Jacob Hays Linville: A Little Known Giant of Civil Engineering

Men who shaped the Civil Engineering profession in the 19th century, especially the bridge builders, are virtually unknown to engineers of the 21st century. This paper is about a man who was one of the most prolific bridge builders of the period from 1860 to 1880 when railroads began to cross major rivers of the country. He built several long span bridges over the Schuylkill, Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri rivers. He set the record for railroad truss bridge span on three occasions starting at 320 ft going to 420 ft and in 1877 building a span of 520 ft . He developed the pin connected Whipple double intersection truss by placing wrought iron links in the lower chord, built up riveted plate wrought iron upper chords and posts built of two or more wrought iron shapes riveted together.