Squire Whipple (September 16, 1804 – March 15, 1888) 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 ...

Biography

Squire Whipple was born in

Hardwick, Massachusetts Hardwick is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States, about west of the city of Worcester. It had a population of 2,667 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Hardwick, Gilbertville, Wheelwright and Old Furnace. Hist ...

on September 16, 1804. His family moved to New York when he was thirteen. He received his secondary education at the

Fairfield Academy Fairfield Academy was an academy that existed for nearly one hundred years in the Town of Fairfield, Herkimer County, New York. Founding It was organized as an academy for men in 1802, when the community was an active local manufacturing center. ...

Herkimer, New York Herkimer is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States, southeast of Utica. It is named after Nicholas Herkimer. The population was 10,175 at the 2010 census. The town contains a village also called Herkimer. Herkimer County Community ...

, and graduated from

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

in New York after only one year. He has become known as the father of iron bridge building in America.Survey number HAER NY-4
- Whipple Cast & Wrought Iron Bowstring Truss Bridge, Normans Kill Vicinity, Albany, Albany County, NY (Biography on page 3) He died March 15, 1888, at his home in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, US and was buried in Albany Rural Cemetery,

Menands, New York Menands is a village in Albany County, New York, United States. The population was 3,990 at the 2010 census. The village is named after Louis Menand. The village lies inside the town of Colonie and borders the northern city line of Albany. H ...

Bridges

Constructed by S. DeGraff of Syracuse, New York, 1867–69, the

Whipple Cast and Wrought Iron Bowstring Truss Bridge The Whipple Cast and Wrought Iron Bowstring Truss Bridge (locally known as the Normanskill Farm Bridge), is located near the entrance to Stevens Farm in southwestern Albany, New York, United States. It was built in 1867, but not moved to its prese ...

over Norman's Kill in Albany, New York, is a very well preserved example of a Whipple Bowstring Arch Truss, still in daily use, with no posted weight limits. Due to the sleek appearance, many users think it is a modern bridge. (The Delaware Turnpike once ran through both neighborhoods until 1929 with the construction of a new much higher, longer, and wider Delaware Avenue Bridge over the Normans Kill. This allowed commuters to and from Albany to bypass both Normansvilles. The original Whipple Bowstring bridge still stands, though it has been closed to vehicular traffic since January 1990.) His patented designs were implemented in numerous bridges, both

Whipple truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

and prefabricated bowstring arch truss bridges, which became the standard design for

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

crossings; using an economical mix of wrought iron for tension members and cast iron in compression. Another such arch is the

Shaw Bridge Shaw Bridge, also known as Double-Span Whipple Bowstring Truss Bridge, is a historic bridge in Claverack, New York, United States. It carried Van Wyck Lane over Claverack Creek, but is now closed to all traffic, even pedestrians. It is "a struct ...

, the only known Whipple bowstring at its original location and the only known "double" believed extant, "a structure of outstanding importance to the history of American engineering and transportation technology." (includes map and diagrams) There are at least four other Whipple bowstrings standing in Central New York state, and one in Newark, Ohio.

Patents

* – Bowstring iron-bridge truss (1841) * – Lift draw bridge

Books

A Work on Bridge-Building: Consisting of Two Essays, the One Elementary and General, the Other Giving Original Plans, and Practical Details, for Iron and Wooden Bridges
(1847)
An elementary and practical treatise on bridge building
(1899)

References

External links

*
Survey number HAER NY-4
– Whipple Cast & Wrought Iron Bowstring Truss Bridge, Normans Kill Vicinity, Albany, Albany County, NY (Biography on page 3)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whipple, Squire 1804 births 1888 deaths American bridge engineers American civil engineers People from Albany, New York People from Hardwick, Massachusetts Union College (New York) alumni Burials at Albany Rural Cemetery Engineers from New York (state)