Abraham Burton Cohen (March 9, 1882 – February 11, 1956) was an American

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

notable for his role in designing innovative and record-breaking concrete bridges such as the

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...

Tunkhannock Viaduct Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct (also known as the Nicholson Bridge and the Tunkhannock Viaduct) is a concrete deck arch bridge on the Nicholson Cutoff rail segment of the Norfolk Southern Railway Sunbury Line that spans Tunkhannock Creek in Nichol ...

, the world's largest concrete structure when completed. Cohen was an active member of the

American Concrete Institute The American Concrete Institute (ACI, formerly National Association of Cement Users or NACU) is a non-profit technical society and standards developing organization. ACI was founded in January 1905 during a convention in Indianapolis. The Institu ...

and earned ACI's Wason Medal for Most Meritorious Paper in 1927.

Biography

Cohen was Jewish, born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and died in

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...

. He earned a degree in civil engineering from

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

in 1905 and an honorary doctorate in 1949. Cohen spent a majority of his career with the

(DL&W) before leaving in 1920 to form his own consulting practice in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. As a consulting engineer, he designed a number of concrete spans in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

, and elsewhere. At least two of his works, the Tunkhannock Viaduct and Scranton's

Harrison Avenue Bridge The Harrison Avenue Bridge was a concrete deck arch bridge carrying Harrison Avenue (unsigned SR 6011) in Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States. History and architectural features Its three spans included an open-spandrel ribbed arch over Roari ...

, are on the National Register of Historic Places. He died on February 11, 1956.

Selected projects

* 1908

Delaware River Viaduct The Delaware River Viaduct is a reinforced concrete railroad bridge across the Delaware River about south of the Delaware Water Gap that was built from 1908 to 1910 as part of the Lackawanna Cut-Off rail line. It is the sister to the line's ...

on DL&W Lackawanna Cut-Off * 1909

Paulinskill Viaduct The Paulinskill Viaduct, also known as the Hainesburg Viaduct, is a reinforced concrete railroad bridge that crosses the Paulins Kill in Knowlton Township, New Jersey, Knowlton Township, New Jersey. When completed in 1910, it was the largest rein ...

on DL&W Lackawanna Cut-Off * 1913

on DL&W Clarks Summit-Hallstead Cutoff * 1916 DL&W track elevation in

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

and

South Orange, New Jersey South Orange, officially the Township of South Orange Village, is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village's population was 16,198, reflecting a decline of 766 (4.5%) fro ...

* 1921

in Scranton, Pennsylvania * 1924 Hudson County Boulevard at

Journal Square Journal Square is a business district, residential area, and transportation hub in Jersey City, New Jersey, which takes its name from the newspaper ''Jersey Journal'' whose headquarters were located there from 1911 to 2013. The "square" itself is ...

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.1882 births 1956 deaths American bridge engineers Concrete pioneers Purdue University College of Engineering alumni Lackawanna Cut-Off People from East Orange, New Jersey People from Chicago Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Engineers from Illinois Engineers from New Jersey