Leif J. Sverdrup
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Leif Johan Sverdrup (b. 1898 – d.1976) was a Norwegian American civil engineer and military officer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He served during World War II as Chief Engineer under General Douglas MacArthur and in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1947 to 1958. He co-founded a civil engineering firm which designed and oversaw construction of many major U.S. projects, including the 17 mile-long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, named one of the Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World after its completion in 1964.
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[edit] Youth, education
Leif Sverdrup was born in Norway and immigrated with his family to Minnesota at the age of 17. He served in the U.S. Army as a private in World War I. After the war, he earned a degree in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota.
[edit] Sverdrup & Parcel
In 1928, he joined with his college engineering professor John I. Parcel in the formation of Sverdrup & Parcel, a civil engineering firm with a specialty field of bridges. Many of the company's projects were located in the St. Louis, Missouri area near the company's headquarters. Some well known projects of Sverdrup and Parcel include:
- Sidney Lanier Bridge 1956, Brunswick, Georgia
- Bridge of the Americas 1962 (also known as Puente de las Américas, Thatcher Ferry Bridge), Panama, crosses the Panama Canal
- Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, (also known as Lucius J. Kellam, Jr. Bridge-Tunnel) completed in 1964, and named one of the "Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World" shortly thereafter.
- Puente de Angostura Bolivar, Venezuela, crosses the Orinoco River
- Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1975
[edit] World War II and post-war
During World War II, Leif Sverdrup returned to military service, and initially served as a colonel in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Promoted to Major General, in 1945 he was put in charge of the Engineering Construction Command for the Pacific Theater of War as chief engineer to General Douglas MacArthur. He received the Distinguished Service Cross and was described by MacArthur as "the engineer soldier at his best." Also in 1945, General MacArthur presented Sverdrup with his personal Gold Castles insignia, which MacArthur had worn for over 40 years (since his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy (West Point).
In 1947, the 102d Infantry Division of the U.S. Army Reserve was activated as part of the Organized Reserve, with General Sverdrup in command. On January 31, 1958, General Sverdrup retired from the service (for the third time!).
On May 2, 1975, long-retired General Sverdrup attended the Engineer Dinner at Fort Belvoir, Virginia which marked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 200th anniversary. At that time, he presented Chief of Engineers General William C. Gribble Jr. with the Gold Castles insignia, which he had saved for 30 years. Later the same night, a new Corps tradition began. (See also article Gold Castles)
[edit] Death, legacy
Leif J. Sverdrup died in 1976. After full military honors, he was interred in Valhalla Cemetery located in Hanley Hills, Missouri.
In 2006, 30 years after his death, many of Sverdrup's accomplishments continue to serve their missions, a silent testimony to his engineering skills. A number of professional organizations also began annual award programs in his honor and memory.
- His business continued after his retirement, first as Sverdrup & Parcel, later as Sverdrup Civil, and most recently, as Jacobs Sverdrup, a portion of one of the world's largest civil engineering groups.
- In the 1990s, Sverdrup Civil oversaw the successful design and construction of the additional "parallel trestles" of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT), doubling the non-tunnel sections, adding the capacity of two more lanes and adding emergency turnouts to the bridge-tunnel facility. The CBBT was still the longest in the world 30 years after Leif Sverdrup and his company completed the original project.
- The John I. Parcel - Leif J. Sverdrup Civil Engineering Management Award is awarded annually by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
- Since 1980, The Sverdrup Medal of the Society of American Military Engineers has been awarded annually in his memory.
- At Augsburg College, the annual Gen. Leif J. Sverdrup Visiting Scientist Program is endowed by the Sverdrup family and by NASA through the Minnesota Space Grant Consortium.
[edit] Additional reading
- Franza, Gregory M., and Ely, William J.; (1980); Leif Sverdrup: Engineer Soldier At His Best; Gerald, Missouri; Patrice Press; ISBN 0-935284-12-5
[edit] External links
- entry on Sverdrup & Parcel at Structurae.de
- information on John I. Parcel - Leif J. Sverdrup Civil Engineering Management Award, awarded annually by the ASCE
- Society of American Military Engineers, Sverdrup Medal homepage
