Louis Berger (1914 – 1996) was an American civil engineer. A graduate of
Tufts College
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
, Berger received his
Master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in soils and geology from
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
and
Doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
in soil mechanics from
Northwestern. He was a former faculty member of
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
's engineering department which designed a large portion of the
Pennsylvania Turnpike
The Pennsylvania Turnpike (Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike) is a toll highway operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A controlled-access highway, it runs for across the state. The turnpike's we ...
. After completion of the contract, he opened a second office which often employed local labor to fulfill international contracts. He was involved in designing and building highways, railroads, bridges, and airfields in 120 countries. His company grew to become the
Louis Berger Group
Louis Berger (formerly known as Berger Group Holdings) is a full-service engineering, architecture, planning, environmental, program and construction management and economic development firm based in Morristown, New Jersey. Founded in 1953 in ...
.
In 1994, Berger designed the world's longest car bridge (at the time) in
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, The
Bang Na Expressway
The Bang Na Expressway (full name: Bang Na - Bang Phli - Bang Pakong Expressway), officially Burapha Withi Expressway ( th, ทางพิเศษบูรพาวิถี), is a six-lane elevated highway in Thailand. It is a toll road and ru ...
. It held the title of the world's longest bridge from 2000 until 2004. Today, it is the 6th
longest bridge in the world.
References
Louis Berger's biography on The Louis Berger Group's website.
American transportation businesspeople
Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni
Tufts University alumni
Tufts University School of Engineering alumni
Northwestern University alumni
American civil engineers
1914 births
1996 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American engineers
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