Montgomery Babcock Case (February 11, 1882 — May 7, 1953) 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 ...

, esteemed bridge builder, and partner of Modjeski and Masters; the oldest bridge engineering firm in the United States. He is associated with the development of 14 bridges. As of 2018, they cumulatively transit over 400 million vehicles per year. His most notable project, the

George Washington Bridge The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey, with Manhattan in New York City. The bridge is named after George Washington, the first president of the United St ...

, achieved multiple world records including

span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan ester ...

length,

cofferdam A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out. This pumping creates a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. Cofferdams are commonly used for construction or re ...

size, and use of

deflection Deflection or deflexion may refer to: Board games * Deflection (chess), a tactic that forces an opposing chess piece to leave a square * Khet (game), formerly ''Deflexion'', an Egyptian-themed chess-like game using lasers Mechanics * Deflection ...

; earning the designation "

Eighth Wonder of the World Eighth Wonder of the World is an unofficial title sometimes given to new buildings, structures, projects, designs or even people that are deemed to be comparable to the seven Wonders of the World. Candidates for the Eighth Wonder of the World ...

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

called it "the most beautiful bridge in the world." As of 2018, it is the busiest motor vehicle bridge on earth, transiting over 1 billion vehicles from 2008-2018. It is also home to the world's largest free-flying American flag and was featured on the History Channel series

Modern Marvels ''Modern Marvels'' is an American worldwide television series that formerly aired on the History Channel and is currently shown on Story Television. The program focuses on how technologies affect and are used in modern society. It is History's f ...

. Case was named after his third great-grandfather, William Montgomery, who was a colonel in the America Revolutionary War. During the

New York and New Jersey Campaign The New York and New Jersey campaign in 1776 and the winter months of 1777 was a series of American Revolutionary War battles for control of the Port of New York and New Jersey, Port of New York and the state of New Jersey, fought between Kingdom ...

, Colonel Montgomery's regiment retreated from Fort Washington across the Hudson River to Fort Lee. One hundred and fifty one years later, Case erected the George Washington Bridge at the same location.

Career

Montgomery Case was born in

Monmouth, Illinois Monmouth is a city in and the county seat of Warren County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,902 at the 2020 census, down from 9,444 in 2010. It is the home of Monmouth College and contains Monmouth Park, Harmon Park, North Park, Warf ...

, to Lyman and Carrie (née Rice) Case. His uncle, Thomas Munger, was a major influence on his career. From his guidance, Case attended the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

from 1902-1904 and graduated from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

in 1906 with a bachelor of science in civil engineering. He was a member of

Delta Tau Delta Delta Tau Delta () is a United States-based international Greek letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1858. The fraternity currently has around 130 collegiate chapters ...

. After graduation, he married Maybelle Betsy McConnell (b.1880—d.1945) in 1910 and began working with

Ralph Modjeski Ralph Modjeski (born Rudolf Modrzejewski; January 27, 1861 – June 26, 1940) was a Polish-American civil engineer who achieved prominence as "America's greatest bridge builder." Life He was born in Bochnia, called Galicia at the time, on Janua ...

on the Columbia River Railroad Bridge, followed by several more projects into the early 1920s. Throughout the 1920s he worked with

Othmar Ammann Othmar Hermann Ammann (March 26, 1879 – September 22, 1965) was a Swiss-American civil engineer whose bridge designs include the George Washington Bridge, Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and Bayonne Bridge. He also directed the planning and constru ...

. Following the death of Clement E. Chase, who was killed during an inspection of the

Benjamin Franklin Bridge The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, originally named the Delaware River Bridge and known locally as the Ben Franklin Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. Owned and ...

, Case returned to Modjeski in 1933 and became a full partner alongside Frank M. Masters, formin
Modjeski, Masters, and Case
He retired in 1940. Case also served as an advisor to the

War Manpower Commission The War Manpower Commission was a World War II agency of the United States Government charged with planning to balance the labor needs of agriculture, industry and the armed forces. History The Commission was created by President Franklin D. R ...

, chief construction engineer for the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized ...

, and regularly lectured at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He was a member of

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 ...

and American Railway Bridge and Building Association.

Associated projects

* Columbia River Railroad Bridge (1906) * Celilo Bridge (1910) * Cherry Street Bridge (1911) *

Harahan Bridge The Harahan Bridge is a cantilevered through truss bridge that carries two rail lines and a pedestrian bridge across the Mississippi River between West Memphis, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee. The bridge is owned and operated by Union Pacific ...

(1913) * Cincinnati Southern Bridge (1916) *

Metropolis Bridge The Metropolis Bridge is a railroad bridge which spans the Ohio River at Metropolis, Illinois. Originally built for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, construction began in 1914 under the direction of engineer Ralph Modjeski. The brid ...

(1917) *

Hotel Pennsylvania The Hotel Pennsylvania was a historic hotel at 401 Seventh Avenue (15 Penn Plaza) in Manhattan, across the street from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden in New York City. Opened in 1919, it was once the largest hotel in the world. ...

(1917) * War Department Nitrate Plant No 3 (1918) *

(1921) *

(1927) *

Goethals Bridge The Goethals Bridge () is the name of a pair of cable-stayed bridge spans connecting Elizabeth, New Jersey, to Staten Island, New York, in the United States. The spans cross a strait known as Arthur Kill, and replaced a cantilever bridge span bu ...

(1928) *

Bayonne Bridge Bayonne Bridge is an arch bridge spanning the Kill Van Kull and connecting Bayonne, New Jersey with Staten Island in New York City. It carries New York State Route 440 (NY 440) and New Jersey Route 440. It is the sixth-longest ...

(1930) *

Lincoln Tunnel The Lincoln Tunnel is an approximately tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey, to the west with Midtown Manhattan in New York City to the east. It carries New Jersey Route 495 on the New Jersey side and unsigned New Y ...

(1931) *

San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, known locally as the Bay Bridge, is a complex of bridges spanning San Francisco Bay in California. As part of Interstate 80 in California, Interstate 80 and the direct road between San Francisco and Oakland ...

(1932) * Interstate 74 Bridge Bridge (1933) * Huey P. Long Bridge (1935) *

Duke Ellington Bridge The Duke Ellington Bridge, named after American jazz pianist Duke Ellington, carries Calvert Street NW over Rock Creek in Washington, D.C., United States. It connects 18th Street NW in Adams Morgan with Connecticut Avenue NW in Woodley Park, ju ...

(1935)

Media

*
Bridging Urban America, The Story of Ralph Modjeski
(2016) * History Channel, Modern Marvels, Season 11, Episode 34 "George Washington Bridge" (2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Case, Montgomery 1882 births 1953 deaths American civil engineers People from Monmouth, Illinois Engineers from Illinois 20th-century American engineers University of Nebraska alumni Grainger College of Engineering alumni