Roebling, Washington Augustus

Roebling, Washington Augustus

(1837–1926) engineer; born in Saxonburg, Pa. He gained experience working for his father, John Augustus Roebling, building wire-rope suspension bridges, before serving with distinction as a Union army engineer (1861–65). Upon his father's death, he superintended the building of the Brooklyn Bridge (1869–83); because of poor health from 1872 on, he directed operations from his home in Brooklyn overlooking the site. Although he continued to head the family's wire-rope manufacturing business for several years, medical problems forced him to retire in 1888.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.