William HoweDied 19 Sep 1852 at age 49 (born 12 May 1803).American inventor who pioneered in the design of truss bridges for the developing railroads. His first bridge (1838-39) was a light, cheap and substantial structure across the Quaboag River at Warren, Mass., for the Boston and Albany Railroad. His truss patent (3 Aug 1840), was for a frame of top and bottom horizontal timber members, with diagonal wooden braces under compression, tied by vertical wrought-iron rods under tension. By 1842, he had spanned the Connecticut River with a truss bridge. In 1846, he patented a stronger truss. Although offered the job of superintendent of the structural work on a railroad in Russia between St. Petersburg and Moscow, he sent a substitute. His invention brought him fame and fortune, but he died at age 49. He was the uncle of Elias Howe who invented a sewing machine.« |
