Masterpiece of Engineering Trivia Quiz

Answer: Joseph Cubitt

Joseph Cubitt (1811-1872) followed his father, William, into the then-young profession of civil engineering, first as apprentice to a firm in Leeds and later in his father's firm. He established his own business in 1843 and became Chief Engineer to the Great Northern Railway in 1850.

He worked chiefly with the design of railways and railway bridges. Blackfriars Railway Bridge over the river Thames, built to his design for the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, opened in 1864. This bridge was removed in 1985, being too weak to handle modern railway traffic, but the old supporting columns remained next to its replacement.

Answer: John Augustus Roebling

Although work commenced on the cable-stayed/suspension hybrid bridge over the East river in early 1870, it did not open until May 1883, finally connecting the two New York boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Its designer, John Augustus Roebling (1806-69) was born in Prussia (Germany) and worked on the Pennsylvania canal system after immigrating to the US in 1831, and pioneered the use of wire rope in the construction of suspension bridges.

He was scouting locations for what became known as the Brooklyn Bridge when his foot was crushed between a ferry and a dock, resulting first in the amputation of his toes, and ultimately in his death less than a month later.

Answer: Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Brunel, like Roebling, did not live to see his masterpiece completed, dying at the young age of 53 five years before the Clifton Suspension Bridge was completed in 1864. Spanning the Avon Gorge and the river of the same name in the southwest of England, the bridge links the Bristol suburb of Clifton with the beautiful Leigh Woods region, which contains a nature reserve. Brunel (1806-59) has been described as "the Briton who built Britain", having been involved in the design and construction of numerous bridges, tunnels and viaducts to carry the Great Western Railway, of which he was appointed chief engineer in 1833.

He was also a ship designer and his works included the Great Western and Great Britain, pioneers of transatlantic steamer service.

Answer: Benjamin Wright

Benjamin Wright (1770-1842) was recognized as the "Father of American Civil Engineering" by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1969. One of the major works that earned him this distinction was as principal engineer of the Erie Canal, built to connect New York City with the Great Lakes in the early part of the nineteenth century.

The canal runs east-west across New York state, from the Hudson River near Albany in the east, to the Niagara River at Buffalo in the west. Portions of it continue to operate as part of the New York State Canal System into the 21st century.

Answer: Sir William Arrol

Although the Forth (railway) Bridge was designed by Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker, it was the company of civil engineer Sir William Arrol that was responsible for its construction, between 1882 and 1889. The bridge opened to traffic the following year, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.

It is of cantilever construction and is over a mile and a half (2.4 km) in length. Arrol (1839-1913) was a Scotsman, who rose from being a child labourer in a cotton mill to the principal of a leading international civil engineering firm, Sir William Arrol & Co., which he founded in the 1870s.

He is a member of the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame.

Answer: Joseph Strauss

Work on the suspension bridge known as the Golden Gate Bridge, and a San Francisco landmark, began in 1933 and was complete in time for the bridge to open in 1937. While a number of designers, including engineer Charles Alton Ellis and architect Irving Morrow, had a part in the design of the structure, Strauss was the chief engineer in charge of construction.

It is both a California Historical Landmark (1987) and a San Francisco Designated Landmark (1999). Strauss (1870-1938) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and much of his early work involved bascule bridges, similar to drawbridges.

A statue of Strauss stands in Presidio National Park, within sight of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Answer: Clifford Milburn Holland

Officially named the Clifford Milburn Holland Tunnel, and opened in 1927, the Holland Tunnel passes under the Hudson River, and connects Jersey City, NJ with Lower Manhattan, NY. It remains a major transportation route for road traffic in the early 21st century, though it was closed for several days in 2012 due to the storm surge created by Hurricane Sandy. Clifford Holland (1883-1924) did not live to see this project completed, and fellow engineer Ole Singstad, a Norwegian, oversaw construction after Holland's death. Holland had received his engineering degree from Harvard in 1905, and worked on a number of other tunnel projects before the one that was to be named in his memory.

Answer: Richard Birdsall Rogers

The Peterborough Lift Lock is a National Historic Site of Canada, located in Peterborough, Ontario, on the Otonabee River section of the Trent-Severn Waterway. At nearly 20 m (65 ft) in height, it was the tallest lift lock in the world when it opened in 1904, after eight years of construction.

It is gravity operated, with one side rising as the other descends. Richard B. Rogers (1857-1927) received his engineering degree from McGill University in Montreal, and became superintending engineer of the Trent Canal in the 1880s.

He travelled to Europe to study the designs of smaller lift locks then in use before submitting his design for the Canadian structure.

Answer: Edmund W. Burke

If you have ridden on Toronto's Bloor-Danforth subway line, you have probably crossed this viaduct, which spans the Don River Valley and connects Bloor Street in the west with Danforth Avenue in the east. If you have driven the Don Valley Parkway, chances are you have passed under it. I've done both, and only now have learned its real name! Named in honour of the prince who became King Edward VIII, it is an arch bridge with two decks, one for road traffic and the lower one for the subway trains, though the latter didn't run when it was opened in 1918.

Its designer, architect Edmund Burke (1850-1919) was born and educated in Toronto and many of his other works were churches or public buildings.

Answer: John Bradfield

Constructed over a nine-year span, 1923-1932, the Sydney Harbour Bridge is a through arch bridge carrying rail and road traffic of all kinds, including foot traffic and cycle routes. Bradfield (1867-1943) was not the designer, but as an engineer employed by the New South Wales Department of Public Works directed the design and construction of the bridge, which was carried out by a British firm from Middlesbrough.

It is one of Sydney's iconic landmarks, along with the Opera House which stands nearby.

The bridge is a listed place on Australia's National Heritage List.