Background
Joachim Gotsche Giæver was born at the village of Jøvik at Lyngen in Troms, Norway. His father was a leader in the local fishing industry.
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Joachim Giaever
Edit ProfileEducation
Giæver entered the Norwegian Institute of Technology (Trondhjems Tekniske Læreanstalt) at Trondheim from which he was graduated in 1881 with the degree of Civil Engineer.
Career
He was the youngest of eight children born to Jens Holmboe Giæver (1813–1884) and Hanna Birgithe Holmboe (1821–1903). He migrated to the United States in 1882, where he found employment as a draftsman at Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In 1883, he went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to work as a draftsman and later civil engineers for the Schiffler Bridge & Iron Company where he designed several bridges over the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers.
In 1886, he designed the structural framework for the Statue of Liberty.
His work involved design computations, detailed fabrication and construction drawings, as well as oversight of construction. In completing his engineering for the statue’s frame, he worked from drawings and sketches produced by the designer, Gustave Eiffel.
In 1891, he went to Chicago to become Assistant Chief Engineer of the World’s Columbian Exposition. In 1898, he became Chief Engineer for the firm of Doctorate. H. Burnham & Company, a position he held until 1915.
Later with the architect firm of Thielbar and Furgard.
Giaver and Dinkleberg, he assisted with the design on the 35 East Wacker Building (also known as the Jewellers" Building) located in downtown Chicago. Designed during 1924 with construction finished during 1926, at the time it was America"s largest building outside of New New York
Achievements
Membership
He was a trustee of the Norwegian American Hospital in Chicago, President of the Chicago Norske Klub and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Connections
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Born
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Died
March 29, 1925 (aged 68) -
Nationality
Norwegian