Job Abbott (August 23, 1845August 18, 1896) was an American-born Canadian

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 ...

who helped pioneer the construction of steel bridges in Canada, including many for the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

, such as the Lachine Bridge in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Early life

Abbott was born in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

, on August 23, 1845. His father was a farmer named Nathan Abbott, and his mother was Elizabeth Noyes. He went to high school at

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

and graduated from

Lawrence Scientific School The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) is the engineering school within Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, offering degrees in engineering and applied sciences to graduate students admitted ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1864.

Early career

Abbott started his career working for the

Manchester Locomotive Works Manchester Locomotive Works was a manufacturing company located in Manchester, New Hampshire, that built steam locomotives and fire engines in the 19th century. The first locomotive the company built was for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railr ...

before becoming an assistant engineer with the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...

at the Glen Cove branch. He then joined the

Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad The Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway was a major part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system, extending the PRR west from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, via Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Chicago, Illinois. It included the current Norfolk Southern Rai ...

as an assistant engineer, provided a layout for the town of

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...

, and became a civil and mining engineer. He also became a lawyer, joining the Ohio bar and specializing in patent law. In 1872, he became vice-president and chief engineer of

Wrought Iron Bridge Company The Wrought Iron Bridge Company was a bridge fabrication and construction company based in Canton, Ohio, Canton, Ohio, United States. It specialized in the fabrication of iron truss bridges and was a prolific bridge builder in the late 19th centu ...

, a company that specialized in prefabricated bridges. In 1879, Canada introduced the

National Policy The National Policy was a Canadian economic program introduced by John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party in 1876. After Macdonald led the Conservatives to victory in the 1878 Canadian federal election, he began implementing his policy in 1879. The ...

which applied a 25 percent tariff on imported fabricated steelwork and ironwork. With the support of the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, Canadian engineers created a new Canadian enterprise called Toronto Bridge Company, and Abbott became a minor shareholder and consultant. Toronto Bridge Company struggled to be profitable in its first year of operations, so Abbott was appointed as president and chief engineer. As president, company sales improved but were limited by having their headquarters in Toronto.

Dominion Bridge

Abbott and his colleagues seized control of Toronto Bridge Company and formed a new company in Montreal on September 23, 1882, called the Dominion Bridge Company Limited. The company focused on manufacturing iron and steel, and building bridges throughout Canada, particularly railroad bridges for the

. Abbott was its president and chief engineer, and also a salesman for the company. Abbott designed the first through

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...

in North America for

Reversing Falls The Reversing Falls are a series of rapids on the Saint John River located in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, where the river runs through a narrow gorge before emptying into the Bay of Fundy. The semidiurnal tides of the bay force the flow ...

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

. Abbott also designed the Lachine Bridge in Montreal and the

Grand Narrows Bridge The Grand Narrows Bridge is a Canadian railway bridge crossing between Victoria County, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton County. At , it is the longest railroad bridge in the province. The bridge incorporates a swing span at its eastern end to pe ...

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

. In October 1887 Abbott took a temporary leave from the company due to health reasons, but returned in March 1888. He left the company permanently in June due to his health.

Return to the United States, death and legacy

Abbott moved to New York City in 1889 and continued as a director of the Wrought Iron Bridge Company. In 1889 he began working for the New York Rapid Transit Railway, and the following year he resigned as president of Dominion Bridge, but remained as a consultant to the company. He became the chief engineer for NY Rapid Transit and a consultant with other American railway companies. While working in Maine, Abbott's health declined again but he remained in the state for an additional year. He traveled back to Andover, and died there on August 18, 1896. In 1891, he was elected as a member of the

American Society of Civil Engineers 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 ...

Early life

Early career

Dominion Bridge

Return to the United States, death and legacy

References

Further reading