Fritz Leonhardt

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Fritz Leonhardt (12 July 1909 - 30 December 1999) was a German engineer who made major contributions to 20th century bridge engineering, especially in the development of cable-stayed bridges. His book "Bridges: Aesthetics and Design" is well known throughout the bridge engineering community.

1 Biography
2 Major works
3 Fritz Leonhardt Prize
4 Bibliography
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Biography

Born in Stuttgart in 1909, Leonhardt studied at Stuttgart University and Purdue University. In 1934 he joined the German Highway Administration, working with Paul Bonatz amongst others. He was appointed at the remarkably young age of 28 as the Chief Engineer for the Cologne-Rodenkirchen Bridge.

In 1954 he formed the consulting firm Leonhardt und Andrä, and from 1958 to 1974 taught the design of reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete at Stuttgart University. He was President of the University from 1967 to 1969.

He received Honorary Doctorates from six universities, honorary membership of seveal important engineering universites, and won a number of prizes including the Honorary Medal Emil Mörsch, the Freyssinet Medal of the FIP, and the Gold Medal of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Throughout his career, Leonhardt was as dedicated to research as to design, and his major contributions to bridge engineering technology included:

development of a launching system for prestressed concrete bridges, first used in his 1963 bridge over the Caroní River in Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela
the 'Hi-Am' anchor for cable stays, in collaboration with the Swiss firm B.B.R.V.
anchorages in prestressed concrete
experiments during the 1930s on steel orthotropic decks.^[1]

[edit] Major works

His major structures include the Cologne-Rodenkirchen Bridge, Stuttgart Television Tower, and various cable-stayed bridges in Düsseldorf.

He worked on the design of several cable-stayed bridges, including the Zárate-Brazo Largo Bridge (1978) in Argentina, the Pasco-Kennewick bridge (1978) in the USA, and the Helgeland Bridge (1981) in Norway.

[edit] Fritz Leonhardt Prize

This prize was established in 1999 on the 90th anniversary of Leonhardt's birth, to recognise outstanding achievements in structural engineering. The first prize was awarded to Michel Virlogeux.^[2]

[edit] Bibliography

Brücken / Bridges (4th edition), Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart (Germany), ISBN 3-421-02590-8, 1994 (first published 1982).
Ponts/Puentes, Presses Polytechniques et Universitaires Romandes, Lausanne (Switzerland), ISBN 2-88074-099-1, 1986.

[edit] Notes

^ Troyano, Leonardo Fernandez: "Bridge Engineering: A Global Perspective", Thomas Telford Publishing, 2003
^ Saul, Reiner et al: "Eminent Structural Engineer: Fritz Leonhardt (1909-1999)", Structural Engineering International 1/2007