Alfred Noble, a memoir and a tribute

Memorial and collegial testimonies and tributes from important statesmen, engineers and civic leaders, typewritten copy on onion skin paper, for this forgotten bridge and tunnel civil engineer who lived from1844-1914. Tan binder very worn and chipped, text held by two brads. Very rare (only one rudimentary book has been written about him, in 1962). There is much primary material here for the next great biography. Modjeski assembled and edited the letters herein and wrote the basic sketch; he was an engineer from Chicago also famous as follows: Modjeski was world-famous as a designer of bridges and rail lines. He pioneered suspension bridges. He built nearly 40 bridges spanning the great rivers of North America, trained succeeding generations of American bridge designers and builders, including Joseph B. Strauss, chief engineer of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge (which was completed six months after Modjeski's San Francisco¿Oakland Bay Bridge). Modjeski was considered "America's greatest bridge builder." He was the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees. In 1911 he received a doctorate in engineering from Illinois State University, in 1923 the Franklin Medal, in 1929 a doctorate honoris causa from the Lwów Polytechnic, in 1930 the prestigious John Fritz Medal. He died in 1940, in Los Angeles, California. Noble worked on harbor surveys until 1870, when he was put in charge of the canal improvements at Sault St. Marie, Michigan. In 1873 he became U.S. Assistant Engineer for improvements on the St. Mary's Falls Canal and the St. Mary's River. Completing this project in 1882, Noble went on to several prominent engineering projects, including the Shreveport Bridge, Louisiana; the Washington Bridge, New York City; the Leavenworth and Bellefontaine Bridges across the Missouri River, and Alton Bridge across the Mississippi; and was General Assistant Engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad. He was appointed by three U.S. Presidents to serve on various boards and commissions which were charged with the responsibility of first selecting the best route for a canal to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and then of determining the type of canal constructions most appropriate. Appointed by President Cleveland in 1895 to serve on the Nicaragua Canal Board, Noble toured both Nicaragua and Panama as potential canal sites. In 1899 Noble was selected by President McKinley as part of the Isthmian Canal Commission to propose a route for a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. As a member of the International Board for Consulting Engineers for the Panama Canal in 1905, Noble and four of the board members were able to convince President Roosevelt and the U.S. Congress in a minority report that a sea-level canal was not possible, and that instead the oceans should be linked together through a series of locks. Noble later consulted on various problems during construction of the Panama Canal. From 1910 to 1914 Noble operated a private practice, and was solicited for consultation by both the U.S. and Canadian governments. Noble was also active in a number of national and regional engineering societies. For a more complete list of his professional achievements, professional memberships, honors and papers. Alfred Noble died in New York City on April 19, 1914, due to complications following emergency surgery. (His papers are housed at the University of Michigan library.) On March 15, 1922, the American Institute of Consulting Engineers dedicated a bronze memorial tablet to Alfred Noble, which is installed on the wall immediately to the left of the main door of the United Engineering Building in New York City. Engineering awards are now given in his name although I doubt if anyone knows much about him.…