Daniel B. Luten also known as Daniel Benjamin Luten (Dec. 26, 1869-July 3, 1946) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

bridge builder and engineer based in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

Career

He designed and patented the

Luten arch A Luten arch is a patented concrete arch design for bridges, designed by Daniel B. Luten, of Indianapolis. Luten was awarded more than 30 patents for his improvements of the Luten arch design. The Luten arch improves upon preceding concrete arc ...

, a type of

concrete arch An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ( ...

bridge. He obtained more than 30 patents eventually, including various refinements of design that used transverse and other reinforcement which allowed bridges to be lighter. "By 1919, Luten claimed to have designed some 17,000 arches, and stated that examples of his designs could be found in all but three states of the Union. Indiana alone had some 2,000 Luten arches." He was born in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

in 1869. He graduated from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1894, in civil engineering. He was an instructor, in architectural and sanitary engineering, for

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 ...

from 1895 to 1900. He resigned in 1900 to conduct the bridge company work.

List of Bridges

A number of historic bridges, some of which are listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

are credited to him, including (with specific attribution): * Beck's Mill Bridge, Carries Beck's Mill Road over Mill Creek,

Salem, IN Salem is a city in and the county seat of Washington Township, Washington County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 6,319 at the 2010 census. History Salem was laid out and platted in 1814. It was named for Salem, North Carolin ...

(Luten, Daniel B.), NRHP-listed * Canyon Padre Bridge, Abandoned grade of

US 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

over Padre Canyon, Flagstaff, AZ. (Luten, Daniel B.), NRHP-listed *

Carrollton Bridge Carrollton Bridge, also known as Carroll County Bridge #132, is a historic closed-spandrel arch bridge that spans the Wabash River in Adams Township, Deer Creek Township, and Tippecanoe Township, Carroll County, Indiana. It was designed by Dani ...

, Carrollton Rd. across Wabash R., Delphi, IN (Luten, Daniel B.), NRHP-listed * Dr. George S. Smith Memorial Bridge, 3rd St. across Lehigh R., Easton, PA. (Luten, Daniel B.) *

Dumbarton Bridge (Washington, D.C.) The Dumbarton Bridge, also known as the Q Street Bridge and the Buffalo Bridge, is a historic masonry arch bridge in Washington, D.C. Dumbarton Bridge was built between 1914 and 1915 to convey Q Street Northwest across Rock Creek Park between t ...

, Q Street across Rock Creek Park,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

* Holbrook Bridge, Abandoned grade of US 70 over the

Little Colorado River The Little Colorado River () is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona, providing the principal drainage from the Painted Desert region. Together with its major tributary, the Puerco River, it drains an area of about in ...

, 4.2 mi. SE of Holbrook, AZ. (Luten, Daniel B.), NRHP-listed *

Kelvin Bridge A Kelvin bridge, also called a Kelvin double bridge and in some countries a Thomson bridge, is a measuring instrument used to measure unknown electrical resistors below 1 ohm. It is specifically designed to measure resistors that are constru ...

, Florence-Kelvin Hwy. over the

Gila River The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of n ...

, Kelvin, AZ. (Luten, Daniel), NRHP-listed *

Putnam County Bridge No. 159 Putnam County Bridge No. 159, also known as the Reelsville Bridge, is a historic Open spandrel bridge located in Washington Township, Putnam County, Indiana. It was designed by noted bridge architect Daniel B. Luten and built in 1929, and replace ...

, Co. Rd. 650 W. over Big Walnut Cr., Reelsville, IN. (Luten, Daniel B.), NRHP-listed *

Moores Creek Bridge Moores Creek Bridge is an historic single span reinforced concrete bridge located on North 2nd Street between Avenues B and C in Fort Pierce, Florida. Including run up, it is 46 feet long. It is known locally as the Tickle Tummy Bridge or Tickle ...

, Fort Pierce, Florida * Winkelman Bridge, Old AZ 77 over the

, Winkelman, AZ. (Luten, Daniel), NRHP-listed * Wolcott Bridge, CO 131 at milepost 0.07, Wolcott, CO.(Luten, Daniel B.), NRHP-listed * Miami Bridges, Miami, Arizona five identical bridges across the town Bloody Tanks wash canal, 1921, Luten, Daniel, NRHP-listed Additional Luten arch bridges are NRHP-listed that are attributed to the

Luten Bridge Company Luten Bridge Company and variations such as Luten Engineering Company was the name of a number of different bridge building companies in the United States during the early- to mid-20th century. Each had rights to build concrete Luten arch bridges, ...

or to Topeka Bridge & Iron Co., two firms which had use of Luten's patented designs.

References

External links

*
Daniel B. Luten papers, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library
American civil engineers People from Grand Rapids, Michigan University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni Purdue University faculty People from Indianapolis 1869 births 1946 deaths {{US-engineer-stub