed to have its steel structure clad in dressed stone, omitted from the final design due to cost constraints stemming from the Great Depression. Ammann's managerial skills saw the bridge completed ahead of schedule and under budget.

The arched Bayonne Bridge is the only Othmar design that is not a suspension bridge.

The Bronx-Whitestone Bridge had to be reinforced after only one year of operation because of perceptible movement during high winds. Warren trusses were initially implemented to stiffen the bridge, spoiling its classic streamlined looks. They have been removed and the wind problem solved using triangular shaped lightweight fiberglass aerodynamic fairing along both sides that slices the wind as it passes over the bridge.

In addition to his work on bridges, Ammann also directed the planning and construction of the Lincoln Tunnel.

Death and legacy Ammann was the recipient of several awards, including the Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize (1919), the Metropolitan Section Civil Engineer of the Year (1958), the Ernest E. Howard Award (1960) and the National Medal of Science (1964).

In 1962, a bronze bust of Ammann was unveiled in the lobby of the George Washington Bridge Bus Station. A residence hall called Ammann College was dedicated in his honor on February 18, 1968 on the campus of Stony Brook University. To mark the hundredth anniversary of his birth, a memorial plaque for Ammann was placed near the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge on June 28, 1979.

Ammann died at his home in Rye, New York on September 22, 1965. His funeral would be held at the Frank Campbell Funeral Chapel at 81st Street and Madison Avenue with services at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church at 73rd and Madison.