Background
John W. Murphy was born on January 20, 1828, at New Scotland, New York.
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John W. Murphy
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When he entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Murphy was already a practical surveyor, seasoned by a sound apprenticeship; and after he was graduated, in 1847, he obtained a position of some responsibility on the Erie Canal.
Career
During the next twenty-five years Murphy explored many fields of engineering: in 1851 - 1852 he erected the levees on the Alabama River; in 1860 - 1861 he served as chief engineer of Montgomery, Albama; in 1864 he constructed the Union Hall, in Philadelphia, which was taken over by the Pennsylvania Railroad; in 1869 he built the aqueduct over the valley of the Wissahickon.
On the Erie Canal he became assistant to Squire Whipple, who, in 1840, had built an iron bridge with wrought-iron tension and cast-iron compression members. Under Whipple's influence he advanced rapidly in his profession. While engaged on the construction of a wooden bridge at Easton, Pennsylvania, he substituted a temporary bridge for the falsework usually employed; and this method he developed more fully in the erection of the aqueduct at Germantown. Another of his more notable innovations was a testing machine for determining the elasticity of construction materials.
His chief contribution to the art of bridge-building sprang, however, from his association with Whipple, who, in 1848, introduced the type of truss bridge which bears his name. As modified by Murphy, it soon came to be known as the Murphy-Whipple bridge. In its final form, which was in wide use throughout the United States until 1885, the struts were vertical and the ties intersected twice. As early as 1859, in a bridge on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, Murphy initiated the use of pin connections, long a characteristic feature of American metal bridge construction. In this instance the pins were turned and the eyes formed by bending the bars around the pins and welding the ends.
In 1863, he designed for the Lehigh Valley Railroad a pin-connected bridge in which all the members were of wrought iron. This was the first bridge of its kind in the United States. His chief monument is the Broad Street Bridge. in Philadelphia, in the erection of which he had to overcome unprecedented difficulties.
In 1855 he entered into partnership, at Trenton, New Jersey, with his classmate, George Washington Plympton, who was associated with him in the development of his testing machine.
In 1859, with several of his fellow alumni of Rensselaer, including George Brooke Roberts and Percival Roberts, he organized a company which constructed many important bridges of the Murphy-Whipple type during the era of railroad expansion. He died on September 27, 1874, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Achievements
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John W. Murphy was an acclaimed engineer, who was remembered as a pioneer in the design, construction, and manufacture of bridges. Murphy who worked with Squire Whipple on the Erie Canal picked up the design and replaced the cast iron junction blocks along with the lower chords with pins and links in place of Whipple loops. He built many of these for railroads in Pennsylvania, and they became known locally as Murphy-Whipple Bridges.
Personality
John W. Murphy was popular in social and musical circles. He was a pleasant companion, an entertaining anecdotist, an effective speaker, and a composer of some ability.
Connections
John W. Murphy was twice married. By his first marriage he had a son and a daughter.
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Born
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Died
September 27, 1874 (aged 46) -
Nationality
American