Skip to content

ASCE logoASCE Met Section HomeGo to ASCE National Website

Home arrow O.H. Ammann Memorial Plaque
Othmar H. Ammann Memorial Plaque Print E-mail
Unveiling the O.H. Ammann Plaque
George Schoepfer (Executive Officer and Chief Engineer of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority), Joseph S. Ward (ASCE President-Elect), E.H. Bovay (Office of the Swiss Counsul), Dr. Margot Ammann (Daughter of O.H. Ammann), Pierre-Yves Simonin (Office of the Swiss Embassy), and Harold Fisher (Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority) unveil the O.H. Ammann Memorial Plaque at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
Othmar H. Ammann, the Swiss-born engineer responsible for many of the long-span bridges in the New York City area passed away in 1965. 1978 marked the hundredth anniversary of the birth of this eminent member of ASCE. At the request of the Metropolitan Section, at the October 1978 meeting of the Society’s Board of Direction in Chicago, ASCE voted to honor the memory of Mr. Ammann by the casting a bronze plaque to be placed at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, his last and greatest work.

The plaque, which includes a memorial statement and a bas-relief bust of Mr. Amman, was affixed to the historical marble monument located at the Staten Island approach to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and unveiled in an unforgettable ceremony on June 28, 1979.

Among those in attendance was Mr. Ammann’s daughter, Dr. Margot Ammann, a prominent physician practicing in New York. The plaque was presented to the Honorable Harold L. Fisher, Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and George Schoepfer, Executive Officer of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority by Joseph Ward, President-Elect of the ASCE. The plaque was unveiled by Dr. Ammann.

George Schoepfer conducted the program which consisted of addresses and remarks of representatives of the MTA, ASCE, and the Met Section in praise of Mr. Ammann and his many accomplishments in our area. The ceremony was well attended by many friends and admirers of Mr. Ammann, public officials, ASCE members, and MTA staff.

Othmar H. Ammann was responsible for the George Washington Bridge (1931), Bayonne Bridge (1931), Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge (1936), Bronx-Whitestone Bridge (1939), Throgs Neck Bridge (1961), and Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (1964). While working at the New York Port Authority, he was also involved with the planning and construction of the Lincoln Tunnel. Othmar H. Ammann served as a Director of the ASCE Metropolitan Section from 1932-1934 and was elected as an Honorary Member of ASCE in 1953.

 
[ Back ]