Stevens, Robert Livingston

Stevens, Robert Livingston

(born Oct. 18, 1787, Hoboken, N.J., U.S.—died April 20, 1856, Hoboken) U.S. engineer and ship designer. The son of John Stevens, he tested the first steamboat to use screw propellers. He designed the railway T-rail in 1830, and later the railroad spike. He found that rails laid on wooden ties, with crushed stone or gravel beneath, provided a roadbed superior to any known before; his construction remains in universal use.

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Stevens, Robert Livingston (1787–1856) naval architect, engineer, inventor; born in Hoboken, N.J. He assisted his father, John Cox Stevens, in the design and construction of steamboats, for which he invented numerous improvements. Joining his brother as president and chief engineer of the Camden & Amboy Railroad, he also invented several improvements for railroads including the T-rail, the hook-headed railroad spike, and the cowcatcher; he was the first to burn anthracite in a locomotive. He also made contributions to military ordnance and naval armoring.